Yosemite National Park, California

The day after my birthday Mike and I went to Yosemite National Park. Yosemite was about two hours from Victoria's home, and the scenery to get there was outstanding. If we had taken as many pictures as we wanted we'd still be there.

The entire area is surrounded by the Seirra Nevada Mountains. At first you don't realize the mountains are there due to the haze all around. But evdentually as you actually get closer to the mountains you begin to see their outlines.

Next you go through several small towns, each having had a different purpose in the pas

• Madera Rancheros: Started out as a collection of horse properties and now is a thriving community.

• O'Neals: This was never one of the boom towns. It was named for CHarles O'Neal who bought a store there and also ran the post office and a hotel. There isn't much town there, but the residents seem to like it that way.

• Raymond: This town was once a bustling community where the railroad ended and the stagecoach trips to Yosemite began. Teddy Roosevelt came through here.

• Coarsegold: With a name like this the town had to have Gold Rush associations, and it does.It is right on the main route from the valley of Yosemite.

• Ahwahnee: Another Gold Rush Town. Ahwahnee was the site of some very important mines. Today it is famous for the Wassama ROund House and its annual gathering of Indians who demonstrate native crafts and tell old stories.

• Oakhurst: The largest community in the mountains, Oakhurst, also had its beginnings along gold-rich creeks. It celebrates its past with a historical village of old structures from the Mountain Area. It is also a center for arts and crafts.


• North Fork: This was a boom town, but not from gold. Its wealth came from lumber.

• Fish Camp: In winter, this timy stop on the way to Yosemite is blanketed in snow and looks like something off a poster or post card.. At more than 5,000 feet, it is a summer delight. While the community isn't large, it is near a first-class resort and an excursion train that takes you back in time.

As you continue on towards Yosemite you come to the Sierra National Forest. The views and the scenery are some of the most beautiful you will ever see. Unfortunately we got several blurry pictures. This was the second National Forest created in California and the largest at the time. It covered over six million acres of the Sierra Nevada and was about four times the average area of typical California National FOrests. Originally it embraced parts of eight counties from Tuolumne on the norht to Kern on the south and Mono and Inyo on the east. Initially its name was descriptive, but later when the Sierra was divided into different units this was no longer the case.

President Harrison proclaimed the Sierra Forest Reserve on February 14, 1893. Four years later the south half became a separate unit and was named Sierra South during the "forests reserves" era. This designation was dropped after the administrative transition to the National Forests on March 4th, 1907. The Sequoia National Forest on July 1st, 1908, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks were established from the south portion of Sierra National Forest. Also eastern portions of Sierra were used for the Inyo and Toiyabe National Forests as well as northern portions were used for the Yosemits National Park and the Stanislaus National Forest.
The first timber sale on a California national forest took place in the Sierra National Forest by the General Land Office in 1899.


Sierra covers in descending order of forestland area, the eastern portions of Fresno, Madera, and Mariposa counties, adjacent to the southern part of Yosemite National PArk. It includes more than 1,300,000 acres, at altitudes that range from 900 to 13, 986 feet in elevation. The terrain includes rolling oak-covered foot hills. heavily forested middle elevation slopes and the alpine landscape of the High Sierra.


Finally you come to the entrance to Yosemite National Park. This is a national park spanning the eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California. The first area we visited inside the park was Mariposa Grove. This is a sequoia grove located near Wawona, Clfornia in the southernmost part of Yosemite National Park, It is the largest grove of Giant Sequoias in the park, with several hundren mature examples of the tree, Two of its trees are among the 25 largest Giant Sequoias in the world.

The Marposa Grove was first visited by non-natives in 1857 when Galen Clark and Milton Mann found it. They named the grove after Mariposa County, California, where the grove resides.

The Giant Sequoia named Grizzly Giant is between probably 1900-2400 years old: the oldest tree in the grove. In 1932, it was claimed to be the fifth largest (by volume) tree in the world, but other trees were subsequently found to be larger; it currently has a volume of 34,010 cubic feet, only the 35 largest. It is 210 feet tall, and had a heavily buttressed base with a basal cercumference of 92 feet or a dimeter of 30 feet; above the buttresses at 2.4 meters abouve ground, the circumference is only 23 meters. Grizzly Giant's first branch from its base is itself 6 feet in diameter.


Another tree, the Wawona Tree, had a tunnell wide enough for horse-drawn carriages and early automobiles to drive through, cut through it in the nineteenthcentury. Weakened by this large opening at its base, the tree fell down in 1969,

Abraham Lincoln signed an Act of Congress on June 30, 1864 ceding the "Mariposa Big Tree Grove: (and Yosemite Valley) to the State of California; criticism of the stewrdship over the land led to the state returning the grove to federal control upon establishment of Yosemite National Park.

The Mariposa Grove Museum is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

NOTEWORTHY TREES

The Galen Clark Tree

Of historical importance, it is supposed to have been the first tree seen by Galen Clark upon his entrance in the grove, and which would have inspired his love for the Giant Sequoias that would have driven him to struggle for the setting aside of land for preservation, something that was unheard of in the mid-19th century.

