Yosemite Miwok or Paiute baskets?

by YosemitePaiutes

This is the Grouse Creek Fire just above Hwy 41 at 8:30 pm on 7/2/09. You can see car headlights lower center right.

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If you are sensitive to smoke be warned that the smoke in Yosemite from the control burns is really, really, really bad! The smoke from the Grouse Creek fire blows up into Yosemite Valley around 11am and it is really thick. I had some friends visiting and they had to leave as they were having reactions to the smoke. The smoke settles into the El Portal and Yosemite View Motels area in the evening.

These fire will continue to burn for days if not weeks.

It is really bad up in Tuolumne Meadows in the afternoon as you are getting smoke from the Grouse Creek Fire and the Harden Lake fire.

The 1st to photos show the Grouse Creek Fire above Hwy 41 and you can see El Capitan on the left with Yosemite Valley smack behind the fire. The 2nd photo shows the smoke already saturating Yosemite Valley this morning on 7/3/09

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View Grouse Creek Fire, 7/09 in a larger map

It's time to submit beautiful photos for 2010 Yosemite visitors guide

The Yosemite-Sierra Visitors Bureau accepts submissions of photographs each year for inclusion in the annual Yosemite Sierra Visitors Guide. One hundred thousand guides will be printed this year and distributed locally, throughout the United States, and around the world.

The guides are produced as a travel-planning piece for anyone asking for visitor information and a guide to the area while visiting. To continue producing a high-quality guide that will serve to attract visitors to the area, the Visitors Bureau, through its publisher, the Sierra Star, is looking for new stunning photographic images for the 2010 edition of the Yosemite- Sierra Visitors Guide.

See the 2009 Visitor's Guide by visiting http://www.yosemitethisyear.com or http://www.uniflip.com/online-magazines/3/9515/28049/pub/

Requested images

High-quality photographs that depict the scenic vistas, attractions, events, culture and activities of Madera County (including foothills and valley) and the Southern Yosemite region are requested. Photos of attractions, events and activities should include participants having fun.

Yosemite, Hetch Hetchy rebuild bill pulled from agenda

Richard Procter, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau

A controversial bill that would have changed conflict-of-interest rules to allow a Pasadena firm to work on the $4.5 billion rebuild of San Francisco's water system was pulled from the agenda of a Senate committee scheduled to hear it Wednesday.
More News

AB746, the focus of a Chronicle editorial Tuesday, would change existing conflict-of-interest rules so that Parsons Corp., a private contractor, could work on the construction of the Hetch Hetchy water system, which delivers water from Yosemite to San Francisco, despite the fact that the firm helped plan the project. A state law restricts contractors who plan state projects from later receiving the construction work.

The bill, introduced by Assemblyman Joe Coto, D-San Jose, was pulled from the agenda after the committee chair, Sen. Patricia Wiggins, D-Santa Rosa, decided to obtain an opinion from the attorney general about the bill, which already has received Assembly approval.

Specifically, the attorney general would be asked whether the situation with the Pasadena contractor constitutes a violation of state conflict-of-interest rules and whether the bill as written would interfere with future conflict-of-interest prosecutions.

E-mail Richard Procter at rprocter@sfchronicle.com.

Anniversary of Yosemite being set aside as parkland celebrated

A lot of Californians are heading to Yosemite for the Fourth of July weekend. It was 145 years ago today that the scenic valley became the first parkland set aside by the federal government. KPCC’s Washington Correspondent Kitty Felde reports.

President Abraham Lincoln signed the legislation that designated the Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Big Tree Grove as parkland. The federal government gave the land to the state of California on condition that it be used for “public use, resort, and recreation.” But Yosemite was almost loved to death right from the start.

California, long before its current budget woes, couldn’t keep up with the wear and tear on the park from the steady stream of tourists. Yosemite became a national park in 1890. Thirteen years later, another president, Theodore Roosevelt, camped out in Yosemite with naturalist John Muir. Muir spent the three-day campout lobbying Roosevelt for federal management of the entire 1,200 square miles.

