Re: Wish i had one at the time lol

On March 30th, i was hiking back down from Vernal Falls when i heard an engine sound, so i look behind me and see a Yosemite worker coming down in this. at the time, i was really sore and tired, i felt like jumping on. lol

---

Like I always say, "if you can't laugh at yourself, let me do it".

My Yosemite Blog: http://yosemiteforrest.blogspot.com/

Is that why they paved the trail?

i saw two men fixing parts of the paved trail... it appeared to be washed out from snow / water and they were putting large rocks / small boulders in place... it looked like a time consuming job!

the trail really needs repair in places, especially once you leave the bridge heading up the trail to the falls.

If you think that's bad, you should see the Sierra Point trail.

Mist Falls/Bubbs Creek trail a few years ago, a park worker was hand-trucking in a portable generator and chain saw to cut new rails across the Kings River and up the Bubbs Creek. Poor guy was his own mule.

I wish I had pics from back then but those were all 35 mm film and I have nothing to show you on this, all the photos and negs are still in storage in San Diego, a long memory ago.

eeek wrote:

> Is that why they paved the trail?
>

I was surprised to see some patches of asphalt way up in the Little Yosemite Valley. I think in the old days there was surface treatment up past Nevada Falls.

---

The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas.
-- Carl Sagan

Frank Furter wrote:

> I was surprised to see some patches of asphalt way up in the
> Little Yosemite Valley. I think in the old days there was
> surface treatment up past Nevada Falls.

I know there was a lodge above Vernel. Was there one higher up?

eeek wrote:

> Frank Furter wrote:
>
> > I was surprised to see some patches of asphalt way up in the
> > Little Yosemite Valley. I think in the old days there was
> > surface treatment up past Nevada Falls.
>
> I know there was a lodge above Vernel. Was there one higher up?
>


Not aware of one. The asphalt sections I saw (east of Little Yos.) could have been a very old attempt at a perfect and durable trail.

---

The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas.
-- Carl Sagan

From approximately 1870 to 1890, Harold and Emily Snow of Groveland operated La Casa Nevada (the "Snow House" between Vernal and Nevada Falls. If you can locate some of the stories of their years up there, they are highly amusing. Two of my favorite were that you could find 11 feet of snow at that location; Harold was 6' tall and Emily 5'. The other that I have personally adopted is that Emily would serve pork and beans with meals, along with the remark, "Here, have some more 'strawberries.'" I don't recall the details of why they ended the venture - possibly a death - but the structures were abandoned and eventually burned about 1896. In the summer of 1969, the Sierra Club hauled out many bags of refuse from the hotel days. I just consulted my edition of Russell's "100 Years in Yosemite," and there is a nice picture of the structures in it. I believe there have also been a number of smaller structures in Little Yosemite Valley, but I don't have any definitive knowledge of them.

La Casa Nevada
For fifteen years after the coming of visitors, the wonders of the Merced Canyon above Happy Isles were
accessible only to those hardy mountaineers who could scramble through the boulder-strewn gorge without
the advantage of a true trail. In 1869-70 one Albert Snow completed a horse trail front Yosemite Valley to the
flat between Vernal and Nevada falls, and there opened a mountain chalet, which was to be known as “La
Casa Nevada.” The popularity of the saddle trip to the two great falls of the Merced was immediate, and the
pioneer trail builder, John Conway, extended the trail from Snow’s to Little Yosemite Valley the next year. It
then was usual for all tourists to ascend the Merced Canyon to La Casa Nevada and Little Yosemite. Some
hikers undertook the trip from Little Yosemite to Glacier Point, but another fifteen years were to elapse before
Glacier Point was made accessible by a truly good horse trail from Nevada Fall.
Snow’s was opened on April 28, 1870. One of the prized possessions of the Yosemite Museum is a register
from this hostelry, which dates from the opening to 1875. Upon its foxed pages appear thousands of
registrations and numerous comments of more than passing interest. Among these is a very interesting
two-page manuscript by John Muir, describing an 1874 trip to Snow’s via Glacier Point and the Illilouette. P.
A. H. Laurence [Editor’s note: James Henry Laurence—dea], once editor of the Mariposa Gazette,
contributed to its value by inscribing within it an account of his visit to Yosemite Valley in 1855, years
before the chalet was built.
A party with N. H. Davis, United States Inspector General, commented upon their destination and added:
“This party defers further remarks until some further examinations are made.” Under the date of the original
entry is a significant second autograph by a member of the General’s party: “A preliminary examination
develops an abundance of mountain dew.”
A great pile of broken containers, which had once held the “mountain dew,” is about the only remnant of La
Casa Nevada which may be viewed by present-day visitors, for the chalet was destroyed by fire in the early
’nineties.