The Columbia Tree

The tallest tree in the grove and Yosemite National Park

Looking up in the Telescope Tree

A tree that repeated fires down the decades have left completely hollow.

The Telescope Tree

In spite of that, the tree is still living, as Giant Sequoias do not require a whole trunk to survive. It is possible to walk inside the tree, and, from there, see the sky. Similar to the CLothespin Tree, this condition leaves the tree weakened and makes it more difficult for it to withstand strong winds. For that, this tree (and the Clothespin Tree) could topple at any time.

The Clothespin Tree

Countless fires throughout the decades nearly severed this tree's trunk, creating a space in it large enough for a pick-up truck to drive through.

The Faithful Couple

A rare case in which two trees grew up so close together that their trunks have fused together at the base.

The Washington Tree

The largest tree in the grove at 35,950 cubic feet.

The Fallen Monarch

A tree that fell more than three hundred years ago (Giant Sequoias are resistant to decay, so their remains can linger for an unknown period of time, if undisturbed).

Raven

All through the entire park you see many of these ravens. They almost walk right up to you. We also saw Squierrls, chipmunks, foxes, and many other animals. At one point I told Mike I'd like to meet a black bear in person. About five minuted later we went around a bend in the road and a black bear walked right out in front of our car. He was too quick to get a picture of and jsut disappeared into the trees.

Trees

By Joyce Kilmer

I think that I shall never see

A poem as lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day

Fallen Giant

It was one of the largest trees in the grove until it fell in 1873.

Fallen Giant

The roots of these trees are enormous. It is hard to imagine anything could be this massive.

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain

Poems are made by fools like me,

Grizzly Giant

The oldest tree in the grove and most commonly thought to be the largest tree in the grove, but that title goes to a less inspiring tree named "Washington". 35,950 cubic feet of wood belong to the "Washington" Tree while the "Grizzly Giant" only holds 34,010 cubic feet.

But only God can make a tree.

Yosemite National Park is a national park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California. The park covers an area of 761,266 scares and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain. Yosemite is visited by over 3.5 million people each year, many of whom spend time in the seven square miles of Yosemite Valley. Designated a World Heritage Site in 1984, Yosemite is internationaly recognized for its spectacular granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, Giant Sequoia Groves and biological diversity. Although not the first designated national park, Yosemite was a focal point in the development of the national park idea, largely owing to the work of people like John Muir and Galen Clark.

Yosemite is one of the largest and lesat fragmented habitat blocks in the Sierra Nevada, and the park supports a diversity of plants and animals. The park has an elevation range from 2,000 to 13,114 feet and contains five major vegetation zones: chaparral/oak woodland. lower montane. upper montane, subalpine, and alpine. Of California's 7,000 plant species about 50% occur in the Sierra Nevada and more than 20% within Yosemite. Ther is suitable habitat or documentation for more than 160 rare plants in the park, with rare local geologic formations and unique soils characterizing the restricted ranges many of these plants occupy.

The geology of the Yosemite area is characterized by granic rocks and remnants of older rock. About 10 million years ago, the Sierra Nevada was uplifted and then tilted to form its relatively gentle western slopes and the more dramatic eastern slopes. The uplift increased the steepness of stream and river beds, resulting in formation of deep, narrow canyons. About 1 million years ago snow and ice accumulated, forming glaciers at the higher alpine meadows that moved down the river valleys. Ice thickness in Yosemite Valley may have reached 4,000 feet during the early glacial episode. The downslope movement of the ice masses cut and sculpted the U-shaped valley that attracts so many visitors to its scenic vistas today.

Yosemite National PArk is located in the central Sierra Nevada of California. It is surrounded by wilderness areas: The Ansel Adams WIlderness to the southeast, the Hoover Wilderness to the northeast, and the Emigrant Wilderness to the north.

The 1,189 square mile park is roughly the size of the state of Rhode Island and contains thousands of lakes and ponds, 1,600 miles of streams, 800 miles of hiking trails, and 350 miles of roads. Two federally designated Wild and Scenic Rivers, the Merced and the Tuolumne, begin within Yosemite's borders and flow westward through the Sierra foothills, into the Central Valley of California. Annual park visitation exceeds 3.5 million, with most visitor use concentrated in the seven square miles of Yosemite Valley.

Almost all of the landforms in the Yosemite area are cut from granit rock of the Sierra Nevada Batholith (a batholith is a large mass of intrusive igneous rock that formed deep below the surface). About 5 % of the park's landforms (mostly in its eastern margin near Mount Dana) are metamorphosed volcanic and sedimentary rocks. These rocks are called roof pendants because they were once the roof of the underlying granit rock.

