16. CAP OF LIBERTY AND NEVADA FALL. (Yosemite Valley. Elevation, 8050 ft.) The Cap of Liberty is one of those rounded, ice-polished domes of granite that occur frequently throughout the Sierra in general, and the Yosemite in particular. It rises to an elevation of 2000 feet almost perpendicularly above its base, and, though apparently inaccessible, may be quite comfortably climbed from its eastern side. It stands guard over the two grandest cataracts of the Merced River, — namely, the Nevada and Vernal Falls, — their combined heights being over one thousand feet. The Nevada Fall, Yosemite Valley, 650 feet in height, is, in every respect, one of the grandest waterfalls in the world. The fall is not quite perpendicular, as there is, near the summit, a ledge of rock which, receiving a portion of the water, throws it aside in a peculiar manner, adding greatly to its beauty.