Yosemite

Yosemite National Park.  I, for one, was over-awed when I first went through the tunnel and saw El Capitan, Half Dome, Sentinel Rocks, Cathedral Rocks and Bridalveil Falls in the Yosemite Valley.  I have an Ansel Adams black & white print of Half Dome at home on my bookcase in the lounge, and have a calendar diary from some years back with his photos in it.  So, I knew what to expect.  I had shown the boys Ansel Adams photos online before we left home, so Karl in particular was really excited to see Half Dome.  We were there.  We were surrounded by huge slabs of granite that rise 1,000s of feet above us, and down in the valley, we were still yet dwarfed by tall fir and pine trees that tower above our heads as we walk around.

On our drive into the National Park, we stopped first at Mariposa Grove, a large stand of giant sequoia trees, some over 1,500 years old.  Sequoia trees have red wood due to high concentrations of tannin acids.  They tower over the fir and pine trees which grow near them, and are considered to be the largest trees in the world.  We walked around the grove for a while, marvelling at the height and width of the trees, the way the bark grows back around wounds if the tree has been damaged.  Fires are natures way of helping the germination of future trees, and the thick fibrous bark on the sequoias helps to protect the tree, along with the fact that the trees are so high that the fires find it difficult to reach the branches.  Like the kauri in New Zealand, if two trees are growing close together, and competing for the same light, water and nutrient resources, they can “fuse together” at the bottom, and we saw an example of this in the Mariposa Grove.  We also got to walk through the California Tree, a giant sequoia which had had a tunnel carved into it in the early 1900s in an effort to promote tourism – cars at that time were much smaller than they are now and could actually drive through the tunnel.  Another large tunnel tree near here fell down a few decades ago.  The giant sequoias are so large and have the tannin acids so do not decompose or get broken down very readily or quickly.

In terms of wildlife, on our first day here, we saw mule deer, Steeler’s Jay (a bright blue bird with a pointed grey-black crest), squirrels, even woodpeckers!

We stayed at Curry Village, a huge campsite with hundreds of cabins and permanent tents.  We have a canvas tent – a wooden floor and frames, with thick vinyl covering over the top – and a heater!!  There was snow here last week, and temperatures on our first night were below 0 degrees Celcius, so it is good that Eric convinced me to pay US$10 extra per night to have a heated tent.  All our food and anything scented (toothpaste, deodorant, medicines, sunblock, lip balms, water bottles (full or empty), any containers or utensils that had food in them) are stored in our bear-proof storage locker outside our tent.  Makes it awkward (and cold!) when you are thirsty in the middle of the night!  We are not allowed any food in the tent, and have to keep the door closed to prevent deer mice from coming into the tent.  Deer mice are carriers of hantavirus, which can be fatal.  It is caught by breathing in microscopic particles of droppings or urine from an infected deer mouse.  We have to walk to the toilet and shower blocks – our closest toilet block is very close, luckily.  Because it is still early spring, not all the services in the Valley are operating yet, so here at Curry Village, we have a Coffee Shop open in the mornings (which sells breakfasts – although we have our own supplies with us) and a Pizza parlour which is open from noon till 10pm.  The food court doesn’t open till later this month, which has a wider variety of foods, but there is one open at Yosemite Lodge at the Falls, which we visited a few times for dinners (we had supplies for lunch and snacks with us, as well as our breakfasts).

We have done a few walks and seen several waterfalls.  We went up to see the base of the Bridalveil Falls, where the wind swirls about the cliff, often lifting the falling water and blowing it from side to side in a delicate free-fall.  The Ahwahneechee called it Pohono, Spirit of the Puffing Wind.  We did a Camera Walk with a staff member from the Ansel Adams Gallery, and saw the rainbow at the bottom of the Lower Yosemite Falls (not all that impressive, to be honest!).  The Lower, Upper and an intermediate cascade combine to make Yosemite Falls the tallest waterfall in America, at 2,425ft, and the 5th tallest in the world (Sutherland Falls in New Zealand are the 9th tallest).  We walked up to the top of Vernal Falls, with 700 steps carved into the rocks.  We climbed 1,000 feet, in a fairly strenuous climb, with the steps going through the mist of the falls and under huge overhangs of granite with ice-cold water dripping down on us as we climbed.  The effort was worth it, being so high up the valley, but with the steep sides rising even further still above our heads.  And, the waterfall here was much more impressive!

We’ve been out to see Half Dome as the sun sets, and walked through meadows in which mule deer graze.  I went for a walk to a meadow near Curry Village as the sun went down – the air was still but was becoming smokey.  We have heard that the valley is thick with smoke in summer, when there are 500 campfires burning.  People want to experience real camping, and campfires – and s’mores! - but there are effects.

Wherever we have been, I, for one, have felt small and insignificant, with the fir and pine trees (there are not many sequoias in the valley) towering over us and the granite sides of the valley over-arching all.  Half Dome rises to 8,842 feet; El Capitan stands at 3,593 feet.  The Arches look like an outdoor cathedral arch.

President Lincoln signed the Yosemite Land Grand in 1864, protecting the Mariposa Grove and Yosemite Valley, not for potential wealth that they could provide (like minerals or oil) but for their beauty.  California had control over them.  In 1889, John Muir lobbied for legislation to designate the land around Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove into a national park.  In 1890, Yosemite National Park was created, and in 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt, after a camping trip to Yosemite Valley with John Muir, ceded control of the Valley and Mariposa Grove from California and included with Yosemite National Park.  There has been controversy.  After the 1906 earthquake and fires in San Francisco, that city needed water and power, and campaigned to source it from the Park.  O’Shaughnessy Dam was built in Hetch Hetchy Valley, flooding it, and all that it contained (the lower half of Wapama Falls, Ahwahneechee ceremonial sites and burial grounds, meadows, trees).  Now, it needs to be repaired or replaced (in a new position) as it no longer provides sufficient water (there is not the same amount of ice during winter now as there was 100 years ago).  We went to Hetch Hetchy Valley ourselves (a 40 mile drive from Yosemite Valley).  We drove through a huge area of burnt trees – the effects of last years forest fire, the 3rd largest in California’s history.  Apparently started by a hunter out camping.  There are granite domes and cliffs, and waterfalls, and birds, wildlife and wildflowers.  And, the reservoir and dam, of course (the reservoir holds 117 billion gallons of water which is used for drinking by 2.6 million people, as well as hydroelectric generation).  But, I think because there are not the same quantities of tall trees, and no valley floor, neither Eric nor myself were overcome with wonder at being there.  It was great, and I’m pleased we managed to get there and do a walk over the dam and along the edge of the reservoir, but, “been there, done that”.

Eric took about 400 photos whilst we were in Yosemite National Park (including black & white photos, possibly the next Ansel Adams great photographer!) – I took a few less.  So, very difficult to even begin to work out which ones to include here!