Erosion acting upon different types of uplift-createrd joint and fracture systems is responsible for creating the valleys, canyons, domes and other features we see today. These joints and fracture systems do not move, and are therefore not faults. Spacing between joints is controlled by the amount of silica in the granite and grandodiorite rocks; more silica tends to create a more resistant rock, resulting in larger spaces between joints and fractures.

Pillars and columns, such as Washington Column and Lost Arrow, are created by cross joints. Erosion acting on master joints is responsible for creating valleys and later canyons. The singe most erosive force over the last few million years has been large alpine glaciers which have turned the previously V-shaped river-cut valleys into U-shaped glacial-cut canyons (such as Yosemite Valley adn Hetch Hetchy Valley). Exfoliation (caused by the tendency of crystals in plutonic rocks to expand at the surface) acting on granite rock and widely spaced joints is responsible for creating domes such as Half Dome and North Dome and inset arches such as Royal Arches.

Yosemite Valley represents only one percent of the park area, but this is where most visitors arrive and stay. El Capitan, a prominent granite cliff that looms over the valley, is one of the most popular rock climbing destinations in the world because of its diverse range of climbing routhes in addition to its year-round accessibility. Granite domes such as Sentinal Rock and Half DOme rise 3,000 feet and 4,800 feet, respectively, above the valley floor.

The high country of Yosemite conains beautiful areas such as Tuolumne Meadows, Dana Meadows, the Clark Range, the Cathedral Range, and the Kuna Crest. The Sierra Creat and the PAcific Crest Trail run through Yosemite, with peaks of red metamorphic rock, such as Mount Dana and Mount Gibbs, and granite peaks, such as Mount Corness. Mount Lyell is the highest point in the park.

The park has three groves of ancient Giant Sequoia trees; the MAriposa Grove, with 200 trees, the Tuolumne Grove, with 25 trees, and the Merced Grove with 20 trees. This species grows larger in volume than any other and is one of the tallest and longest living. These trees were much more widespread before the start of the last Ice Age.

Yosemite is famous for its high concentration of waterfalls in a small area. N umerous sheer drops, glacial steps and hanging valleys in the park provide many places for waerfalls to exist, especially during April, May and June (the snowmelt season). Located in Yosemite Valley, the 2,425-foot-high Yosemite falls is the highest in North America. Also in the valley is the much lower volume Ribbon Falls, which has the highest single vertical drop, 1,612 feet. Perhaps the most prominent of the Yosemite waterfalls is Bridalveil falls, which is the waterfall seen from the Tunnel View viewpoint att he east end of the Wawona Tunnel. Wawona Falls in Hetch Hetchy Valley is another notable watefall. Hudreds of ephemeral waterfalls also exist in the park.
All glaciers in the park are relatively small glaciers that occupy areas that are in almost permanent shade, such as north-and northeast-facing cirques. Lyell Glacier is the largest glacier in Yosemite (the Palisades Glaciers are the largest in the Sierra Nevada) and covers 160 acres. None of the Yosemite glaciers are a remnant of the much, much larger Ice Age alpine glaciers responsible for scuplting the Yosemite landscape. Instead they were formed during one of the neoglacial episodes that have occured since the thawing of the Ice Age (such as the Little Ice Age). CLimate change has reduced the number and size of glaciers around the world. Many Yosemite glaciers, including Merced Glacier, which was discovered by John Muir in 1871, and bolstered his glacier origins theory of the Yosemite area, have disappeared and most of the others have lost up to 75% of their surface area.

Yosemite has a Mediterranean climate, meaning most precipitation falls during the mild winter, and the other seasons are nearly dry (less than 3% of precipitation falls during the long, hot summers.

Paiute and Sierra Miwok peoples lived in the area for ages before the first white explorations into the region. A band of Native Americans called the Ahwahneechee lived in Yosemite Valley when the first non-indigenous people entered it.

The California Gold Rush in the m id-19th century dramatically increased white travel in the area. United States Army Major Jim Savage led the Maiposa Batallion into the west end of Yosemite Valley in 1851 while in pursuit of about 200 Ahwahneechees led nby Chief Tenaya as part of the Mariposa Wars. Accounts from this batallion were the first confirmed cases of Caucasians entering the valley. Attached to Savage's unit was Dr. Lafayette Bunnell, the company physician, who later wrote about his awestruck impressions of the valley in The Discovery of the Yosemite. Bunnell is credited with naming the valley from his interviews with Chief Tenaya. Bunnell wrote that Chief Tenaya was the founder of the Pai-Ute Colony of Ah-wah-nee. The Miwoks (and most white settlers) considered the Ahwahneechee to be especially violent because of theor frequent territorial disputes, and the Miwok word "yohhe'meti" literally means "they are killers". Correspondence and atricles written by members of the batallion helped to popularize the valley and surrounding area.

