Tag Archives: Yosemite

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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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

Final Tuolumne River Plan and EIS Available

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Yosemite National Park Announces the Release of the Tuolumne Wild and Scenic River Final Comprehensive Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

Yosemite National Park announces the release of the Final Tuolumne Wild and Scenic River Comprehensive Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The plan is the result of using the best available science, resource stewardship, and public input to create a robust vision for the Tuolumne River Corridor for the next 15-20 years.   The Tuolumne River flows through the northern portion of Yosemite National Park and is one of the two federally designated Wild and Scenic rivers within Yosemite.

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Activities, National Parks

Half Dome Cables Day Use Permits Available for Reservation Starting March 1 2014

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Permits Required Seven Days Per Week to Hike Half Dome Cables 

Half Dome cables day use permits for the 2014 hiking season will be available for reservation starting tomorrow, Saturday, March 1, through Monday, March 31, 2014. Permits to hike to the top of Half Dome are required seven days per week and reservations will be distributed via a lottery system. Successful parties will be notified in mid-April. A maximum of 300 hikers will be allowed on the Half Dome cables per day.

Reservations for the permits can be made online at www.recreation.gov or by calling 1-877-444-6777.

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News

Happy Birthday Ansel Adams!

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Shamelessly borrowed from Wikipedia:

Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American photographer and conservationist. His black-and-white landscape photographs of the American West, especially Yosemite National Park, have been widely reproduced on calendars, posters, and in books.

“Once destroyed, nature’s beauty cannot be repurchased at any price.” – Ansel Adams

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