This is the first in a series of diaries from the Park Avenue Daily Kos group about planning a visit to a National Park. Each week we will be opening up a diary on a specific park chosen the previous week in our Photo Friday open thread. After a short introduction of the park and a few diarist contributed tips, people are invited to contribute their own tips about the park or to ask specific questions about the park they'd like to see answered. Hopefully, with the collective knowledge of DKos community, we can harness the power of crowd sourcing to generate a lasting resource for community members wanting to visit the parks. We're looking for info such as... When is the best time to visit (and why)? Where should you stay while visiting? What are the can't miss sites? What are the hidden gems of the park that not many people know about yet? What piece of advice on visiting the park do you have that I'm not going to find in a travel guide?
The subject of this week's column is Yosemite National Park in the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains of California.
In 1864, the Yosemite Valley became the first Federally controlled piece of land to be set aside for park purposes. The so-called Yosemite Grant by the Federal Government transferred nearly 40,000 acres of land to the State of California as a park for "public use, resort and recreation." Less than a decade later, Yellowstone would become the first national park. To prevent further development and destruction of the environment of the area, in 1890 the high country surrounding the Yosemite Valley was set aside as a national park on the same day that two groves of giant sequoias were protected as national parks, Sequoia & General Grant National Parks, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th National Parks in the United States. The valley and the high country would be united under a single park in 1906.
The park is famous for its majestic waterfalls, its towering granite walls and its groves of giant sequoias. At times during their lives, it was the home of the naturalist John Muir and the landscape photographer Ansel Adams, whose writings and images continue to inspire us today. But Muir and Adams are far from the only people who can call it home. Over the last 150 years the native home of the Ahwaneechee tribe of native Americans has become a home away from home for millions of Americans as a place to relax and be inspired.
Well, wouldn't you know the first park to be picked by the group in the poll is one I haven't been to, though it is on my list and I've tentatively scheduled a visit for next May or June. So, I'm going to try to wing it on what I've uncovered in my own research and hopefully people much more informed than I, who have you know actually been there, can correct me and contribute their own tips.
This may seem obvious and is true of many parks, but it is worth noting: it is not possible to take in the best of everything of Yosemite National Park in a single visit. For example, the best time to visit the valley is different from the best time to visit the high country. From what I can tell, getting the best out of Yosemite would take at least three trips, one in April/May to catch the waterfalls at their greatest flow, one in the summer months of July/August/September to take in and/or hike the high country and another visit in the winter month when the valley has a healthy dusting of snow.
The spring melt of the snows in the Sierras feed the waterfalls, but by late June the flow is significantly less and by July many of the falls, including the famed Yosemite Falls, the highest waterfalls in North America, can be dry. However, some of the best vantage points of the valley are not open until later in the year. The road to Glacier Point generally opens in May, but high snows have occasionally delayed the opening as late as July. The Tioga Road through the high country tends to open in May as well, but is much more likely to be delayed until June than the road to Glacier point. The road to the Yosemite Valley is plowed in the winter months and the park is open 24/7/365.
From the perspective of a landscape photographer and those looking for the most beautiful sights, the locations to hit are the turnouts for tunnel view and valley view as well as the view from atop Glacier point, especially in the evening just before sunset at all three. The first two give expansive views of some of the most beautiful and famous of the rock formations of the valley: El Capitan, The Sentinel Rock and Half Dome. One can also see several of the waterfalls from these spots including Bridalveil Falls. One waterfall that has been causing a bit of a sensation in the landscape photography community for the last few years is the seasonal Horsetail falls. Each winter in late February, the setting sun is at an angle such that the rays of light illuminate the falls from behind, making it glow orange, reminding many older visitors of the park of the former fire falls held in the summer prior to the 1960's where a bonfire on Glacier Point was pushed off the edge of the cliff. While Horsetail Falls' special quailty has been known for decades, it has only been in the last five to 10 years that its become a sensation. Other popular falls include Sentinel Falls, Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls.
