Category: Local

  • Jack Wildfire Makes for Hazy Days

    If you’ve been in the park or see people’s photos on Flickr or the Yosemite Association webcams then you’ve no doubt noticed how smoky and hazy the air has been last few days. This smoke is coming from the Jack Wildfire above Wawona on the south end of the park. The fire is currently about…

  • The Ice Rink is Open – Winter is coming!

    The weather is still relatively balmy, but for those of us Jones-ing for a bit of snow and the onset of ski season, the opening of the ice skating rink is one of the first signs that winter is rapidly approaching.  I’m not too much of an ice-skater, myself, but the spectacular location of this…

  • Yosemite Ridge Gives Children With Chronic Illnesses a Second Chance

    Modesto Bee: “Allen Karle’s lungs don’t always cooperate with a 10-year-old’s idea of fun. Asthma put the Modesto boy in a hospital for five days in January and five days again in May. ‘They’ve got him on so much medication, it’s ridiculous,’ said his mother, Sharon Karle. She’s got asthma too, though not as bad.…

  • Moonrise, Black Friday, 2007

    No hostile crowds of determined shoppers, no angst over not having money to spend, no fistfights in the parking lot over a contested parking spot. No canned music, no screaming kids on Santa’s lap, no elves with attitudes, no tacky Christmas decorations. No strings of lights drooping, no eco-friendly LEDs, no shards of shattered glass…

  • Thanksgiving day road trip.

    Well, it’s been a quiet week in Yosemite Valley. Frost has arrived, turning the cow parsnip flower bracts sublime. I met up with a coworker at breakfast by chance. What are you doing for Thanksgiving, I asked. “Just hanging out.” Would you like to head over Tioga Pass? I want to get over to Mono…

  • Sharsmith Peak On Hold

    Carl Sharsmith’s name is almost synonymous with Yosemite and Tuolumne Meadows. He was a much beloved naturalist whose nature walks inspired millions to step off the asphalt and see the wild Yosemite few do. Unfortunately efforts to honor the longtime Yosemite icon by naming a peak in his honor have run into a bureaucratic quagmire.…

  • Visitors May Soon Be Without a Place to Stay

    During the summer months getting a campsite or hotel reservation within Yosemite can be a nightmare and often visitors turn to campground in the Stanislaus, Inyo and Sierra National Forests as a place to stay when they can’t find room anywhere else. Things are changing for those who’ve found places they like in the Stanislaus…

  • Fall in Yosemite a Favorite Among Many

    Fall is a beautiful time to visit Yosemite but this year seems to be extra special as the perfect combination of tempertatures and conditions are leading to one of the most spectacular displays of fall colors in recent history. UnionDemocrat.com: “‘Fall – it’s my favorite season,’ park botanist Lisa Acree said during a walk through…

  • Inspiration from Flickr

    Since I arrived in Yosemite 2 and a half years ago, I’ve paid particular attention to Flickr.com as a source of information and inspiration for prospective images. There are several Flickr members that inspire me; Paige Falk, Buck Forester, G Dan Mitchell to name a few. It was Buck’s image of Temple Crag that lead…

  • Photo of the Day: Hetch Hetchy by Jared Kelly

    Most people think of [O’Shaughnessy Dam] as being a behemoth that holds back the Tuolumne keeping [Hetch Hetchy] Valley submerged beneath hundreds of feet of water. Jared Kelly has managed to catch a different side of the dam in today’s Photo of the Day showing what a beautiful place Hetch Hetchy still is even though…