The Moon is Waxing Gibbous (69% of Full)
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QuoteFrank Furter
The cables are not "untrammelled" wilderness but exist and are maintained by the Park Service. This route is not an unmarked freely accessible rock scramble. Effectively hikers have only the cables as a route to the top of Half Dome and according to Park Service rules about off trail travel (cutting across switchbacks) it could be argued that hiking closeby but outside
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Sierrafan
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General Discussion Quoteeeek
Quotey_p_wAre they requiring check-in at the Pines campgrounds now?
Last time I stayed at Upper Pines they did want me to check-in. They even left me a nasty note about it. But those volunteers that run the booth never seemed to bother actually being there...not even during the times listed on the stupid nasty note. Frankly I think they should either do their jobs or should be replace
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Sierrafan
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General Discussion Quotecthenn
I just don't understand, when it's common knowledge how insanely crowded Yosemite can be on a Memorial Day weekend, why people still come in droves? I understand it's a 3-day weekend, but come on, I'm sure most people could get one Friday or Monday off work to come some other weekend...that's what I do!
And it's only a few weeks until summer vacation for kids, so it's not like i
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Sierrafan
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General Discussion Half Dome is the wrong hike if you're looking for a wilderness experience, and on a Saturday, no way. Likewise Mount Whitney main trail, in season.
There are different reasons people hike. For those who seek solitude or want to get away from all people, there are a lot better choices, but certainly Half Dome isn't even on the list. Like some others, I love the HD hike, though I try (and usu
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Sierrafan
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General Discussion QuoteBob Weaver
Seriously, though, maybe they should start regulating it, at least from the cables on up. Require a license to ascend the cables, and to get the permit you must go through a training class operated by the park, for a fee. Once you have gone through that class, you get the license and you can go up. I would think the park service would consider this when the alternative is the poss
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Sierrafan
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General Discussion Great job on the video Bob. Aside from the great views, the video says a lot about using a tripod, without having to even mention it. (I almost didn't look, being accustomed to so many 'jerky' videos, including my own, that really aren't all that enjoyable to see). In yours, the only things moving are the things that are supposed to be moving 8^).
The background noise at the Tunnel View sho
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Sierrafan
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General Discussion Yes, I've heard Whitney summit is pretty inaccessible right now, despite how it was recently.
Beware of lightning advice from strangers though. Remember, if you've read the book "Shattered Air", those guys that went up Half Dome were sure of themselves and no doubt would have liked the "hit by a car advice".
I've heard these 'advisors' as we left the HD cables retreatin
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Sierrafan
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General Discussion Quotetomdisco
Frank,
It quotes that current flows opposite the direction of the electrons because they are negatively charged and that this is "conventional" thinking going back to Ben Franklin. That does not make it true. Conventional thinking is still stuck on the idea of a positive charge having substance while a negative charge does not. This is maddening. Why do all these pe
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Sierrafan
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Photography advice, critiques and tutorials I've always understood it to mean the direction of flow of the lightning. If the source in the cloud is positive relative to the earth below, the strike will flow upward, which is positive lightning. More normal flow is from negatively charged areas of the cloud, to the earth.
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Sierrafan
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Photography advice, critiques and tutorials It doesn't seem to me that it would even be legal to close them to public access. Get rid of the rangers, the kiosks, employees, is one thing, but close off the trails and access to beaches and forests? How is that one going to sneak by?
The land belongs to the people of the State of California, not some private enterprise. For it to belong to them, but at the same time not allow anyone to
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Sierrafan
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General Discussion But can you still talk on the phone and be emailing at the same time? That's what would be nice. Being an i-gadget, I assume you can also listen to music, so we have all 3 at the same time, plus maybe playing a game, making an airline reservation, and being able to enjoy the view in Yosemite via the screen.
There's usually a short lens-to-LCD delay, so another nice thing would be after you h
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Sierrafan
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General Discussion QuoteFrank Furter
QuoteBee
Hah! They should leave up one solitary cable lying against the granite, so that you have to pull yourself up the way the Goatie did in those "Diving Board Trip" photos. Imagine the enhanced self-satisfaction you would get
If the single cable can allow someone to ascend outside the slick track created by the " tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to brea
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Sierrafan
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General Discussion If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
There was a discussion of this a while back when the 3 deaths had occurred (two were in off-season with cables down). The system is pretty self-regulating as it is.
People who don't like crowds, don't go, or try to go when it's not crowded.
The cables are a narrow, two-way street, with the slowest ones being the limiting factor. People who see that will
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Sierrafan
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General Discussion QuoteVince
The Yosemite NP web site has referred to the sub-dome as the "shoulder"
At least, I think that's what they were referring to...
Yes, I don't think 'sub-dome' is anything official, just a common usage. The part in the middle at the base of the cables is often called the saddle.
Which would make it an odd-shaped horse. The 'visor' would have to be on the hat which g
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Sierrafan
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General Discussion On the first trip I was a little surprised that the granite steps ended, and there seemed to be no indication of where to go...I do think that particular part doesn't get much mention. The steps, no doubt, are mentioned because you get there first, and you can't help but "notice" them. I had started walking up the steps at a normal hiking pace, and quickly discovered that wasn't a goo
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Sierrafan
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General Discussion QuoteBob Weaver
Is there now any kind of sign at the spot where they built the fire, with information about the firefall? It seems like a lot of people are still interested in knowing about it.
I've never seen anything about it at Glacier Point, and in fact unless you're looking for it, there's no obvious traces of it left. That movie that Vince posted is pretty throrough in its coverage. If
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Sierrafan
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General Discussion QuoteBob Weaver
Thanks... we won't be going up Half Dome anyway because my Mom is 90 and in a wheelchair. But I was planning to watch the sunset from Glacier Point on Wednesday, is Glacier Point dangerous if a thunderstorm is in the area? And you're always safe just sitting in your car waiting out the storm, right? Actually I'm kind of looking forward to the drama and beauty of a good storm or tw
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Sierrafan
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General Discussion QuoteVince
If it costs $69 to get into a state park, like I said, so be it. Pay to play. You're claiming someone else should pay, not you. This is why California and pretty much all governments are in trouble now. They have proven themselves incapable.
Why bother having a government then? Just make everything into a private business...schools, highways, state and national parks, forests. Yo
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Sierrafan
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General Discussion Quotemrcondron
Most of that stuff on the valley floor would go away if fires were not allowed. Start with that. With the emission standards today compared to 20 years ago cars don't cause that much of a problem.
I wish they'd done that long ago; the valley just isn't well-suited for campfires in any number, there's just not enough air circulation. I think it's difficult because a lot of recr
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Sierrafan
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General Discussion Quoteabenebbish
Gary, Well put on the dangers of rivers in early spring.
I just recently joined and it is nice to see some sanity in this forum.
Is there always so much crass behavior?
Only in the last couple of months; until then, it was a very pleasant and useful forum with lots of good information, along with a good balance of occasional good-natured kidding around (but not to the extent t
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Sierrafan
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General Discussion QuoteBob Weaver
OK sorry. It's better to know of any dangers and be prepared.
Not sure why you'd get flak for warning people of real, not imagined dangers they may not be aware of. The Death in Yosemite book is full of accounts of people doing things that they thought were fairly innocuous...crossing above a waterfall, posing for photos on a rock in the river, even just filling a water bottle.
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Sierrafan
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General Discussion An unscientific comparison of the last 4 years in mid to late May (not all at exactly the same angle):
While 2006 looks the healthiest by a small margin, note that both the 2008 and 2009 photos were taken after or during some unseasonably hot May weather, and in fact the 2008 one had a fairly heavy snowfall just a week or so before the hot spell. 2007 was the only year we didn't find a nice
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Sierrafan
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General Discussion Here's a few days ago, I suspect it will hold up at least for a while:
(upper)
(lower)
The whole thing:
I've seen it larger, but it's pretty impressive. I don't know how the snowpack is at the top, had wanted to go up but ran short on time, and just couldn't convince myself it was worth hurrying up that trail in the hot weather.
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Sierrafan
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General Discussion To me the whole thing about the guns is less of an issue than how this thing got through. They attached it to a credit card reform law?!?
Apparently our legal system is so pitifully botched up that some silly attachment like this can ride through on something that's bound to pass because people are fed up with credit card companies bullying them.
They couldn't have just x-ed out this stupi
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Sierrafan
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General Discussion Quoteforrestranger
about how many are there? (just a bad guess will do).
21, probably qualifies for the 'bad guess'.
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Sierrafan
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General Discussion Quoteforrestranger
btw, are they private? or do you have to shower in the same room as anyone?
There's only one showerhouse there (that I know of) still functioning since the rockslide last year. The showers themselves, including a small changing area, are private and curtained. I've never used them in summer, but try to figure out a time when folks are least likely to be taking a shower, unles
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Sierrafan
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General Discussion QuoteBob Weaver
We were there Thursday, May 21, 2008, and in the morning it was very sparse, but by the afternoon it was somewhat crowded. Not objectionably crowded, but the shuttle buses were full. It was 63 degrees at the valley floor. I found out that a day or two later, it snowed lightly. I hesitated to make plans to go there in June, but I wanted to shoot for slightly warmer weather but stil
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Sierrafan
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General Discussion Repel makes a product from lemon eucalyptus oil that works well. A few years ago, we had all 3...DEET, Cutter advanced (picardin) and the lemon-euc...on a visit to the valley after Memorial day. So, in an unscientific test, we got to see what worked and what didn't. The DEET and the lemon euc both worked well. The picardin failed...my son tried it and was being attacked right after he'd put i
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Sierrafan
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General Discussion QuoteVince
What a bunch of loaded, leftist words:
"killed"
"avoidance"
"carnage"
"struck"
Modified to suit Vince's preferences:
"The population of this international-orange and dirt-brown pest is being managed by volunteers in large SUV's and motor homes driving at speeds adequate to the task. For those worried about their cute little hybrid
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Sierrafan
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General Discussion Quotetomdisco
Frank,
I'm not aware of anybody falling off during that episode. The TV show that covered the "Shattered Air" incident never mentioned it. The re-creation on TV had the entire party huddling in a sort of depression on top, most of them sitting or lying down against the side of that depression. The one member least hurt was the one on the move trying to reposition him
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Sierrafan
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General Discussion