For 15 minutes every winter evening, except when clouds block out the sun, Half Dome's famous face gets a lavender makeover.

Cross-country skiers have a spectacular view of Half Dome as they near their destination at Glacier Point -- 3,200 feet above the Yosemite Valley floor.

The best place to witness this ocular phenomenon is from Glacier Point.

Glacier Point, you ask? Doesn't the park service close that road this time of year? To automobiles, perhaps. But for those who make the 10.5-mile trip from Badger Pass on cross-country skis, its magnificence never feels so wide open.

Towering 3,200 feet above Yosemite Valley, Glacier Point is a spectacular vista stretching many miles to the north and east. Forests and canyons stretch out for what seem like forever, interrupted only by waterfalls, cliffs, domes and distant peaks.

Once the snow melts, Glacier Point will once again take its place among the park's most popular attractions, averaging 1 million annual visits. Buses and RVs will clog the parking lot. Tourists will line up for ice cream and souvenirs. Rangers will be on patrol toting sidearms.

But that's in the summertime. The setting couldn't have been more different during a January visit, when a group of six skiers had the place to ourselves.

Archeologists believe cross-country skiing was invented more than 4,000 years ago by the Sami, an ancient people living near the Arctic Circle.

No, the Sami didn't have machine-groomed tracks like the ones set on Glacier Point Road. But they were smart enough to figure out hunting reindeer, a staple food source, was a lot easier sliding across the snow than tramping through it.

Yosemite Cross Country Ski School guide Nancy Shenton takes a break during a guided trip to Glacier Point, a 10.5-mile journey from Badger Pass. The Clark Range looms in the distance. Mark Crosse / The Fresno Bee

While less difficult than sometimes portrayed, cross-country skiing requires a certain level of coordination and fitness. Coordination, to make your arms and legs work as a team. Fitness, to maintain the requisite kick-and-glide motion. Led by Yosemite Cross Country Ski School guide Nancy Shenton, we leave the Badger Pass parking lot at 10 a.m. Three of us were experienced cross-country skiers; the other three weren't but earned distinction during the trip.

It's one of those postcard perfect Sierra mornings. The sun is shining. The sky is bright, brilliant blue. And the trees have shed most of the snow deposited on them by recent storms.

Cross-country skier Diedre Pope, from Scandia, Minn., glides along with the Clark Range in the background. Pope was among a group making a journey to Glacier Point. Mark Crosse / The Fresno Bee

During the first half of the journey, the road is encircled by forest. We scrape along at a leisurely pace, stopping often for pictures and gulps of water and passing signed trails to backcountry destinations such as Dewey Point and Ostrander Hut.

After about 5 miles of heading east, the road abruptly turns north and begins a gradual climb. Before long, we are awarded stupendous views of the Clark Range. Mt. Clark, formerly known as the Obelisk, sticks out like a sore thumb, while the summits of Gray Peak, Red Peak and Merced Peak, where John Muir discovered the first Sierra glacier, are capped in snow.

It's the perfect spot for lunch — and for Shenton to patch a couple of blisters.

Fueled by calories, we finally gain the top of the saddle and begin a shaded downhill section that offers the most pleasant skiing of the trip. Before long, Sentinel Dome appears in the distance like a giant, white balloon.

The final stretch to Glacier Point is a steep, winding downhill that drops 600feet in 11/2 miles. At Washburn Point, we are treated to our first view of Half Dome, which divides the Tenaya and Merced canyons. Almost there.

Finally, 5 hours after leaving the trailhead, we arrive at the Glacier Point Lodge. Constructed in 1997 at a cost of $2.7 million, the lodge is used as a gift shop and snack bar in the summer but transforms into a ski hut in the winter.

While Shenton prepares a fire in the huge stone fireplace and readies hot water for tea and cider, the rest of us kick off our ski boots and lounge on couches and take our pick of 20 bunk beds. But not for long. The view of a lifetime beckons.

Glacier Point itself is a short hike from the lodge. Shenton is already there, having dug out the guard rails that are buried in snow. This is a good thing. One false step, and it's a quick trip to the valley floor.

The view is so expansive it practically defies description. Directly below, skaters on the Curry Village ice rink appear as tiny dots; to the north, Yosemite Falls tumbles 2,425 feet; to the east, Vernal and Nevada falls provide constant background noise. Further east, the horizon rests upon the Sierra crest's snow-capped summits.

And then there's Half Dome. Seen from this angle, the granite monolith dominates its surroundings, pulling eyes toward it like a high-powered magnet. Its presence is so powerful that every once in a while you must avert your gaze. Repeated glances confirm this isn't your imagination.

Fifteen minutes before sunset, the special effects begin. Light refracted through cirrus clouds turns the landscape a lavender hue called alpineglow, first on surrounding peaks, then on the face of Half Dome. The effect simply is magical.

Before long, the light fades and Half Dome returns to its normal shade of gray. The light show is over, at least for another day. But it'll return tomorrow. At least for those who make the effort.

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GLACIER POINT ROAD CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING

Yosemite Cross Country Ski School: Learn to ski package including equipment rental, $31; guided half-day ski tour including rentals, $53; Glacier Point overnight tours, $160 per person (midweek) or $192 (weekend and holiday), includes meals and dormitory-style lodging, two-night stays available for $240 and $288. For more information, call (209) 372-8444 or check www.yosemitepark.com

Guidebooks: Cross Country Skiing in Yosemite by Tim Messick, Chockstone Press; Ski Tours in the Sierra Nevada, Vol. 3 by Marcus Libkind, Bittersweet Publishing.

Snow camping: Registration required for all overnight trips; self-registration is available 24 hours a day at the Badger Pass ranger station; no camping is permitted at Summit Meadow or within 1 mile of plowed roads.

Road and weather conditions: (209) 372-0200, 1, 1