Re: Yosemite Falls Vandalism

Please spread the word so that we can catch these jacka$$es

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/roughly-30-sites-vandalized-covered-in-spray-paint-at-yosemite-national-park/ar-AAYnMTg?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=e7765fac02ee44c7823568fd334c6720

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I got so mad when I saw this. Each time I go to Yosemite, I am seeing more and more people doing things that they should not be doing. You take a chance that if you say something, they might physically or verbally retaliate or, in the case of our last trip - lie about what they did or totally ignore you. Can't understand why they will not just stay home and make a mess in their own backyards.

Next time you see something - take out the phone and get pics/video. No need to confront and report to the next ranger you see.

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Corntortilla
Next time you see something - take out the phone and get pics/video. No need to confront and report to the next ranger you see.

I have done that but if there are no rangers around or no cell signal but if you can't get a picture also of their vehicle, not much can be done in many cases to find them again. If people are really doing something like trying to pet a wild animal, if there are no rangers around and I have cell coverage, I will call dispatch if they won't stop what they are doing. With Covid, the park is short staffed so rangers are far and few between especially along Tioga Road. I have been verbally abused and almost attacked when I was volunteering in Rocky Mountain NP one day. When I reported it to a LE, I was told that a few days earlier a park ranger was punched and knocked down when she asked a man not to walk on the Tundra. Some people don't care who is talking to them. In that case, a by stander took a picture when the guy got into his car and reported the license plate and they guy ended up being arrested at the Denver airport.

Last summer I saw three people carving their initials into a tree on the Washburn Trail to the Mariposa Grove. I told them that it was illegal and bad for the tree. They had no idea you're not supposed to deface trees, and said they had seen someone else carve their name. They did stop carving, but who knows if they continued later. I think that people have a responsibility to say something, but not in a defensive way.

The Yosemite Falls trail is poorly patrolled by park rangers, and I am not sure why. last time I was there, there was some idiot running two large dogs up the trail and down. he was pretty abrasive and rude. he was never caught. Beef up the patrols on this trail!

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lonelugger
The Yosemite Falls trail is poorly patrolled by park rangers, and I am not sure why. last time I was there, there was some idiot running two large dogs up the trail and down. he was pretty abrasive and rude. he was never caught. Beef up the patrols on this trail!

Dogs off leash and in areas they are not supposed to be is becoming fairly common in the park. We saw several incidences of this when we were there a few weeks ago - at Happy Isle, Tuolumne Meadows and Slaughterhouse Meadow.

I was on that trail a few days ago and saw two instances of blue graffiti (had to turn around early, unfortunately.) I figured they had to be some of the ones in the news story, though the story describes them as "blue and white" and blurs the pictures. Two things about that, though:

1. I also noticed that someone had left a modest-sized blue-and-white graffito at a lodging outside the Park where graffiti have otherwise been pretty scarce. I took a picture, but I'm not a connoisseur of graffiti and can't tell if it has anything in common with the ones along the trail.

2. Tonight, back in the Bay Area, I noticed a rock on the edge of a parking lot with blue graffiti that looked very similar (in color and style) to the ones I'd seen along the trail. I have no way of telling if that color and style are in vogue among graffitists all over California or if, possibly, I keep crossing paths with whoever tagged the rocks in the Park. Is there any point in seeking out whoever is investigating the tagging, or would I just be bothering them with useless information?

I did get pictures of the four pieces that I saw, in the Park and out. One of the four is on a surface that gets driven over so it'll eventually disappear. The ones on rocks all look like they'll be there till someone removes them.

The story originally didn't blur the graffiti. It said 559 Fresno. Images here: https://www.fresnobee.com/news/california/yosemite/article262456297.html

Thanks, Corntortilla. Those are clearly different from both of the ones I've seen outside the park. It's apparently just that light blue color (or that particular brand of spray paint) that's gotten popular lately.