Peppin Fire on El Capitan
Peppin Fire on El Capitan. The Peppin Fire in the El Capitan Mountains of New Mexico continues to elude firefighters’ complete control as of Monday, June 14, 2004. According to the morning briefing report of the National Interagency Coordination Center, -Hazardous terrain, poor accessibility, heavy dead fuel loading, drought, and high winds continue to be concerns.- This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite shows the fire on Sunday, June 13. The actively burning parts of the fire detected by MODIS have been outlined in red. This image is available in multiple resolutions.
El Capitan (Spanish: El Capitán; The Captain or The Chief), also known as El Cap, is a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, located on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The granite monolith is about 3,000 feet (914 m) from base to summit along its tallest face, and is a popular objective for rock climbers.
The formation was named “El Capitan” by the Mariposa Battalion when they explored the valley in 1851. El Capitán (“the captain”, “the chief”) was taken to be a loose Spanish translation of the local Native American name for the cliff, variously transcribed as “To-to-kon oo-lah” or “To-tock-ah-noo-lah” (Miwok language). It is unclear if the Native American name referred to a specific tribal chief or simply meant “the chief” or “rock chief”.
Tutokanula (another spelling) is found in the story The Two Bears as retold by Robert D. San Souci. In this legend the translation means Measuring Worm Rock.
Credit: Image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-GSFC