Today, Yosemite attracts more than 3 million visitors a year. Despite the crowds, almost all of Yosemite National Park is still considered wilderness.

Yosemite Fires – Update #15 – July 1, 2009

The Grouse and Harden fires in Yosemite National Park continue to move at a steady pace under hot and dry conditions. The Grouse Fire (848 acres) is about three miles southwest of Yosemite Valley and north of Glacier Point Road. The Harden Fire (593 acres) is on the north side of the park, west of Harden Lake and northwest of White Wolf.
Travelers are advised of temporary road delays and closures, due to smoke and firefighters working along the Wawona Road and the Glacier Point Road. For firefighter and driver safety, please use caution.
On Tuesday, early morning light rain and clouds gave way to the predominant hot and dry weather that has been over the area the past few days. As the temperature rose, the fires started to gain momentum through the afternoon into the early evening. A significant smoke column was visible on the Harden Fire around 5 p.m. Managers expect continued vigorous activity on the fires while the current weather pattern remains in place.

Daily Report - Yosemite National Park
Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Weather
Yosemite Valley
Today: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 11am. Mostly
cloudy, with a high near 92. Calm wind becoming west southwest between 10
and 13 mph.
Tonight: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11pm.
Partly cloudy, with a low around 56. Calm wind becoming east between 4 and
7 mph.
Thursday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 11am.
Partly cloudy, with a high near 92. Calm wind becoming west southwest
between 5 and 8 mph.
Thursday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before
11pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 55. South southwest wind 5 to 10 mph
becoming east.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 92. East wind 5 to 9 mph becoming west
southwest.
Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 56.

El Portal
Today: Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 98. Calm wind becoming
southwest between 8 and 11 mph.
Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 61. North northwest wind at 8 mph
becoming east northeast.
Thursday: Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 97. Calm wind becoming
west northwest between 5 and 8 mph.
Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 61. Calm wind becoming
east northeast between 4 and 7 mph.
Friday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 97. East wind at 9 mph becoming

The Grouse Creek Fire just above Hwy 41 and a couple miles west of Yosemite Valley is really growing and spitting out LOTS  of smoke. It is a naturally caused fire so NPS is letting it burn with some control measures to keep it from going towards any structures. Yesterday afternoon it was quite a site from over on Hwy 120 as you could see the extent of the fire and how large it has gotten. Whole hillsides were on fire just above Hwy 41 by Grouse Creek.

If past history is any indication this fire will probably grow until it is so dangerous that NPS will have to put it out. It is getting somewhat close to the Turtle Back Dome communication center and the Phono Trail on the South Rim of Yosemite Valley will probably be closed.

The smoke settles into the El Portal, Yosemite View Motels, Hwy 140, Lower Merced River Canyon in the morning and then blows up into Yosemite Valley in the afternoon.

This morning photo shows the head of the fire moving east towards Yosemite Valley(on the left) and is above Turtle Back Dome on Hwy 41. You can see how the smoke is blowing down canyon from the evening but will soon switch and blow into Yosemite Valley on the left.

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It is VERY smokey all over Yosemite from the control burns and the smoke even extends over to the east side of the sierra. There is also lots of clouds and the forecast is for thunderstorms and we have already seen some rain around the Yosemite Creek area on Hwy120. Yosemite Valley is going to be hot again with temperatures in the 90's.  This is a good time to head for the river.

This photos shows the thick smoke around Half Dome this mroning.

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Daily Report - Yosemite National Park
Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Weather
Yosemite Valley
Today: Isolated showers and thunderstorms after 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a
high near 92. Calm wind becoming west southwest between 5 and 8 mph. Chance
of precipitation is 20%.
Tonight: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11pm.
Partly cloudy, with a low around 58. Calm wind becoming east between 5 and
8 mph.
Wednesday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 11am.
Partly cloudy, with a high near 93. Calm wind becoming west southwest
between 5 and 8 mph.
Wednesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before
11pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 57. Calm wind becoming east between
5 and 8 mph.