Tenaya and the rest of the Ahwahneechee were eventually captured and their village burned; they were removed to a reservation near Fresno, California. Some were later allowed to return to the valley, but got into trouble after attacking a group of eight gold miners in teh spring of 1852. The band fled eastward to Mono Lake, and took refuge with the nearby Mono tribe, but after stealing some horses from their hosts, the Ahwahneechees were tracked down and killed b the Mono Paiutes in 1853. In the attack Chief Tenaya was killed and the survivors were taken back to Moni Lake and absorbed into the Moni Lake Paiute tribe. A reconstructed "Indian Village of Ahwahnee" is now located behind the Yosemite Museum, which is next to the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center.

Entrepreneur James Mason Hutchings, artist Thomas Ayres and two others ventured into the area in 1855, becoming the valley's first tourists. Hutchings wrote articles about this and later excursions in the area, and Ayres' sketches became the first accurate drawings of many prominent features. Photographer Charles Leander Weed took the first photographs of the Valley's features in 1859. Later photographers included Ansel Adams.

Wawona was an Indian encampment in what is now the southwestern part of the park. Settler Galen Clark discovered the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoia in Wawona in 1857. Simple lodgings were built, as were roads to the area. In 1879, the Wawona Hotel was built to serve tourists visiting the Grove. As tourism increased, so did the number of trails and hotels.

The Wawona Tree, also known as the Tunnel Tree, was a famous Giant Sequoia that stood in the Mariposa Grove. It was 227 feet tall, and was 90 feet in circumfrence. A tunnell was cut through the tree in 1881, which made it a popular tourist photo attraction. Everything from horse-drawn carriages in teh late nineteenth century, to automobiles in the first part of the twentieth century, traveled the road which passed through the tree. The Wawona Tree fell in 1969 under a heavy load of snow. It was estimated to have been 2,300 years old.

Concerned by the efforts of commercial interests, prominent citizens, including Galen Clark and Senator John Conness advocated for protection of the area. A park bill passed both houses of the United States Congress, and was signed by President Abraham Lincoln on June 30, 1864, creating the Yosemite Grant. This is the first instance of park land being set aside specifically for preservation and public use by action of the United States federal government, and set a precedent for the 1872 creation of Yellowstone as the first national park. Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove were ceded to California as a state park, and a board of commissioners was proclaimed two years later.

Galen Clark was appointed by the commission as the Grant's first guardian, but neither Clark nor the commissioners had the authority to evict homesteaders (which included Hutchings). The issue was not settled unto 1875 when the homesteader land holdings were invalidated. Clark and the reigning commissioners were ousted in 1880, and Hutchings became the new park guardian.

Access to the park by tourists improved in the early years of the park, and conditions in the Valley were made more hospitable. Tourism significantly increased after the First Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869, but the long horseback ride to reach the area was a deterrent. Three stagecoach roads were built in the mid-1870s to provide better access for the growing number of visitors to the Valley.

Scottish-born naturalists John Muir wrote articles popularizing the area and increasing scientific interest in it. Muir was one of the first to theorize that the major landforms in Yosemite were created by large alpine glaciers, bucking established scientists such as Josiah Whitney, who regarded Muir as an amateur. Muir wrote scientific papers on the area's biology.

Overgrazing of meadows (especially by sheep), logging of Giant Sequoia, and other damage caused Muir to become an advocate for further protection. Muir convinced prominent guests of the importance of putting the area under federal protection; one such guest was Robert Underwood Johnson, editor of Century Magazine. Muir and Johnson lobied Congress for the Act that created Yosemite National PArk on October 1, 1890. The State of California, however, retained control of the Vallet and Grove. Muir also helped persuade local officials to virtually eliminate grazing from the Yosemite High Country.

The newly created national park came under the jurisdiction of the United States Army's Fourth Cavalry Regiment on May 19, 1891, which set up camp in Wawona. By then late 1890s, sheep grazing was no longer a problem, and the Army made other improvements. The Cavalry could not intervene to help the worsening condition of the Valley or Grove.

Muir and the Sierra CLub continued to lobby the government and influential people for the creation of a unified Yosemite National Park. In May 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt camped with Muir near Glacier Point for three days. On that trip, Muir convinced Roosevelt to take control of the Valley and the Grove away from California and retrurn it to the federal government. In 1906, Roosevelt signed a bill that did precisely that.

The National Park Service was formed in 1916, and Yosemite was transferred to that aency's jurisdiction. Tuolumne Meadows Lodge, Tioga Pass Road, and campgrounds at Tenaya and Merced Lakes were also completed in 1916. Automobiles started to enter the park in ever-increasing numkbers following the construction of all-weather highways to the park. The Yosemite Museum was founded in 1926 through the efforts of Ansel Franklin Hall.

In 1903, a dam in the northern portion of the park was proposed. Located in the Hetch Hetchy Valley, its purpose was to provide water and hydroelectric power to San Francisco. Preservationists like Mir and his Sierra Club opposed the project, while conservationists like Gifford Pinchot supported it. In 1913, the United States Congress authorized the O;Shaughnessy Dam through passage of the Raker Act.

