Yosemite Blog

half dome

Originally uploaded by dosbears.

You like this? I do. David Preston took this awesome shot of Half Dome as clouds were breaking for some tryly unique photos. There’s a lot more where this came from so be sure to check out the rest of his photos on Flickr. Truly fantastic.

Thanks again for letting me post your photo, David.

Several thoughts on the whole Hetch Hetchy thing.

• Hetch Hetchy is almost 100 years old now. It was built at a time when there were no earthquake or building standards like today.
• Don Pedro holds more than enough water and generates quite a bit of electricity.
• The water wouldn’t also have to be pumped up and down the hills like it currently does from Hetch Hetchy.
• If SF took their water from Don Pedro it might actually be less-expensive than getting it from Hetch Hetchy so their utility bills might actually drop.
• O’Shaughnessy dam was built to meet the water needs of an early 1900’s industrial San Francisco, needs that are vastly different from today.
• As is normal for mountain geology, the floor of Hetch Hetchy valley may be full of sediment due to the sediment load carried by the Tuolumne river and contributing streams.

Your thoughts?

Union Democrat: “Yosemite National Park officials are prepared to use a new hazing technique to keep black bears out of campgrounds in Yosemite Valley.

Now, if the bears would just make an appearance.

Not that they’ve disappeared — here and there the bruins crop up to snatch an El Capitan climber’s lunch or surprise a hiker. But many of the bears in Yosemite National Park’s oft-visited valley are making themselves scarce so far this season.

A long, wet winter has produced more than enough natural foods for the animals, many of which are accustomed to foraging for easy snacks in mini-vans and lockers.

Also, many of the female bears had cubs this year and are lying low with their young, said Park Wildlife Technician Sherri Lisius.

Of the seven or eight female bears the park tracks in the valley, many are on the same birthing cycle, she said.”

Hetch Hetchy Dam

Originally uploaded by Campin’ Guy.

I took this photo a few years back on one of our daytrips. The dam lies down Evergreen Road just before you enter the park and is prime rattlesnake breeding ground so watch where you step.

SF Gate: “The debate over the proposal to breach the Sierra’s O’Shaughnessy Dam, drain the reservoir behind it and restore Hetch Hetchy Valley to its former natural splendor is apt to intensify this summer with the release of a California Department of Water Resources study on the issue.

But preliminary comments from the agency indicate two things:

First, the restoration is technically possible without disrupting water supplies to San Francisco, Modesto and Turlock, the cities that are the beneficiaries of Hetch Hetchy water.

Second, it will cost a lot of money: From $4 billion to $8 billion, depending on whom you talk to.

‘Regardless of what you do in terms of restoration, it will be expensive, ‘ said Gary Bardini, the Hetch Hetchy project manager for the Department of Water Resources.

‘People who want to restore the valley tend to pick the low end, and those against it favor the high end,’ said Larry Weis, the general manager of the Turlock Irrigation District. ‘So it might be wise to pick a figure in the middle.’

For the Hetch Hetchy restoration true believers, Bardini said, ‘money isn’t the issue, of course. The prospect of restoring the valley is what matters. But then there are going to be other people who say, ‘Why make this investment when we already have a perfectly good (water delivery) infrastructure?’ So it’s hard to say how it will play out.’”