Gazing across the meadow you get a great view of Half Dome towering above Yosemite Valley but nearly as impressive is the way the Washington Column stands perfectly vertical rising up to the edge of North Dome on the far left. It is hard to imagine the granite being carved by nothing more than ice from an ancient glacier that cut through Yosemite Valley making it one of the most stunning landscapes in the West. The flatness of meadow below helps to show just how vertical the cliffs of Yosemite really are. Stoneman Meadow is one of the best places to view these three features in Yosemite though they are visible from a number of locations.