Jumping on the bandwagon
is a favourite pastime these days. Just look at how many people weigh in on
Twitter as soon as something vaguely controversial is said, whether or not they
know the facts or the context. I often find myself reacting against something
if enough people say how wonderful it is, even if, as with Game of
Thrones, I become its most fervent advocate when I do
finally leap on and snuggle up to fellow bandwagonners. I felt like this with Yosemite,
the jewel in California’s gem-encrusted crown, as ever since I arrived in
California any mention of the name was succeeded by ‘oh, you MUST go there’. I
began to feel that it could never meet up to my expectations, that it would be
pretty but nothing special to someone who has been lucky enough to see
Mongolia, Arizona and the Scottish Highlands. How wrong I was.
Upper Yosemite Falls glimpsed from the valley
Before reaching the park
entrance, however, I drove past a sobering reminder of the terrible Rim Fire
that devastated 400 square miles of the Sierra Nevada last summer in the
third-largest fire in Californian history. From the vista point at the Rim of
the World, which gave the fire its name, could be seen miles of bare slopes and
blackened trees. Tracks leading off the road were barred to the public and
piles of charcoaled logs were evidence of the nearly $100 million clean-up.
Fires are a natural and necessary part of the eco-system, here as on a British
grouse moor, and, within the Yosemite wilderness, are usually allowed to burn
themselves out. When the Mariposa Grove of
giant sequoias first began to be protected, fires were stopped until it was
found that such action damaged the eco-system by preventing the natural
clearing of undergrowth that gave new seeds space to sprout. But when humans
cause more and larger fires than Nature does – the Rim Fire was started by an
illegal hunter’s campfire – the cost in monetary, historical and environmental terms
can be huge, with Native American artefacts lost, drinking water affected
and sensitive fishing grounds damaged, not to mention homes destroyed. With California
currently in the grip of a serious drought, fire is on everybody’s mind, and
already flames have ripped through parts of San Diego County. Indeed, as I left
Yosemite, I could see a pall of smoke to the south, which turned out to be a
fire in Hunters Valley that burned 1,300 acres in its first two days. We must
all be vigilant this summer and guard against that careless match or dropped
glass bottle that could set the dry grasses smouldering.
Bare slopes from the Rim of the World vista point,
from which the Rim Fire took its name
A grove of blackened tree trunks, now made beautiful
by wildflowers. Nature triumphs in the end
The Hunters Valley fire visible from the road out of Yosemite
California in 2014: a half-empty reservoir and smoke on the horizon
Thankfully, Yosemite
Valley escaped the flames last summer and is as rich and green as ever. As I
rounded a bend of the winding mountain road, Half Dome appeared in the distance
and I swerved into a layby, reaching for my camera. It really is a half dome!
From there on, I barely blinked as the road reached the valley and wound on
past towering, sheer cliffs of rock to the head of the valley and our campsite.
On Saturday, because we had to move camp, we decided against the Four Mile hike
to the top of Glacier Point, 3,200ft up, on grounds of time, rather than
laziness (honest), and drove up instead. Water at the ready and a few fluffy
clouds in place to temper the heat, we set off down the Panorama Trail to
Nevada Falls and back down the Mist Trail to the valley. This is where I could
bore everyone silly with description, because, my goodness, is this place
beautiful! Superlatives such as breathtaking, awe-inspiring, immense,
spectacular, magnificent and dozens more breezed through my mind, none of which
really do it justice. There was a real sense that all those hordes of ant-like
visitors in the valley, with their Jeeps and their bear boxes and their state-of-the-art
tents, were as nothing to this ancient landscape. Water thunders over Yosemite
Falls just as it has for centuries and noble El Capitan stands oblivious to the
climbers tackling the Holy Grail of their sport. The frequent reminders that
one foot in a tumbling mountain stream is likely to lead to a messy death at
the bottom of a waterfall and the blissful lack of safety barriers was a nod to
the fact that whatever we do, this is a dangerous landscape, and it was up to
us to take care. (We all decided that, if you’re stupid enough to wade across
the top of Bridalveil Falls and get swept over, it’s simply a form of natural
selection. For such people were the Darwin Awards invented.) We are so lucky that
Abraham Lincoln signed the Yosemite Grant on June 30th, 1864, to
preserve this glorious place from development.
The first glimpse of far-off Half Dome from the road into the valley
At the start of our march: Half Dome and Nevada Falls from the Panorama Trail
A unashamedly graphic sign warning of the dangers of paddling!
Not a place for people with vertigo...
Fear not, I was sitting down safely to take this picture
at the top of Nevada Falls!
Last surge of the tumbling river before it disappears over Nevada Falls
(taken from the bridge!)
Making our way down the Mist Trail, which is even steeper
than a photograph makes it look
Bailey and I pause for a snap by Vernal Falls
The 150th anniversary of Yosemite becoming
a protected park is being marked in a dozen different ways, from exhibitions to
films, but one event seems to be thoroughly in the spirit of good and
sensitive stewardship that characterizes how America’s National Parks are run
today. Lincoln’s Grant encompassed not only Yosemite, but Mariposa Grove and,
in the 20th century, the centre of the Grove became a car park,
so people could drive in to gawk. This patch of concrete does little to enhance
the trees’ beauty, so, this summer, a literally ground-breaking ceremony will
be held on June 30th to start the three-year process of removing the paving and
laying trails. I have been continually impressed by the unobtrusive landscaping
of the Parks, making it easy to get around but never impinging on the natural
beauty, so it’s good to hear that the natural splendour of Mariposa Grove will
be allowed to shine.
