Yosemite National Park, California

“Descending towards the Yo-Semite Valley, we came upon a high point clear of trees, from whence we had our first view of the singular and romantic valley; and as the scene opened in full view before us, we were almost speechless with wondering admiration at its wild and sublime grandeur”

~ James Mason Hutchings

Upper Yosemite Falls with Merced River

One of America's first and most beloved national parks, Yosemite is a study in beauty. At its heart is the Yosemite Valley, a canyon of sharply defined granite walls, through which the mighty Merced River flows and lush meadows lie. The Merced is fed by dramatic waterfalls, three of which are amongst the ten tallest waterfalls in the world, being the Yosemite, Sentinal and Ribbon Falls (although this fact is a matter of some contention). John Muir, America's most admired conservationist and botanist, was instrumental in the preservation of Yosemite Valley and described it thus in 1912:

“...The most famous and accessible of these cañon valleys, and also the one that presents their most striking and sublime features on the grandest scale, is the Yosemite, situated in the basin of the Merced River at an elevation of 4000 feet above the level of the sea. It is about seven miles long, half a mile to a mile wide, and nearly a mile deep in the solid granite flank of the range. The walls are made up of rocks, mountain size, partly separated from each other by side cañons, and they are so sheer in front, and so compactly and harmoniously arranged on a level floor, that the Valley, comprehensively seen, looks like an immense hall or temple lighted from above”

Today the masses enter Yosemite Valley in an orderly fashion along a paved highway, but the views are still as dramatic. On the drive into the park visitors will pass El Capitan, the largest piece of exposed granite rock in the world, Bridalveil Falls, Ribbon Falls, Yosemite Falls, the Merced River and finally in the distance you might capture a glimpse of Half Dome, perhaps America's most famous rock formation. At this time of year, the springtime, the valley floor is flush with green meadows and smatterings of wildflowers, the most prolific being the purple lupine. The white blossoms of the Pacific Dogwood Tree are an especially delightful diversion throughout the park as well, their blossoms sitting like little white tea-cups in the tree's boughs.

Yosemite is at its best in springtime, as the waterfalls are glutted with the waters of the snow-melt. Leaping from the dramatic granite cliffs, the waterfalls of Yosemite National Park are incredibly spectacular. Yosemite Falls is the largest waterfall in North America and oft quoted as the sixth largest in height in the world. In addition, the exposed granite rock glistening with sunlight and water-spray is an inspirational sight.

The symbol of Yosemite for many people is the Half Dome granite rock formation. The pinnacle of this mountain sized rock (elevation over 8000 feet) appears to be a dome cut in half, hence the name “Half Dome”. The 16 mile round-trip trail leading to the top of Half Dome sees over 1000 hikers a day in summer, and this is despite the fact that hikers must climb the last 400 feet of the trail by a cable ladder.

As you may have already assumed, Yosemite has inspired poets and dreamers for some time now. When American militias were scouring the region for dissident Indians back in the 1800's, Lafayette Bunnell, a young calvary man was deeply moved by the Yosemite panorama: “As I looked, a peculiar exalted sensation seemed to fill my whole being... and I found my eyes in tears with emotions... I said with some enthusiasm ... I have here seen the power and glory of a Supreme Being; the majesty of His handy work is in that Testimony of the Rocks.” Young Lafayette chose an unlikely time to be overwhelmed by one's natural surroundings, given that he was in the business of killing Native Americans, but such is the power of Yosemite, I suppose.

John Muir, the great American quoted at the beginning of this post, had a special connection with Yosemite National Park. He lived and worked in Yosemite Valley for many years and dedicated much of his life to the national parks movement. He had a particular fondness for Yosemite and was devastated when the Hetch Hetchy Valley, in the north of the park, was damned in 1914 to create a water reservoir for the populace of San Francisco. This incident called into question the sanctity of the national park system and the safety of America's natural wonders.

Vernal Falls

History

Yosemite was not America's first designated national park (that honor was taken by Yellowstone), but because of its beauty and numerous ardent supporters, Yosemite can be seen as an inspiration for the concept of setting aside land for preservation in America.

In 1864, in the middle of the Civil War, President Lincoln signed a bill that set aside Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove (a grove of giant sequoias south of Yosemite valley) for “public use, resort and recreation”. This area was to be administered by the State of California. In 1890 after the creation of the national park concept and the establishment of Yellowstone, Yosemite's status was changed from California state park to national park.

Today, Yosemite entertains over 4 million visitors each year. Steps have been taken to further protect the park from this level of love. The Federal Congress has designated 95 percent of Yosemite National Park as “wilderness”. Wilderness status aims to forever protect the designated land in its natural condition and as a wildlife habitat. (For more see http://www.wilderness.net/).

On a more practical level, a shuttle bus system has been established to ferry tourists around Yosemite Village, the popular sites of the park, as well as various trail-heads and camping grounds. The shuttle is free and for most of the day in the summer season runs at ten minute intervals. This measure reduces car congestion within the park, the idea being that visitors park their car at one of the central car parks and then use the shuttle bus to see the park's sites. You can hop on and off the bus as much as you like all day long

Pacific Dogwood Tree

Geography

Yosemite National Park can be divided into four separate geographic areas – High Sierra, Granite Cliffs, Sequoia Grove and Valley.

As Yosemite sits in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, the parts of the park at high elevation are considered to be a part of the High Sierra. The Sierra received so much snowfall last year that most of the park that falls into the High Sierra category is still closed off to the public at the time of writing.

