The Moon is Waxing Gibbous (83% of Full)
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You might also want to take one of the tram tours around the Valley floor (it'll finish by taking you up to the famous Tunnel View which, these days, is probably the single most recognizable shot of the Valley). It's a "touristy" thing to do, yes, but I was glad I did it on my first visit...a great way to see a bunch of the most famous sites and, depending on the guide, get a few or a
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DavidK42
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Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion Quotekatie
Thanks for all the suggestion. Seems like 120 is the way to go. Will the road be open in the middle of June?
Katie, if the Tioga Road is still not open (and, as others have said, that looks like a distinct probability given the amount of snow that hit the Park this winter), you could always cross over the Sierra south of the Park, come in the South entrance, drive up to the Valley an
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DavidK42
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Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion As a biography, I actually thought this fell a bit short, mostly insofar as it glossed over some details that I think add immeasurably to the overall story...the ongoing fight with Josiah Whitney over Muir's theory of glaciation (the show made it seem a bit like Muir came up with the idea and everybody said "wow...that's brilliant!" ), no mention of his first summer herding sheep in the
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DavidK42
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Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion Quotematty
What are some sights to see on the lower elevations? other than your typical Half Dome and Yosemite Falls.
I could name a bunch of specifics but the truth is that it's hard to look much of anywhere in Yosemite and not find something beautiful and fascinating. Some are major (look up at El Capitan as you're walking along the El Cap bridge (I like this perspective better than the mor
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DavidK42
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Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion Quotehikerchick395
And I know a guy, 4WheelBob, who has gone up the Mist Trail in his custom chair.
That is quite impressive (presumably he just went up the JMT junction...it would be EXTREMELY impressive if he actually took it to the top of Vernal!
michaelrosso: In case this gives you ideas, just a heads up that you'd have to be in very good shape to get your Granddad up the Mist Trail. I
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DavidK42
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Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion QuoteDave
This shows a dire need for more campgrounds. Yosemite has 900. Yellowstone has over 2,000.
Not trying to kick off the great "The Parks should be accomodating" vs. "The Parks should be undeveloped" debate but, to be fair, we should note that Yellowstone is approximately 3 times the size of Yosemite (roughly 9000 sq km vs just over 3000) so, by area, Yosemite actuall
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DavidK42
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Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion QuoteWicket
100. I wasn't aware there are that many. That's what I love about Yosemite.
An exact count gets a bit difficult since many are ephemeral, unnamed and/or quite small (in the springtime, almost any trail that climbs along a hill or cliffside will pass numerous "waterfalls" some of which could just as easily be called "random snow melt" except that it's in the sam
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DavidK42
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Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion Quotechick-on
Wow. I didn't even read all this but it's obvious SPAM-A-LOT!
Well, I did edit it back a bit...my original version said
There's only one place worth staying in all of Yosemite and only a total moron would stay anywhere else. Upon arrival at the Wawona, a bevy of scantily clad young ladies will rush at you to tickle you with feather dusters while hand-feeding you chocolate-co
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DavidK42
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Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion Quotenyberg_d
If anybody happens to stay here, please write a review.
We almost always stay in Yosemite West now but, on my first trip to the Park, we stayed at the Wawona. In the main hotel, the basic rooms are very spartan (a bed, a chair, a nightstand, not much else). All rooms open on to the exterior porch (i.e., no interior hallways) and the bathrooms are around the back. If you're the
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DavidK42
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Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion QuoteAlmostThere
Are those people on that ledge, or snow artifacts?
When I zoomed in and looked yesterday, I was certain they were people but now that you mention the snow artifacts, I'm much less certain which they are.
--David K
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DavidK42
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Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion Quotequmqats
Depends on the gearing of the car.
It doesn't work too well on my car.
It's an automatic.
First is so low that I'm going 10 to 15mph, second is too high and i go zipping down the grade riding the brakes.
I make sure there's no one behind me as I approach the grade turnoff, otherwise I end up having to pull over to let them pass while I'm on OPG. I use 2nd for the straights, br
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DavidK42
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Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion Quoteeeek
QuoteDanPJCan they get another set of cables up there?
I'm sure they could install another set of cables. But it isn't going to happen.