Looking up at Cathedral Spires from our Sunday picnic spot
The 3,000ft edifice El Capitan - the Holy Grail of the climbing world
There are climbers in this picture, but they are so far up they're mere dots!
Mark tries his luck...
...is that as far as you're going to get?
Although the Yosemite Grant was prompted by the wish to preserve the park from development, one notable building was skilfully designed to blend in with its surroundings. Before it was built, no truly comfortable hotel existed in Yosemite and, as Stephen T. Mather, the energetic first director of the National Park Service, said: 'Scenery is a hollow enjoyment to a tourist who sets out in the morning after an indigestible breakfast and a fitful sleep on an impossible bed.' He set out to build something appropriate to the setting that would attract the kind of wealthy patrons who would contribute to the continuation of park stewardship. Perhaps he had in mind Nancy Astor, who reputedly left outraged after seeing where she was supposed to sleep in the drafty Sentinel Hotel. Work was well underway when Lady Astor visited, so her disdain was not the reason for the building, but her reaction proved it was necessary. The result of Mather's vision was the Ahwahnee Hotel, begun by Gilbert Stanley Underwood in 1925. The style is known as 'Parkitecture', or more properly National Park Service rustic, and complements the towering cliffs that surround the hotel. In a nod to the dangers of fire, the massive beams that support the stone walls are, in fact, concrete, painted to look like redwood. Inside, it is vast, with a huge vaulted dining room and enormous saloon, designed for grand parties and exalted guests. Queen Elizabeth stayed in 1983, and the table in the bay window at the end of the dining room is known as the Queen's Table. Johhn F. Kennedy's bedroom is now the Presidential Suite, and the Roosevelt Lake in the backcountry is named after First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Guests who complained about the noise on one memorable evening were silenced when it was realised that it was Judy Garland who was singing in the saloon. Today, if you can get a booking, it is a wonderful place to collapse and feast after a long day of climbing, although, if I may quibble, one cup of milkless black tea with a biscuit does not 'afternoon tea' make!
The Ahwahnee, a classic example of Parkitecture
En masse, I tend to
prefer animals to humans, and as the world’s population grows and hideous
housing estates impinge on the British countryside, we are forever reminded of
Nature’s superiority in the beauty stakes. Even Yosemite isn’t immune.
Unfortunately, and unintentionally, we had chosen the busiest time of the year,
Memorial Day weekend, to visit, so the roads were clogged with cars and
open-mouthed tourists gazing upwards or running after children. Even in 1927, Memorial Day saw 27,000 visitors. It must be
extremely trying to work on such a weekend, and no doubt there are dozens of
dim-witted campers begging to get eaten by a bear, but is it really necessary
for park staff to be quite so inflexible and unsmiling? Late on Friday evening,
when our mood was mellow and our campfire was dying down, the stillness of the
night was interrupted by a grumpy ranger barking that we had to douse the fire
completely and that our bin was ‘just out of arm’s reach’ and therefore a
danger. Er, what? We were in the middle of the campsite surrounded by other
tents and said bin was within easy reach. Besides, isn’t fire the best defence
against animals in the wild? I say all this with the understanding that bears
are a real and genuine danger in Yosemite, and we were sticklers for putting
everything in the bear locker, as everyone there should be. But the refusal to
adapt to circumstances became a continuing annoyance. In the morning, after an
errand to Yosemite Village, we were forced to wait behind a dozen cars checking
in to our campsite, despite already being checked in. A polite request to use
the other lane was denied on the grounds of ‘safety issues’ and that there
might be a child in the road. Er, I’d stop?! One girl wasn't allowed to
pick up the keys to a site in Curry Village because her boyfriend’s name was on
the booking, despite the fact that she had been with him when they made the
booking that morning. Of course, rules are there for a reason, but the absolute
refusal to apply common sense, not to mention a smidgeon of politeness or even,
God forbid, a smile, was widespread. Why is it that when you give someone a
tiny bit of power, they turn into a ruthless, inflexible despot? Still, they made the friendlier rangers seem all the nicer and, when
you’re in such a glorious place with good friends, it’s easy to laugh and meet
every projected expedition with the caveat of ‘#safetyissues’! Ah, what a feast
of comedy ’tis the modern world!
A bear trailer - empty, this time
Careful! #safetyissues
Once upon a time, there was a tradition of launching flaming logs
over Yosemite Falls. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this has now been stopped,
but what a spectacle! It would be rather wonderful to revive it, just once a year...
Thankfully, one of the
wonders of Yosemite is that it is vast enough and magnificent enough to swallow
up us puny humans. We didn't escape the crowds as much as we would have liked,
however, as our wish to camp in the wilderness one night was thwarted by being
unable to get the necessary pass – I had been told that if we went along first
thing on Saturday morning, we would have no trouble, but when I arrived there
was already a queue and the ranger on duty said they didn’t start issuing them
until 11am, not exactly ‘first thing’. We couldn’t wait there for two hours, so
we gave up. A cancellation in the tented huts of Curry Village gave us
comfortable beds, but it would have been infinitely more magical to have woken
up to mountain peace than screaming children in tourist central. At least there is a real camaraderie among Yosemite visitors, and everyone was good-humoured. I can also testify to the excellent quality of the pizzas in Curry Village. And, as I
have now succumbed to the beauty of Yosemite, I will definitely be back to roam the
wilderness proper – I still have to tackle the 15-mile hike and cable climb to the top of the 8,839ft Half Dome, after all!
Sunset on Half Dome
Half Dome from Mirror Lake
Enjoying a well-earned rest on the Panorama Trail
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