Glaciers carved the granite cliffs that now form Yosemite Valley – in fact, the theory that glaciers carve u-shaped valleys was originated by John Muir, primarily through his inspection of the valleys within what is now Yosemite National Park. Today, the cliffs are still being shaped by rockfalls (which are common), water and gravity.

Yosemite National Park is home to three groves of the giant Sequoia trees – Mariposa, Merced and Tuolumne. Politically, these groves were helpful in establishing Yosemite, first as a state park and then as a national park. In the late 1800's, the populace was beginning to see the merit in preserving the ancient Sequoias and were concerned that they may all be lost to the logger's axe if a law was not enacted to protect the trees. Concern for the Sequoias helped engender popular support for the novel concept of the national park. For more information on giant Sequoias, I recommend you see our earlier post (http://alexandlish.blogspot.com/2010/12/sequoia-national-park-california.html).

The Merced River winds through the valley of Yosemite. Various types of pine and other trees, as well as lush meadows, flank the sides of the river. In late spring the river is at its highest levels with icy snow-melt waters. Apparently it is popular to swim in the river in summer, however this was difficult to imagine when we were there, given the bone chilling temperature of the water.

What We Did

We arrived in Yosemite along the highway as described above, becoming more aware of the loveliness of the scenery the further we drove. We had miraculously obtained a last-minute camping reservation at Lower Pines Campground located in the center of the park. Upon arrival at the campground, we discovered that we couldn't check-in until after noon, so we decided to park the car and head out for an easy short hike. This of course never actually happens, and our easy short hike very quickly turned into a strenuous long hike. At various stages of the walk, egged on by the chilling power of the granite valleys, we decided to hike to Vernal Falls and then on to Nevada Falls towards the eastern end of the Yosemite Valley. This trail, although steep in elevation, is admittedly quiet fun as it takes in the well known Mist Trail. The Mist Trail is a set of 500 odd stairs, near the top of the Vernal Falls. As you near the top you start to walk through the mist coming from the falls. The mist then becomes light water spray, then heavy water spray. By the time we arrived at the top of Vernal Falls we were completely drenched. Luckily it was a warm day and at the top of Vernal Falls is a lovely big flat granite rock on which to sun yourself dry. The most incredible feature of the Mist Trail is not so much the getting wet, but the ability to get so close to an incredibly powerful waterfall. It's a thrilling experience.

Once we had dried out, we continued on to Nevada Falls, the next waterfall in this part of the valley, and another 1,000 or so feet in elevation. Nevada Falls is another terrifying testimony to gravity. The water thunders over the cliff edge here at a tremendous speed and appears to drop all the way to the bottom of the valley (about 600 feet) without touching the rock face at all. From the top of the falls you can lean over the chain-link fence and look to the bottom and see the water spray billowing out from the rocks in great clouds, before it settles and joins the river traveling down the valley to Vernal Falls. The force of the waterfall drives a massive wind that forces the water vapour from the falls between the rocks on the valley floor in long, wispy tendrils, constantly shifting around the rocks and at times escaping above them to explode into billowing clouds shot through with permanent rainbows.

Once we'd scared ourselves sufficiently at the top of Nevada Falls we started to make our way back to the campground, along the John Muir Trail. This trail continues for 211 miles to Mount Whitney in the Sequoia National Park, the highest mountain in continental USA, standing at 14,505 feet. This time we only trekked four miles of it back to the Lower Pines Campground. The trail was named in honor of Mr Muir, because of his love of Yosemite, but also because he was the first president of the Sierra Club, and the Sierra Club was responsible for the construction of this trail.

The next day we took a trip to Tunnel View, a popular spot for photography within the park. Ansel Adams took his famous photo of Yosemite Valley from this spot (http://www.anseladams.com/Thunderstorm_Yosemite_Valley_p/5010125-u.htm). Our glorious weather continued so we were able to have a clear view all the way to Half Dome from Tunnel View.

“Yosemite Valley, to me, is always a sunrise, a glitter of green and golden wonder in a vast edifice of stone and space” ~ Ansel Adams.

Our interpretation of Ansel Adams' famous photograph

We then continued on to hike a section of the Valley Trail. Our legs were a little sore after the previous day's hike, given that it involved a 2,000 feet elevation change – up and down. The Valley Trail appealed because it was predominately flat. It also takes in all of Yosemite Valley's main sites. On the particular stretch that we did, we took in Bridalveil Falls, El Captain and Ribbon Falls. Surprisingly the Valley Trail is not heavily used. Perhaps this is because the highway takes in the same sites, but you do get significantly closer to these sites along the trail. We also saw some interesting highlights that we wouldn't have seen if we were in the car, such as the bizarre snow flower. This small bright red plant, looks a little bit like the flower of a banksia or protea growing directly out of the ground. Apparently it is a parasitic tree, obtaining its food and water from a fungi which grows on tree roots (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_plant). We also saw rock climbers attempting seemingly impossible climbs on El Capitan and Cathedral Rock (we learned later that the El Capitan climb requires a night spent on the cliff wall). We had a lunch of cheese and salami at an idyllic spot on the Merced River, while we watched some French children build little boats of bark and leaves to float down the river.

On our final morning, we rose early and did a trail run from Lower Pines to Lower Yosemite Falls and then back to the Visitor Center. Feeling appropriately exhausted after our early morning exertion, we grabbed some coffees in the village and then took a tour of the geography display at the Visitor's Center and the Ansel Adams photography gallery. Not a bad start to the day.

As we drove back to San Francisco that afternoon, we both felt the positive effects of a little sunshine and outdoor activity, and once again confirmed the restorative powers of the natural environment. John Muir said it best - “Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul.” Long live Yosemite.