More recently, preservationists persuaded Congress to designate 677,600 acres, or about 89% of the park, as the Yosemite Wilderness--a highly protected wilderness area. The PArk Service has reduced artificial inducements to visit the park, such as the Firefall, in which red-hot embers were pushed off a cliff near Glacier Point at night. Traffic congestion in Yosemite Valley during the summer months has become a concern. Plans to exclude all automobiles in the summer that are not registered at a hotel or campground within the valley have been investigated; this would put summer day-use visitors in the valley on a free shuttle bus system, on bicycles, or on foot.

This is the Clark Range. It is a subrange of the Sierra Nevada in Yosemite National Park. It extends in a north-south direction from Quarzite Peak to Triple Divide Peak and separates the drainage basins of the Illilouette Creek from the uppermost portions of the Merced River. The range is named for Mount Clark, which was named for Galen Clark. The highest peak in the range is Merced Peak at 11,726 feet. Metamorphic rock composes most of the range, with the granite of Mount Clark's summit being the main exception.

While this pictures does not show all of the peaks, of you look at all three of the pictures here of the Clark Range you can see them. From left to right the peaks are Mount Florence, Mount Lyell, Cascade Cliffs, Quartzite Peak, Mt. Clark, Grey Peak, Munt Starr King, Red Peak.

Galen Clark was born March 28, 1814 in Dublin, New Hampshire and died MArch 24, 1910 in Oakland, California. He is known for his discovery of the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoia trees and for his role as Guardian of Yosemite Natonal Park for 21 years. In 1853, Clark had a severe lung infection that was diagnosed as consumption, otherwise known as tuberculosis. Doctors gave him six months to live at most. He then moved to the Wawona area as a homesteader. "I went to the mountains to take my chances of dying or growing better, which I thought were about even." Upon his discovery of the MAriposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, Galen Clark spent the majority of his time exploring the area and teaching others about the mysteries of the giant, cinnamon-colored trees. This passion led to him writing letters to friends and Congress, eventually leading to the passing of the Yosemite Grant, signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln. This grant was the first of its kind, stating that it would protect Yosemite Valley and the Mriposa Grove of Giant Sequoias for "public use, resort, and recreation. . . to be left inalienable for all time". Galen then became the first "guardian of the giant". His lungs healed, and he subsequently explored and climed much of this area.

Clark did not seek to enrich himself from Yosemite Valley or the Sequoia Trees. He ran a modest hotel and guide service but was a poor businessman who was constantly in debt. Clark's Station in Wawona, California, for example, had several more employees than required for the number of guests and its short season.

Toward the end of his life, Clark was desperately poor. He wrote three books on Yosemite. These include Indians of the Yosemite (1904) and The Yosemite Valley (1910). Galen Clark's
book on the sequoia trees is simple, factual and direct. He left out his personal role in the discovery, popularization, and protection of the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees as hotel keeper, guide and Guardian of Yosemite and Mariposa Grove.

Today, the Giant Sequoia that would have been the first of its kind to be seen by Clark upon his arrival at the Mariposa Grove is named and marked "The Galen Clark Tree" in mempry of his contribution to the preservation of the Giant Sequoia ecosystem and the idea of the national park.

At every stop the scenery was more and more beautiful. You didn't know where to aim your camera. At each vista you were sure that was the most gorgeous area yet.

While I am not overly religious, when you looked at all the beauty around you it was clear there had to be a higher being who created all of this. Words just cannot express the beauty and wonder of Yosemite.

Half Dome is a granite dome in Yosemite National Park located at the eastern end of Yosemite Valley--possibly Yosemite's most familiar sight. THe granite crest rises more than 4,737 feet above the valley floor.

Half Dome is nearly as whole as it ever was. The impression from the valley floor that this is a round dome which has lost its northwest half is an illusion. From Glacier Point or from Washburn Point, Half Dome can be seen as a thin ridge of rock oriented northeast-southwest, with its southeast side almost as steep as its northwest side except for the very top. Although the trend of this ridge, as well as that of Tenaya Canyon, is probably controlled by master joints, 80% of the northwest "half" of the original dome may well still be there.

On MArch 28, 2009, a large rock slide occured off the Awhiyah Point. The slide happened at 5:26 a.m. and damaged a large area under the dome. No one was injured but hundreds of trees were knocked down and a portion of the Mirror Lake trail was buried. The slide registered on seismographs as a 2.5 earthquake.

An image of Half Dome, along with John Muir and the California Condor appears on the Californa State quarter, released in January 2005.

Half Dome was originally called "Tis-sa-ack," meaning Cleft Rock in the language of the local Native Americans. Tis-sa-ack is also the name of the fourth routh on the formation, ascended by Royal Robbins and DOn PEterson over eight days in October 1969. Tis-sa-ack is the name of a mother from native legend. The face seen in Half DOme is supposed to be hers. Tis-sa-ack is the name of a Mono Lake Paiute Indian Girl in the Yosemite Native American legend.

Half DOme is included in many company and organizational logos, including that of the environmental group, the Sierra CLub and the game studios Seirra Entertainment.