And, given that at least a few folks on this list have advocated that the current cables be removed, I don't think you'll get much support for that notion here.
--David
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DavidK42
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Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion QuoteDanPJ
I think I noticed that road before. I was always curious why some roads stop getting maintained... like what old reasons were there for they to be there in the first place.
The Big Oak Flat (along with the contemporaneous Coulterville and Wawona Roads) were built for stage coach travel. They were quite impressive for their time (1870's), especially the descent that the BOF and C
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DavidK42
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Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion Quotecamper68
I recently downloaded an Android App for Yosemite that supposedly has maps, trails, and works with the built in GPS of the phone.
What's the name of this app? Is it available in the Android Market?
I have a handheld Garmin with the National Parks West maps for all the trails in Yosemite but I only carry that when I'm hiking...would be nice to have the maps in my phone for refe
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DavidK42
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Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion It says this is "just west" of Camp 4. Any idea how far west? I'm wondering if it's far enough west to cause any kind of access problems with the bottom of the Old Big Oak Flat Road.
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DavidK42
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Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion I'm not sure what it'll be like in April but one of the less-publicized hikes that I think is quite lovely (and, I would expect it to be at least largely snow-free in April) is to the top of Chilnualna Falls down in the Wawona area. There's a lot I love about this hike:
* Even though you gain about 2700', you do it mostly quite gradually so, even if you're unaccustomed to higher altitudes
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DavidK42
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Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion Quoteplawrence
Maybe the Park Service should hook one up between the top of Half Dome and Glacier Point!
(Just kidding, folks)
;-)
Well, you might be kidding but there were multiple proposals throughout the 20th century to build cable cars from the Valley to Glacier Point. According to Chapter III of Hank Johnston's Yosemite's Yesterdays:
"In September 1913...W.H. Hendricks, a pro
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DavidK42
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Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion QuoteDave
In the Valley anyway, I'm pretty sure the pines are encroaching on many parts of the meadow because of the blasting of the moraine by Bridalveil because that ended the spring floods that kept the ground too wet for pines to sprout, and South Side Drive changed the flow of water keeping the area north of it even drier.
I'm not sure if Hetch Hetchy will be restored in my life-time (even i
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DavidK42
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General Discussion Stand back...after he's done de-icing, he's going to use his shotgun to trim his toenails!
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DavidK42
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General Discussion very cool (no pun intended!). Oddly, though: After I watched directly from the NPS site, I went over to u2b to bookmark it. When u2b shows you related videos, I can pretty much always figure out what the connection to the just-watched video is. For some odd reason, several of the related videos that came up after this edition of YNN were about farts!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V9p4mFE
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DavidK42
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Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion Quoteeeek
You can load PDFs in gimp. Just put both maps into their own layers and adjust the scales so they match.
Thanks, eeek...downloading it right now! It even fits with my current "policy" of using open-source software whenever possible.
--David
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DavidK42
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Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion Quotechick-on
Other interesting items include:
- Old trail by Ft. Monroe
Interesting...the map calls that the Pohono Trail but it's not the current alignment (the current alignment turns SE at about 119.69205 W longitude but this map, as nearly as I can tell, has the trail turning SE at 119.69547. Fort Monroe was the last horse changing station on the old Wawona Road before descending to the
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DavidK42
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Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion Quotechick-on
Put a bunch of pix. here for you:
https://picasaweb.google.com/yosemite.chick.on/Rockslides
It also includes Old Coulterville from 140 to Foresta Rd.
Enjoy
Wow, chick-on...you've outdone yourself on this one...I could practically feel myself on the trail with this series. I'm also really kicking myself because these pictures pretty much confirm what I was beginning to suspec
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DavidK42
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Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion I really love this picture, btw. With all those pedestal-like outcroppings, it almost looks like a set for the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, except with design by Mother Nature!
--David
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DavidK42
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Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion Quotechick-on
David,
You will be happy to know you can "easily" hike the entire road including
the big ol switchbacks. All told there's 7 rocks with arrows painted on them.
The picture above of the "just coming out of the woods" is actually the middle
switchback. Only thing to worry about is poison oak. Other than that I
found it incredibly easy to follow the ent
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DavidK42
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Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion