Category Archives: National Parks

Activities, National Parks

Yosemite’s Housekeeping Camp

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

YosemitePark has just made a really interesting post about one of the unique camps in Yosemite.  From the “A Short History of the Oddly-Named Housekeeping Camp in Yosemite” post:

Located on the Merced River in Yosemite Valley with an unusual name, Housekeeping Camp straddles the line between camping and hotel accommodations and inspires fierce loyalty among park visitors. With amenities not usually found in campsites such as three walls, a canvas roof, beds, electrical lights and outlets, as well as standard amenities of picnic table and campfire ring, Housekeeping Camp is perennially popular with visiting families. Many of these families return year after year to the same units for easy access to the Merced River’s sandy beaches and activities like rafting and swimming. By examining the origin of Housekeeping Camp and its odd configuration and designation, it is apparent that this particular type of Yosemite accommodation has had great influence on the evolution of national park campgrounds as we know them today.

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National Parks

Yosemite’s Merced River opens to kayaking and rafting

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Eugene Buchanan has penned a post over at the Adventure Journal website about the new playground that kayakers and rafters have acquired.  From the post:

Kayakers and rafters have a new cliff-lined paddling playground in the heart of Yosemite National Park. While California’s Merced River has long been a hotbed of paddling outside the boundaries of the park, paddlers have now gotten the green light for a coveted section within the park as well. Yosemite National Park recently released its new Wild and Scenic Final Comprehensive Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement for California’s Merced River, putting paddling on the same footing as climbing and hiking within the park’s boundaries.

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Activities, Adventures, National Forests, National Parks

Wells Fargo Foundation funds NatureBridge’s Yosemite Summer Field Research Course

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

The Wells Fargo Scholars program, generously funded by a grant from the Northern and Central California Region of the Wells Fargo Foundation, gives students from Kings, Fresno, Tulare, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, and Stanislaus counties an opportunity to attend NatureBridge’s Summer Field Research Course in Yosemite National Park.

Students have the chance to receive a full or partial scholarship based on the strength of their application, recommendations from supportive educators and community leaders, and the individual’s financial need.

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National Parks

Galen Clark and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

On this day in 1814 Galen Clark was born in Shipton, Canada East (now known as Quebec).

As a young man, he became part of the great westward migration.  He first headed to Missouri, where he met his wife Rebecca McCoy, who bore him two daughters. Unfortunately, his wife waste die far too young.

It’s believed that after her death, Galen moved further to the west, settling in California during the Gold Rush to seek his fortune.  After living in the Golden State for five years, Clark contracted tuberculosis at the age of 39.  Consumption was a fatal diagnosis in 1853, as there was no course of treatment or antibiotics at the the time.  Doctors gave him six months to live, and recommended rest and clean air.

Galen moved to Wawona, California – a small ‘census designated place’ located entirely within what would eventually become Yosemite National Park – in 1855.

“I went to the mountains to take my chances of dying or growing better, which I thought were about even.” Galen Clark.

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National Parks

Retired National Park Leaders Oppose Soda Mountain Solar

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Chris Clarke has posted an article at KCET.org about the Soda Mountain Solar monstrosity that seriously threatens the Mojave National Preserve and offers virtually no benefit whatsoever.  From the article:

Five retired National Park Service Superintendents who spent a cumulative 35 years managing California’s three desert National Parks are asking the Bureau of Land Management to move a 4,000-acre solar project they say would threaten the Mojave National Preserve’s wildlife, views and groundwater.

In a letter to BLM California Desert District staff, the five also contend the Soda Mountain Solar project would violate local ordinances regulating renewable energy facilities. They’re asking the BLM to issue a new Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the project that would take a serious look at alternative locations for the project, and extend public comment on the project by another 60 days.

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