Home of the Half Dome, the hugest tree on earth, and a whole host of other natural wonders, Yosemite National Park is a feast at the Western frontier!
Yosemite National Park is famous for many things, but most of all for its ancient Giant Sequoias. In 1864, before the park even existed, President Lincoln signed a law protecting Mariposa Grove for 'public use, resort, and recreation'.
While travelling along State Route 41, make sure to stop at Tunnel View. Looking east from Artist Point Trail, you can see El Capitan and Bridalveil Fall rising from Yosemite Valley, with Half Dome in the far distance.
Many hold that Glacier Point is the most spectacular viewpoint in the park. Come here for breathtaking views of Yosemite Valley, including Half Dome, and three of the park's many waterfalls.
The sunbaked granite of El Capitan is a forbidding sight from a distance, and even more so up close. This vertical cliff face, rising up to 3000ft above Yosemite Valley, is one of the most popular rock climbing sites in the US.
This iconic peak is one of the most recognisable sights in Yosemite. With a curved back and a vertical face, it gives the impression of a mountain sliced in half. Once described as 'perfectly inaccessible', today it can be reached by intrepid hikers.
High above Yosemite Valley, just east of El Capitan, is Eagle Peak. This viewpoint marks the highest of the Three Brothers rock formation, comprising the Middle and Lower Brothers
If you fancy a longer walk, the Ottoway Lakes Trail runs west for 29.6 miles from Glacier Point Road towards Lower Ottoway Lake. It's a tough day trip, but well worth it for its stunning views and abundant wildlife.
The native Ahwahneechee people called Yosemite Falls Cholock (The Fall) and believed that the plunge pool at its base was inhabited by the spirits of several witches, called the Poloti.
Many of the lakes in Yosemite are difficult to reach, but the shallow bays of Tenaya Lake make it a popular spot for picnicking, swimming, and canoeing.
The story of humans, their biology and their cultures, is hundreds of thousands of years long, and rich with artefacts. Scroll on, and use click-and-drag, to take a virtual tour of 10 museums which tell the story of how we became who we are...
The Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at Cambridge University, England, holds over one million objects representing two million years of human history, from the earliest stone tools to typewriters taken on polar expeditions.
This large totem pole, made by the Haida of northwest modern-day Canada, would have been raised at 'potlatches' (feasts), like a house-building potlatch or the mortuary potlatch. The pole would have been given as a gift from one clan to another, as a sign of allegiance.
In Oxford, the Pitt Rivers museum is the foremost anthropology and archaeological institution. Here, objects are arranged by how they are used, not their origin or age. This style of display is no longer fashionable, making this museum an unusual and distinctive sight.
As well as showing the indigenous art and cultures of Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas, exhibitions at the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac have explored tattoos, propaganda posters, and the popularity of tiki bars in post-war American society.
The Museum of Man is one of the oldest anthropology museums in France. Today, it is dedicated to studying the evolution of humans and human societies in keeping with its founder Paul Rivet's view that, "Humanity is one and indivisible, not only in space, but also in time."
The Museo Nacional de Antropología in Mexico City is the nation's pre-eminent museum of Pre-Columbian culture. The collection holds national treasures of the Olmec, Mayan, and Aztec civilisations, including the Aztec Stone of the Sun calendar and Xochipilli statue.
The building itself is an architectural marvel. Designed in 1964 by Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, Jorge Campuzano, and Rafael Mijares Alcérreca, the museum halls surround a stunning pond garden, covered by a monumental concrete roof.
Having been the homeland of many civilisations, it's no surprise that Central America is now the site of many museums. Visit the anthropological museum in Xalapa to see the exquisitely carved Olmec colossal heads.
At Indiana University, the Mathers Museum of World Cultures tells the story of Native American culture and contemporary folk arts. As a part of the university, the collections help educate future scholars and the local community.
The collection of the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver, Canada, focusses on the diverse cultures of the First Nations of the Northwest Coast. Inside are nearly 600,000 artefacts, outside are reconstructed Haida houses and totem poles, built by Bill Reid and Doug Cranmer.
For nearly 10,000 years, Japan was inhabited by hunter gatherers, known today as the Jōmon people. Today, their distinctive cord-patterned pottery can be found in the National Museum of Ethnology in the city of Suita.
Before the advent of instant communication, the best way to reach people was through the mail. Scroll to see correspondence from notable figures around the world!
Frida Kahlo, one of Mexico's most beloved artists, was also a prolific writer of letters. She hand-wrote letters to friends, lovers, and relatives throughout her life, like the one addressed to Leon Trotsky painted here. This 1937 piece resides at NMWA in Washington DC.
Frida wrote this letter to her husband, the painter Diego Rivera, in 1940.
...and sealed it with a kiss.
Frédéric Chopin was a shooting star in the world of music, composing hundreds of pieces for piano in his brief 39 years. Maximilian Fajans created this lithograph in the decade after Chopin's death.
Chopin penned this letter to his pupil Marie de Rozières and said, "country-house life in high society is really very interesting. They have nothing like it on the continent."
Florence Nightingale, a British statistician and activist, laid the foundation for modern nursing. After a spiritual experience, she dedicated her life to helping people--caring for soldiers during the Crimean war, founding the first secular nursing school, and much more.
In this letter to her cousin Marianne Nicholson, she describes the vision which inspired her lifelong quest of service. You can read a transcript of the letter courtesy of Leeds Museums & Galleries.
Vincent van Gogh's storied life is well documented in his numerous letters to friends and relations, though the lion's share of the surviving correspondence is addressed to his brother Theo.
Van Gogh often included sketches with his letters, like this one written to Paul Gauguin. Do you recognize the painting it became? This letter from October of 1888 tells Gaugin of the "autumn splendors" he'd see on the way to Arles.