Yosemite National Park: A Personal Discovery

By Ardeth Huntington

Yosemite has long been beloved by artists, writers, and travelers from every corner of the Earth. John Muir made its preservation his life's work and photographer Ansel Adams made many of his most memorable images here. Join us as we explore this extraordinary, glacier-sculpted landscape known and revered by generations of visitors as one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Park Partners, Inc
• Release date: Aug 10, 2010
• ISBN: 9781580711012

Ardeth Huntington

Ardeth Huntington has been associated with Yosemite National Park for 26 years: hiker, backpacker, and history enthusiast. During many years as an employee of the National Park Service as a Park Information Ranger, she has written about Yosemite in park publications and natural history guides. Her account of an excursion with Dr. Carl Sharsmith, beloved Yosemite ranger-naturalist, "A Winter Day In Yosemite", was published by the Yosemite Association. When not writing about Yosemite, she explores Yosemite's human history and hikes its trails. Her wish is "...for the coming of a time when the glory that is Yosemite will no longer be diminished by intrusions of the trivial and exploitation for profit, but cherished for every unique feature: a place like no other place on this earth."

Book preview

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

A Personal Discovery

by

Ardeth Huntington

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SIERRA PRESS

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2010 Sierra Press

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Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The real voyage of discovery

Consists not in seeking out new landscapes,

But in having new eyes.

—Marcel Proust

I give thanks to the late Yosemite naturalist, Dr. Carl Sharsmith, for giving me new eyes, and for the friendship of my Sierra-loving friends everywhere. My special appreciation to Dodie, computer guru on 24-hour call, and to Sharon, Lois, and Jayne—special friends for special reasons.

—A.H.

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CONTENTS

PARK OVERVIEW

The Yosemite Region

Visiting Yosemite National Park

YOSEMITE VALLEY

Visiting the Valley

John Muir

The Ahwahnee Hotel

Yosemite’s Waterfalls

TUOLUMNE MEADOWS and TIOGA ROAD

Tioga Road

Glaciers and Granite

Yosemite’s Bears

The Role of Fire

MARIPOSA GROVE and WAWONA

Wawona Road

Human History

Glacier Point

INTO THE WILDERNESS

Hiking in Yosemite

FIELD GUIDES

Wildflowers

Trees

Mammals

Birds

RESOURCES and INFORMATION

SUGGESTED READING

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Half Dome seen from Leidig Meadow, Autumn

YOSEMITE OVERVIEW

Yosemite—the word evokes a kaleidoscopic mixture of memories: sleeping on moonlit granite the night before visiting the Mount Conness glacier, the fascination of exfoliating granite domes, meadows flowering exquisitely between the Merced Lake and Vogelsang High Sierra Camps, the aroma of pine needles on a hot summer day. To some—Yosemite is a playground, to others—a revered paradise. It inspires passion, and invites controversy. In trying to capture its essence, writers have glorified it with grandiloquence; praising its majestic grandeur, infinite lavishness, splendored magnificence; describing it as awesome, divine, stunning, and sublime.

In my relationship with Yosemite, I admit to a deep affection. I have expectations of reaffirming those feelings today as I set out for a rendezvous with the full moon at Sentinel Dome. The scrunch of my Vibram soles digging into the sandy trail is purposeful, reassuring. Each step increases my anticipation, especially as I near the base of the dome. Sentinel Dome, at 8,122 feet, is not the highest point on the rim of Yosemite Valley (Half Dome exceeds it) but it is my choice for enjoying a top of the world feeling on this June day. Its 360-degree view offers one big gulp of Yosemite, a blend of vastness and intimacy. Tonight I hope to recapture the sense of personal discovery I experienced on this dome many years ago.

Occasionally, the word discovery suggests historic names, dates, and events. For instance, we say the Mariposa Battalion—when they were sent by the Governor of California to capture Indians allegedly preying on prospectors in the Sierra foothills—discovered Yosemite Valley in 1851. What they discovered, however, had already been occupied by Native Americans for thousands of years before the mounted soldiers of the Battalion arrived. I wonder when they discovered it? On the other hand, discovery may also be an intensely personal event. Dr. Theodore F. Bunnell, a member of the Mariposa Battalion, recording the event in his book, The Discovery of Yosemite, noted that as the vision of waterfalls, domes, and seemingly mile-high cliffs of Yosemite Valley suddenly came into view, he was inexplicably moved, Tears came to my eyes, he said.

A first look at Yosemite Valley can do that to you. Similar emotions have been described by other chroniclers—John Muir’s writings reflect unabashed passion. Ansel Adams said, When I first saw Yosemite, I knew I had discovered my destiny.

I move steadily along the trail, relishing the rhythm of a hiker’s pace, the caws of Clark’s nutcrackers, the murmur of pine boughs bending to the wind. Suddenly, the dome