Category Archives: California

Activities, State Parks

CSPF Park Champion volunteer day at Mt. San Jacinto – FREE TRAM & CAMPING!

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

The California State Parks Foundation is hosting a Park Champion event this August at the top of Mount San Jacinto.

If you’ve got the time, volunteer to help clear the hiking trails of debris left by the recent rainstorms so we can make the the trails more accessible to all!

The event takes place Saturday, August 3, 8:30am to 1:30pm

FREE TRAMWAY TICKETS AND BACKPACK CAMPING on Fri & Sat.

Kids over 10 welcome with a legal guardian.

The California State Parks Foundation’s Park Champions Program hosts volunteer days in state parks throughout California to help make a difference in how our parks are maintained.  From the website:

CSPF’s Park Champions Program holds volunteer work days in state parks across California. This program was created in response to the unprecedented budget cuts and closures that California State Parks face right now. In partnership with California State Parks, Park Champions provide consistent, sustainable volunteer support in the areas of park maintenance and beautification.

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National Parks

The Cathedral Range: Project Yosemite’s Favorite Spots

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Yosemite Park has put up a new blog post about the Cathedral Range, which is one of Project Yosemite’s favorite spots.

The Cathedral Range is an offshoot of the Sierra Nevada mountain range just south of Tuolumne Meadows inside Yosemite National Park. The granite foundations of the range were sculpted during the Pleistocene by glaciation, while the peaks – which were above the highest glaciation – remained untouched.  The lack of glaciation gives the peaks a “spire-like” appearance.  The range is named after Cathedral Peak, which rises 10,916 feet above sea level.

Project Yosemite is a collaboration by Sheldon Neill and Colin Delehanty, who have “teamed up to film Yosemite National Park like never before.”  Their most EXCELLENT first film “Yosemite HD” is a must see.  Links below.

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Activities, Adventures, National Forests, National Parks

Proposal to transfer Giant Sequoia Monument

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Suzy Johnson at the California Association of 4WD Clubs has posted an Access Alert related to the National Giant Sequoia Monument, and I’m forwarding the information on along to you guys.  If you’re at all concerned about access to California’s public lands, it’s important that you get involved.

From CA4WDC:

Proposed plan to transfer Giant Sequoia National Monument from the control of the US Forest Service to the National Park Service would result in loss of recreation opportunities

We need all of our members to urgently write a letter to the President, federal and local legislators opposing a proposal being floated to move the management and control of the Giant Sequoia National Monument from the USFS to the National Park Service.

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Wildfire

Congress Fire Smoldered over the Winter in Giant Sequoia Tree

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

The National Park Service is reporting that on July 5, 2013, a smoldering fire was discovered in the crown of a giant sequoia tree along the Congress Trail in Sequoia National Park’s Giant Forest. This fire is a hold-over from the Circle Meadow Prescribed Fire, conducted in the summer of 2012.

An unusual combination of conditions enabled this fire to smolder through the winter and re-surface as the weather became warmer and drier. The severe drought conditions of the past winter created the dry environment that allowed this fire to continue to burn undetected within the giant sequoia.

The smoldering giant sequoia continues to intermittently emit smoke along the upper portions of its trunk and from the very top of the tree. A few branches have fallen from the tree. The Congress Trail is closed between the House and Senate groups of trees until conditions are safe for visitors. Over 95 percent of the Congress Trail remains open, and visitors can still see the trees that make this trail so popular, including the House and Senate groups of trees, the President Tree and the McKinley Tree.

Activities, National Parks, News

June 30, 1864 – Yosemite Grant

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

 

On this day in 1864 President Lincoln signed a bill drafted by both houses of the 38th Congress of the United States officially creating the Yosemite Grant.  While Yellowstone ultimately became the first National Park, this was the first instance of park land being set aside for preservation and public use by the federal government.  The grant was the result of citizens like Galen Clark and Senator John Conness advocating heavily for protection of the area.  John Muir later led a successful movement to establish a larger national park encompassing not just the Yosemite Valley, but surrounding mountains and forests as well.

Yosemite presented a series of firsts for the national park system we enjoy today; first to have land set aside, paving the way for other parks like Yellowstone to carve out protected areas for future generations to enjoy; and first to build on the national park idea, and put in place a system for the future United States National Park Service.

Today marks the 149th year since the Yosemite Grant was signed.  2014 promises to be a banner year at Yosemite, as the park celebrates the 150th anniversary of the Yosemite Grant.  You can find out more about the events celebrating the 150th anniversary HERE.

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