El Portal
Today: Isolated showers and thunderstorms after 11am. Mostly sunny and hot,
with a high near 98. Calm wind becoming southwest between 6 and 9 mph.
Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 62. Calm wind becoming east
northeast between 6 and 9 mph.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 98. East northeast wind
between 6 and 9 mph becoming calm.
Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 61. Northwest wind at 7
mph becoming east northeast.

Tuolumne Area
Today: Scattered showers and thunderstorms after 11am. Mostly cloudy, with

One nice thing about the Yosemite fires is that they make beautiful sunsets. These were taken last night from Tuolumne Meadows and are looking north west at the Harden Fire by Harden Lake near White Wolf. It looked like a volcano going off.

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The Harden fire from Tuolumne Meadows at 8pm. It is that large plume of orange smoke center to right.

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Indian Village and Camp Sites in Yosemite Valley*

[Editor’s note: This information is historical. Select this link for current Yosemite campgrounds.]

By C. Hart Merriam [Clinton Hart Merriam, 1855 - 1942]

[Sierra Club Bulletin 10(2):202-209 (January 1917).]

*This article was written in 1910, during which year I was able to complete the list of villages from the head of Yosemite Valley to Ferguson Station on the Merced, about six miles below El Portal. I had previously obtained and published the villages from Horseshoe Bend down the Merced as far as the territory of the tribe extended, and was anxious to fill the gap between Soo-noó-koo-loon at Ferguson and Se-sau'-che at Horseshoe Bend. Not having been able to do this, it seems hardly worth while to defer publication longer.

•

Daily Report - Yosemite National Park
Monday, June 29, 2009

Weather
Yosemite Valley
Today: Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 99. North northeast wind 5 to 8 mph becoming southwest
between 14 and 17 mph. Winds could gust as high as 21 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 60. West southwest wind between 11 and 14 mph becoming light.
Tuesday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 11am. Mostly sunny and hot, with a high
near 96. North wind between 3 and 11 mph.
Tuesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11pm. Partly cloudy, with a low
around 63. West southwest wind 6 to 9 mph becoming east.
Wednesday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 11am. Mostly sunny and hot, with a
high near 97. East southeast wind between 6 and 9 mph becoming calm.
Wednesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11pm. Partly cloudy, with a
low around 61.

El Portal
Today: Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 100. Northeast wind 5 to 13 mph becoming west.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 66. Calm wind becoming east northeast between 11 and 14 mph.
Tuesday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 97. West southwest wind 5 to 13 mph becoming north.
Tuesday Night: Clear, with a low around 62. Southwest wind around 9 mph becoming east.

Yosemite Fires,  Update #13,  June 29, 2009
Fire activity increased over the weekend on the Grouse and Harden fires in Yosemite National Park.  The Grouse Fire (250 acres) is about seven miles southwest of Yosemite Valley and north of Glacier Point Road.  The Harden Fire (111 acres) is on the north side of the park, west of Harden Lake and northwest of White Wolf.  The two fires are being managed to achieve both protection and resource objectives.     The objectives for the fires include preventing fire growth outside defined management areas, restoring fire dependent forest systems, managing smoke production, protecting wildlife habitat and preserving cultural and natural resources.  To achieve these objectives, fire personnel employ a variety of strategies and techniques such as building fire line, blacklining control lines, using aerial resources when necessary to slow fire progression and monitoring and patrolling.      

With smoke from the "Let Burn" fires a concern, here is what to expect. The smoke will blow out west in the evening as down canyon (west) winds happen at night. In the morning once it warms up the east winds pick up and will blow the smoke up canyon, east.

This photo was taken early on 6/29/09 and shows the effect of the evening winds that blow down canyon, west. You are looking east into Yosemite Valley on the left and the Grouse Creek fire on the right. You can see how the smoke has settled into the Lower Merced River Canyon down by El Portal and Yosemite Lodge. Now once the day east winds pick up the smoke will start to blow into Yosemite Valley on the left. The smoke blew up east almost all the way to Olmsted Point by Tuolumne Meadows yesterday.

