Yosemite Blog

Question: What are the piles of brush alongside the roads into Yosemite with paper on the top?

Answer: No, they’re not houses for some of the Concessionaires Service staff, they’re actually part of a plan to make the park safer.

Yosemite Fire Management has been clearing the trees and other fuels that might feed a fire along the roadside in an effort to reduce the risk of fire crossing the road, creating a defensible line for Yosemite Fire crews, and providing a safe escape route should the park need to be evacuated in event of a fire emergency.

The paper on top of the pile helps keep the center dry for burning at a later date.

More work is scheduled clearing downed trees, brush, and fuels along the Wawona Road this summer.

Here’s the latest on the Yosemite Valley Trails with information from the National Park Service.

Vernal/Nevada Falls: The Vernal/Nevada Falls trail system is scheduled to open 100% by Thursday morning for foot traffic. Stock animals are not advised until the area has been fully cleared of fallen trees and snowbanks.

Half Dome: Little Yosemite Valley is approximately 20-30% covered in snow. Half Dome cables are scheduled to be up for Memorial Day, if fair conditions persist.

Four Mile Trail: The lower sections (almost 2 miles) of the Four Mile Trail are open.

Mirror Lake: The trail on the south side of the Mirror Lake loop is currently being cleared of debris and repaired after a large tree fell and damaged the trail. The trail remains open to foot traffic but is impassable to stock.

Upper Yosemite Falls: The Yosemite Falls Trail is open to foot traffic but be wary of snow patches towards the top.

This seasons late rains and deep snow pack means some trails are flooded and care should be taken. Hikers should be wary of stream crossings and swift moving water. Many creeks and streams will be extremely hazardous until late in the summer due to snow-melt and runoff.

Northside Drive, closed during the renovation of the Yosemite septic system, is scheduled to reopen to normal traffic the morning of Thursday, May 19th 2005. Until then please remember to use caution where traffic has been diverted to Southside Drive.

Well it looks like the crew has arrived at the Glacier Point parking lot, now the fun part begins, making the road so traffic can get by to Glacier Point. Hopefully the next weeks worth of expected sunshine and warmer temperatures will help them out a bit.

NPS: ”
Tioga Road:
Starting location: At White Wolf, 14 miles from Crane Flat Gate
Ending location: 14.5 miles from Gate
Distance plowed today: .5 miles
Snow depth is 15+ feet and getting deeper

Glacier Point:
We are now at the parking lot. Although we are at the Glacier Point parking lot, there is still a lot of work to be done before any traffic can be allowed to Glacier Point. We have to widen the road (cut back the snow banks), trim trees sticking out into the roadway, road repair, ditching, and all of the sign work. We also need to plow out all the turnouts and access roads.”

AGF00030

Originally uploaded by Ambitious Wench.

One of my friends I’ve made through Flickr, Ambitious Wench (aka Edie), is lucky enough to spend some time working in the Park and experiencing Yosemite on a first hand basis.

From her photostream on Flickr comes this great shot of rising fog in the trees.

Very nice. Keep ‘em coming, Edie.

Thanks.