The Story of Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La
The following story is an Ahwahneechee creation story of Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La (El Capitan) as told by Julia Parker, an Ahwahneechee descendant of Yosemite Valley, mother of climbing legend Ron Kauk and the grandmother of Ron’s son, Lonnie Kauk. This story originally appeared as a sidebar to a feature about the Kauk family, Lonnie’s childhood in Yosemite and how he made the first redpoint of his father’s route “Magic Line,” for which the story is named.
![Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La (El Capitan) with Half Dome in the background, Yosemite. [Photo] Murray Foubister, Wikimedia](https://alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/caldwell-honnold-nose-record-4-930x620.jpg)