Half DOme is the inspiration behind the North Face corporate logo.

As late as the 1870s, HAlf Dome was declared "perfectly inaccessible". The summit was finally conquered by George Anderson in October 1875, via a route constructed by drilling and placing iron eyebolts into the smooth granite.

Today, Half Dome may now be ascended in several different ways. THousands of hikers reach the top each year by following an 8.5 mile trail from the valley floor. After a gradual 2 mile approach, the final pitch up the peak's steep but somewhat rounded east face is ascended with the aid of a pair of post-mounted braided steel cables originally constructed close to the Anderson route in 1919.

Alternatively, over a dozen rock climbing routes lead from the valley up Half Dome's vertical northwest face. The first technical ascent was in 1957 via a route pioneered by Royal Robbons, Mike Sherrick, and Jerry Gallwas today known as the Regular Northwest Face. Their 5-day epic was the first Grade VI climb in the United States. Other technical routhes ascend the south face and the west shoulder.

The Half Dome Cables Route hike runs from the valley floor to the top of the dome in 8.2 miles, with 4,800 feet of elevation gain. The length and difficulty of the trail used to keep it less crowded than other park trails, but on long summer days there can still be a large crowd at the top and on the trail. The hike can be done from the valley floor in a single long day, but many people break it up by camping overnight in Little Yosemite Valley. The trail climbs past Vernal and Nevada Falls, then continues into Little Yosemite Valley, then north to the base of the northeast ridge of Half Dome itself.

The final 400 feet ascent is steeply up the rock between two steel cables used as handholds. The cables oare fixed with bolts in the rock and raised onto a series of metal poles in late May (the poles do not anchor the cables). The cables are taken down from the poles for teh winter in early October, but they are still fixed to the rock surface and can be used. The National Park Service recommends againslt climbing the routh when the cables are down and when the surface of the rock is wet and slippery. The Cable Route is rated class 3, while the same face away from the cables is rated class 5.

The Cable route can be crowded. As many as 1,000 hikers per day sometimes climb the dome on a summer weekend, and about 50,000 hikers climb it every year.

The top of Half Dome is a large, flat area where climbers can relax and enjoy their accomplishment. The summit offers views of the surrounding area, including Little Yosemite Valley and the Valley Floor. A notable location to one side of Half Dome is the "Diving Board", where Ansel Adams took his photograph, "Monolith, the Face of Half Dome (1026)". Often confused with "The Visor", a small overhanging ledge at the summit, the diving board is on the shoulder of Half Dome.

From 1919 when the cables were erected through June 2009, there have been five fatal falls from the cables. On June 16, 2007, Hirofumi Nohara, a native a Japan working in Sunnyvale, California, slipped and plunged 300 feet to his death. The altest fatality occurred on June 13, 2009.

Lightning strikes can be a risk while on or near the summit. On July 27, 1985, five hikers were struck by lightning, resulting in two fatalities.

Bridalveil Fall is one of the most prominent waterfalls in the Yosemite Valley and is seen yearly by millions of visitors to Yosemite National Park. When you drive up to the area where the falls is there is a parking lot with a trail back to the falls itself. You can see the falls through the trees. In this picture you see the falls, but when the falls is really flowing it is much larger than you see here. I think the reason it is so small in this picture is because all the snow has melted and there is little water to flow. Eventually the snow will fall again, and next year when it melts the falls will be huge.

The Ahwahneechee tribe believed that Bridalveil fall was home to a vengeful spirit named Pohono which guarded the entrance to the valley, and that those leaving the valley must not look directly into the waterfall lest they be cursed. They also believed that inhaling the mist of Bridalveil Fall would improve one's chances of marriage.

The darker area in this picture is usually covered with water when the falls is at full strength. Bridalveil Fall is 620 feet tall and flows year round. The glaciers that carved Yosemite Valley left many hanging valleys which spawned the waterfalls that pour into the valley. All of the waterways that fed these falls carved the hanging valleys into steep cascades with the exception of Bridalveil Fall.

This is actually a picture from the area of Bridalveil Falls, but this area can be seen from Glacier Point, which is a viewpoint abpve Yosemite Valley. It is located on the south wall of Yosemite Valley at an elevation of 7,214 feet, 3,200 feet above Curry Village. The point offersa superb view of Yosemite National Park's Yosemite Valley, including Yosemite Falls, Half Dome, Vernal Fall, Nevada Fall and Clouds Rest.

Glacier Point can be rached from the Valley via Glacier Point Road (which we took). Allow approximately one hour to reach Glacier Point by car. During the summer Glacier Point is often mobbed with tourists. Tours by bus are also available and take about four hours. The road is usually open from June through October. In winter, Glacier Point Raod closes due to snow, and access to Glacier Point from the Badger Pass Ski Area is only by skis or snowshoes.