For the hikers, there are several trails one can take from the valley to the tops of the cliffs overlooking the valley. Among the more popular are the hikes to the brink of Upper Yosemite Falls, the hike to Glacier Point and the hike to the summit of Half Dome, which now requires a permit during the months the trail is open.
For lodging, there are several campgrounds in the valley, a tent cabin village at Curry Village and two lodges, the Lodge at Yosemite Falls and the Ahwahnee. Just north of the Mariposa Grove of giant Sequoias are another campground and the Wawona Hotel. In the high country, there are several more campgrounds, a small lodge with cabins and tent cabins at White Wolf and a full service lodge at the Tuolumne Meadows. Other accommodations are available outside the park. By park service rule, you cannot lodge in the park for more than seven consecutive days, regardless of where in the park you stay (ie, you can't do 4 nights at one lodge and 4 nights at another immediately after.)
Campers are required to use approved bear proof containers as there are black bears in the park and it is important that the not become used to getting human food. They have become particular clever over the years at getting to food, even in supposedly bear proof containers. Hanging food over a tree limb counterbalance style has also ceased to be effective in preventing the bears from getting human food. Hence some containers that are considered bear proof are not bear proof for the cunning among the Yosemite black bear population.
Well, that's enough advice from he who has not been there. Now it is your turn to expand (or correct) the tips I've given, give your own or answer any questions others might pose about visiting Yosemite National Park. You can start with a few of mine if y'all don't mind. ;-)
What's the best place to fly into for access to the park? Sacramento, Oakland, Fresno, etc?
What are the Curry Village tent cabins like? I'm likely going late, May or the first week of June. I know most of them are not heated. How cold are they likely to be? Also what is the availability of power in the tent cabins? I'll be needing to recharge camera batteries and using a laptop to download and archive images each day. If the tents don't have power outlets, are some available in the village's lodge building?
I know late May/early June is early for the peak of wildflowers, but can I expect at least some to be blooming? If so, what am I likely to see?
Aside from the hike to Vernal and Nevada Falls, what hikes from the valley would you most recommend that would be of intermediate or lower difficulty?
Is it worth taking the drive up to see the Hetch Hetchy reservoir?
For the photographers that are familiar enough with the valley, I'm considering renting a tilt shift lens for the trip. Is a 24mm lens on full frame sufficiently wide or is a 17mm a must?
What are the best sunrise locations? I've got Yosemite Falls from the Swinging Bridge, Glacier Point, Cook's Meadow and the Devil's Elbow on the list already but am looking for more suggestions to look at.
Hopefully this is enough to get us started. Chime in if you have more questions or your own tips.
The Park Avenue group has also created a series of features on the parks written by groups members and followers. Our first two on Jackson Hole National Monument and Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine have already been published. The third in the series will on Capitol Reef National Park will be released this Thursday 11:30am ET/8:30 am PT. Upcoming features include the Petrified Forest National Park and Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks. If you are interested in contributing a feature about a park, we are looking for diarists willing to write about one or more of the following
- Why is this park important to you?
- Why is this park important to America?
- What is the important history behind this park?
- What are the important things or places to see at the park?
- What can you tell us about your visit to the park?
You can sign up for any park you like that is either part of the U.S. National Park System or has the designation of "National Monument" but is not managed by the National Park Service. To contribute please to sign-up using our Google form: Daily Kos Park Avenue group Park Signup Form. As the window you selected approaches, I'll contact you to confirm a release date with you. I'm trying to give at least two to three weeks lead time for people to write their feature. I would also like to try to maintain some geographic balance and prevent repeat diarists so quickly. That said, we have an opening for the March 31st release date and I'm looking for a volunteer to fill that date so one of our recent diarists doesn't have to repeat as a contributor. If interested, you can choose any park not already released or scheduled (April releases scheduled are Zion Natl Park and Wind Cave NP/Jewel Cave Natl Monument). Please fill out the form and I'll contact you promptly about that open date or a future open date.
And be sure to join us every Friday as well as we share pictures, select the park for our next Things to Know Before You Come column and talk about the parks in our Photo Fridays Open Thread at 11:30am ET/8:30am PT.