Yosemite Blog

Year: 2009

  • Watch the Ken Burns Special with Shelton Johnson and Lee Stetson

    If you want to see the PBS special by Ken Burns, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea there will be a screanings from Sunday, September 27 through Friday, October 2 where you’ll be able to watch all the episodes in the series. The episodes will be shown from from 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm, at…

  • Wawona Tunnel Closing Temporarily on 9/24

    The Wawona Tunnel on Highway 41 between Wawona, Glacier Point, Yosemite West and the south entrance of the park and Yosemite Valley. Photo by Michael Flick. The Wawona Tunnel will be closing to all traffic on September 24th for a 2 hour period while construction crews check the ventilation system in the tunnel. The closure…

  • Come See Crosby Stills and Nash at Ironstone Vineyards

    Crosby, Stills and Nash perform in Houston, 2009. Photo by Steve Alexander. Ironstone Vineyards is about an hour and 20 minutes north of Yosemite in Murphys. Not many park visitors make the trip to Ironstone even though the winery makes some of the best wine in California. But now there’s a great reason to head…

  • Old Priest Grade Closed Next Week

    The locals know that the fast way up to Groveland is to take Old Priest Grade. Unfortunately, it looks like the trip up hill is going to take a little longer next week. According to the Tuolumne County Public Works Department, Old Priest Grade will be closed part of next week for roadwork starting 7…

  • Put Your Food in the Bear Locker

    B & E (Breaking and Entering) bear struck in Camp 4 demolishing several cars. Photo by Jeffrey Trust. Jeffrey Trust not only gets to do the web stuff for Yosemite National Park, but he gets to work with bears too. In fact, he loves working with the bears and frequently writes about them on his…

  • Ghosts, Boogey Men and Bodie

    Some of the things I dig up, I tell you. Check out this photo story from a few years back. My 2 year old son is narrating our trip to Bodie with my in-laws. So, if your spouses parents aren’t happy with you does that make them “out-laws”? HAHAHA…uh yee-ah…now you’ll understand who wrote the…

  • Some Color But Nothing to Write Home About

    Fall in the Eastern Sierra is punctuated by brilliant golden groves of aspen trees. Photo by Loyd Schutte. I’ve been getting emails and twitters all day about fall color in the Eastern Sierra. Some trees are indeed turning yellow but they’re still mostly a yellowish green. Looks like it’ll be another week before we really…

  • HIking Half Dome – What You Need to Know

    The cables up the side of Half Dome. It doesn’t look too hard in does it? Looks can be deceiving though. Photo by Sathish. Avuton wrote in: “A few months ago I have done a hike up to the top of the waterfall and enjoyed it immensely. Since then I’ve wanted to do the half-dome…

  • 73-Year Old Woman Charged in Big Meadow Fire Case

    The Big Meadow controlled burn scorched more than 7000 acres and cost tax payers $16 million to fight. Photo by Jono Hey. 73-year old Ann Matteson lives in Foresta. August 27th she was ordered to evacuate as fire crews moved in to protect the tiny mountain community from the controlled burn that had gotten out…

  • Star Bright, Star Light, First Star I See Tonight

    Photo courtesy NPS. One of the things I hear from people who’ve just experienced their first night in Yosemite is, “God I can’t believe how many stars there are here!” The stars are exactly the same as where you live, we just don’t have as much light pollution drowning out their light. In fact, Tuolumne…