Bridalveil still leaps into the valley from the edge of the precipice, although that edge has moved back into an alcove from the original edge of the valley. While Yosemite Falls seem to also fall into this category, the original course took the Yosemite Creek down a gorge to the west of its current location. The primary source of Bridalveil Falls is Ostrander Lake, some 9.9 miles to the south.

When the wind blows briskly, the waterfall will appear to be falling sideways. During lesser water flow the falls often don't reach the ground. Because of this, the Ahwahneechee Native Americans called this waterfalls Pohono, which means Spirit of the Puffing Wind.

Glacier Point can also be reached via the Four Mile Trail, which ascends the 3,200 feet in 4.6 miles. This moderate to strenuous trail can provide access to Glacier Point when the Glacier Point Road is closed. However, the trail can be extremely hazardous when covered with snow or ice, so is usually closed by the Park Service from December through May. Another 8.2 mile trail runs from Glacier Point down to the Valley, via the Panorama Trail, past Nevada and Vernal Falls.

Again, this picture is from the Bridalveil Falls area and that is me sitting at the end of the rocks. When Bridalveil Falls is at full blast this would actually be a stream over all these rcks. Mike had climbed up on the rocks, despite all the warning signs telly you not to, to get closer to the falls.

The extreme point of the promontory of Glacier Point is wholly bare, but on the slope below, in the hollow to the west, and on the wooded slope above, glacier material is abundant. Its glacial origin is definitely proved by the presence in it of rocks derived from Little Yosemite Valley and the High Sierra.

There are three types of glacially-deposited rock at Glacier Point:

1. Most plentiful are rounded boulders and cobbles and angular fragments, all deeply weathered, of Half Dome quartz monzonite, the light-colored granite of whoch not only Half Dome, but all of the Little Yosemite and its surrounding heights are composed.
2. There are also a few boulders of a coarse-grained, highly siliceous granite, light buff in general tone when fresh but vivid rose when weathered. There is only one place in the High Sierra above the Yosemite from which they can be derived: Mount Clark, the sharp profiled peak which stands on the east side of Illilouette Basin, eight miles from Glacier Point.
3. Finally, there are fragments of yellowish quartzite and gray schist whose places of origin have been located on the long northern spur of Mount Clark.

This is the Wawona Tunnel. When you come out of this tunnel you are at Tunnel View, a viewpoint on State Route 41, located directly east of the tunnel as one enters Yosemite Valley from the south. The view looks east into Yosemite Valley, including the southwest face of El Capitan, Half Dome, and Bridalveil Falls.
I actually took this photo off the Internet becasue we could not get a good picture of the inside of the tunnel.

El Capitan is a 3,000-foot vertical rock formation in Yosemite National PArk, located on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The granite monolith is one of the world's favorite challenges for rock climbers.

THe formation was named "El Capitan" by the Mariposa Battalion when it explored the valley in 1851. El Capitan ("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". It is unclear if the Native American name referred to a specific Tribal Chief, or simply meant "the cheif" or "rock chief". In modern times, the formations name is often contracted to "El Cap", especially among rock climbers.

While these are not very good pictures, the inside of the tunnel is actually unfinished. It appears as though the tunnel was just blasted out of the rock and not smoothed or tiled--just left the way it was. Tunnel View is, to many, the first view of the popular attractions in Yosemite. MAny cars stop right outside the tunnel to take pictures and absorb the beauty of the scenery.

The top of El Capitan can be reached by hiking out of Yosemite Valley on the trail next to Yosemite Falls, then proceeding west. For climbers, the challenge is to climb up the sheer granite face; there are dozens of named climbing routhes, all of them long and difficult.

El Capitan is composed almost entirely of El Capitan Granite, a pale, coarse-grained granite emplaced approximately 100 million years ago. In addition to El Capitan, this granite forms most of the rock features of the western prtions of Yosemite Valley. A separate intrusion of igneous rock, the Taft Granite, forms the uppermost portions of the cliff face. A third igneous rock, diorite, is present as dark-veined intrusions through both kinds of granite.

Along with most of the other rock formations of Yosemite Valley, El Capitan was carved by glacial action. Several periods of glaciation have occured ion the Sierra Nevada, but the Sherwin Glaciation, which lasted from approximately 1.3 million years ago to 1 million years ago, is considered to be responsible for the majority of the sculpting. THe El Capitan Granite is relatively free of joints, and as a result the glacial ice did not erode the rock face as much as other, more jointed, rocks nearby.

Once considered impossible to climb, El Capitan is now the standard for big-wall climbing. "El Cap" has two main faces, the Southwest (on the left when looking directly at the wall) and the Southeast. Between the two faces juts a massive prow. While today there are numerous established routes on both faces, the most popular and historically famous route is The Nose, which follows the massive prow.