Post Edited (04-09-09 08:25)

---

Everything I know I learned from

The pic did not show up on my screen (not a guarantee that it did not work everywhere else)

B

I didn't think they could use motorized vehicles in wilderness areas, which I thought was anything above the valley floor. First time I've ever seen one of those on a trail, I hope it's not a sign of things to come.

---

Gary
Yosemite Photo Galleries: http://www.pbase.com/roberthouse/yo

Sierrafan: I didn't think they could use motorized vehicles in wilderness areas, which I thought was anything above the valley floor. First time I've ever seen one of those on a trail, I hope it's not a sign of things to come.

I believe that there is an exception for maintenance crews. I have ridden along in trucks up to the foot of Sentinal Dome (Pohono trail) several times (you should see the glares the poor driver gets).

B

I'm not certain the trail from Happy Isles to the Vernal Falls bridge actually qualifies as wilderness. I also once saw a Lamborgini (sic) mini-road grader on a trail in Pinnacles National Monument in Monterey/San Benito Counties.

I also apologize for my mistake in referring to Mr. Snow as Harold instead of Albert. I haven't researched that family in years, and confused the name with someone else.

Neat forum you have. I thoroughly enjoy the east side of Yellowstone, but I do miss Yosemite!

The area from the valley floor up just past Nevada Fall and between the Mist Trail and the John Muir Trail is not designated wilderness.

There is a strip of non-wilderness that runs up to Glacier Point just west of the Four Mile Trail and most of the Glacier Point area is non-wilderness.

The entire area south of Big Oak Flat Road and the old road from Hodgden Meadow and north of Wawona Road including Turtleback Dome is not wilderness.

Virtually everywhere it is necessary to put wheels on the ground is not designated wilderness.

Other stuff not wilderness:
Hetch Hetchy Resevour
Lake Eleanor
Tenaya Lake
A big chunk by Lake Vernon
A big piece at Miguel Meadow
Most of the flat area at Tuolumne Meadows
All of the High Sierra Camp areas
Badger Pass Ski Resort
All dirve-in campgrounds
Virtually all of the Wawona Area and the Mariposa Grove area
And other little areas too

---

Old Dude

Mike,

Where did you get the idea that the High Sierra Camp areas are not wilderness? They are definitely inside the wilderness areas designated on the National Geo Trails Illustrated Maps used by the permit stations.

Jim

Here's why these areas were excluded from the wilderness designation:

PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN USES

(c) Except as specifically provided for in this Act, and subject to existing private rights, there shall be no commercial enterprise and no permanent road within any wilderness area designated by this Act and, except as necessary to meet minimum requirements for the administration of the area for the purpose of this Act (including measures required in emergencies involving the health and safety of persons within the area), there shall be no temporary road, no use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment or motorboats, no landing of aircraft, no other form of mechanical transport, and no structure or installation within any such area.

---

Old Dude

Try this for the pic.
Caveman not sure why picasa no worky sometimes. Maybe caveman
cache pic-tor or sumtin.... Hitting head with stick not working either...

<http://picasaweb.google.com/dale.dekeyser/Misc#5322691460730077474>;

Bill-e-g: Try this for the pic.

Looks cozy! (better than the average cave)

B

Jim,
Take a look at USGS Maps. They are marked on them.
Some will say explicitly around the border. Some are just marked off with
dashed lines.
Mike got pretty much all of them...
I can stick a map up if you don't have any to show you if u like.

Dale,

No need. I assumed the Nat Geo Tr Illust maps were accurate. Guess not.

Jim