The Nose was first climbed in 1958 by Warren Harding, Wayne Merry and George Whitmore in 47 days using "seige" tactics: climbing in an expedition style using fixed ropes along the length of the route, linking established camps along the way. The fixed manila ropes allowed the climbers to ascend and descend from the ground up throughout the 18 month project, although they presented unique levels of danger as well, sometimes breaking due to the long exposure to cold temperatures. The climbing team relied heavily on aid climbing, using rope, pitons and expansion bolts to make it to the summit. The second ascent of The Nose was in 1960 by Royal Robbins, Joe Fitschen, Chuck Pratt and Tom Frost, who took seven days in the first continuous climb of the route without siege tactics. The first solo climb of The Nose was done by Tom Bauman in 1969. The first ascent of The Nose in one day was accomplished in 1975 by John Long, Jim Bridwell and Billy Westbay. Today The Nose attracts climbers of various experience and ability levels, and with a success rate of around 60%, typically takes fit climbers 4-5 days of full climbing.
Efforts during the 1960s and 1970s explored the other faces of "El Cap", and many of the early routes are still popular today. Among the early classics are Salathe Wall (1961, Royal Robbins, Yvon and Tom Frost) on the southwest face, and the North America Wall (1964, Royal Robbons, Yvon Chouinard, CHuck Pratt and Tom Frost) on the southeast face. Also climbed in the 1960s are routes such as: Dihedral Wall (1962, Ed Cooper, Jim Baldwin and Glen Denny); West Buttress (1963, Layton Kor and Steve Roper); and Muir Wall (1965, Chouinard and T. M. Herbert). Later ascents include: Wall of the Early Morning Light (1970, Warren Harding and Dean Caldwell); Zodiac (1972, Charlie Porter (solo)); The Shield (1972, Porter and Gary Bocarde); Mescalito (1973, Porter, Steve Sutton, Hugh Burton and C. Nelson); Pacific Ocean Wall (1975, Jim Bridwell, Billy Westbay, Jay Fiske and Fred East); Sea of Dreams (1978, Bridwell, Dale Bard and Dave Diegelman); and Jolly Roger (1979, Charles Cole and Steve Grossman). Today there are over 70 routes on "El Cap" of various difficulties and danger levels. Indeed new routes continue to go up, usually consisting of additions to, or links between, pre-existing routes.

As it became clear that any face could be conquered with sufficient perserverance and bolt-hole drilling, some climbers began searching for El Cap routes that could be climbed either free or with minimal aid. The "West Face" route was free climbed in 1979 by Ray Jardine and Bill Price; but despite numerous efforts by Jardine and others, The Nose resisited free attempts for another furteen years.
The first free ascent of a main El Cap route, though, was not The Nose, but Salathe Wall. Todd Skinner and Paul Piana made the first free ascent over 9 days in 1988, after thirty days of working the route (graded 5.13 b by the Yosemite Decimal System).
The Nose was the second major route to be freeclimbed. Two pitches on The Nose blocked efforts to free the route: the "Great Roof" graded 5.13c and "Changing Corners" graded 5.14a/b. In 1993 Lynn Hill came close to freeing The Nose, making it past the Great Roof and up to Camp VI without falling, stopped only on Changing Corners by a ption jammed in a critical finger hold. After removing the piton she re-climbed the route from the ground. After four days of climbing, Hill reached the summit, making her the first person to free climb The Nose. A year later, Hill returned to free climb The Nose in a day, this time reachng the summit in just 23 hours and setting a new standard for free climbing on "El Cap".

The Nose saw a second free ascent in 1998, when Scott Burke submitted after 261 days of effort. On October 14, 2005, Tommy Caldwell and Beth Rodden became the 3rd and 4th people (and the 1st couple) to free climb The Nose. The husband-wife team took 4 days on the ascent, swapping leads with each climber free climbing each pitch, either leading or following. Two days later, Caldwell returned to free climb The Nose in less than 12 hours. Caldwell returned two weeks later to free climb El Cap twice in a day, completing The Nose with Rodden, then descending and leading Freerider in a combined time of 23 hours and 23 minutes.
Speed limbing "El Cap" is also popular. On October 12, 2008, Hans Florine and Yuji Hirayama set the current speed record for "French Freeing" The Nose, climbing the 31-pitch route in 2 houjrs, 37 minutes and 5 seconds. The record was previously held by Hirayama and Florine at 2:43:33 on July 2, 2008, and prior to that by the Huber Brothers at 2:45:45 in 2007.

El Capitan has a controversial history regarding BASE jumbing, and the National Park Service has effectively banned the practice. Michael Pelkey and Brain Schubert made the first BASE jump from El Capitan on July 24, 1966. Both men sustained broken bones from the jump. During the 1970s and with better equipment and training, many BASE jumpers mande successful and safe jumps from El Capitan. In 1980 the NAtional Park Service experimented with issuing BASE-jumping permits. However, some jumpers exhibited significant disregard for the park's rules and the environment. After a trial lasting only a few months, the National PArk Service ceases issuing permits nd effectively shut down all BASE jumping on El Capitan. On October 23, 1999, BASE jumper and stuntwoman Jan Davis died while making as illegal protest jump in support of lifting the park's ban. BASE jumpers continue to fight the National Park Service in court for access to El Capitan.