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Smoke Alert from fires! Today is a spare the air day in California from the the high pressure that has built over the state. This has caused above normal temperatures and bad air pollution. This combined with smoke from fires in portions of Yosemite has caused some very bad air and will probably get worse from these fires.

The fires were caused by lightning several weeks ago and then we had rain and below normal temperatures in Yosemite that almost put the fires out.With the recent dry weather and high temperatures, in the 90's, the fires have rekindled and are growing.

The largest fire is the Grouse Creek Fire which is between Hwy 41 and the Glacier Point road at the west end of Yosemite Valley. It has really kicked up the last couple of days and is spewing out a lot of smoke. NPS is considering closing the Phono Trail on the south rim and was doing helicopter bucket drops on it yesterday.

Another fire is by White Wolf somewhere on Hwy 120 and has also produced a lot of smoke in that area. I saw another fire in the Ten Lakes area but this is only producing a small amount of smoke.

These fires are "Let Burn" since they were naturally caused and will probably be around for awhile.

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Some Yosemite Indian History You Did Not Know

This site is all about cultural preservation that the National Park Service has decided "not" to do. Instead, they have decided to allow an non-profit organization to represent the American Indian culture of Yosemite Valley, all in the name of profit and explotation.

This site is dedicated to exposing the truth about the American Indian culture of Yosemite, thats being replaced and another none shoved in its place, to support the NPS agenda.

There is a point.....

Around 1980 a group of Yosemite National Park employees of American Indian descent got together and made a non-profit called the American Indian Council of Mariposa. They did this to become an official tribe, but to be an official tribe they had to pass criteria set up by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Branch of Federal Acknowledgment.

What many of us believe, and we have quite a bit of proof, is that to meet the criteria for federal recognition certain people at the park assisted them to change the history of Yosemite; the history of the Native American people, maybe unknowingly or maybe on purpose.

To try to meet the criteria the non-profit group changed it's name from the American Indian Council of Mariposa to the Southern Sierra Miwuks. You see there was more written about Miwoks in Yosemite than about Indians of Mariposa County.

Yosemite is one of the country's most visited and beloved national parks, and for good reason. Spectacular waterfalls, massive rock edifices and beautiful forests should inspire even the most hard core city lover to strap on a pair of boots and go for a hike.

Unfortunately all this popularity means that backpacking in the park is highly regulated and can require permit reservations months in advance for the most popular trails; for example, permits for entering at Happy Isles (the start of the John Muir Trail) can get booked to capacity within a few hours of becoming available.

The way around this problem is to take advantage of the Yosemite's first-come first-serve permits which the park makes available every day for entry on the following day. Multiple wilderness permit stations within the park offer these permits and each station has priority over the closest trails (although each station can issue a permit for any trail within the park, if available). Since 40% of all entry permits are held for first-come first-serve users, chances are good that you can get a permit if you arrive early; most permit stations open at 8 or 9am. As an added bonus, Yosemite offers several free backpackers campgrounds which are available if you receive a permit; these are extremely useful for killing that extra night before being allowed to enter the backcountry on the following day.

Sheer exhilaration
Autry exhibit examines the history of rock climbing in Yosemite National Park

Friday, June 26, 2009
Granite Frontiers: A Century of Yosemite Climbing

The exhibition is on view through Oct. 4 at the Autry National Center of the American West, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekends. Admission is $9 for adults, $5 for seniors and students and $3 for children 3-12. For more information, call 323-667-2000 or visit http://www.autrynationalcenter.org.

As Ken Yager and other Yosemite Climbing Association members entered the back gallery at the Autry National Center of the American West recently, a sense of recognition washed over their faces.

To these experienced climbers, the artifacts, photographs and videos featured in the Los Angeles museum’s new exhibit, Granite Frontiers: A Century of Yosemite Climbing, are as familiar as the crevices on Half Dome, Cathedral Chimney, El Capitan and the other towering rock faces that they love to scale in the popular California national park.

But to nonclimbers, this tight-knit group’s activities mostly are a mystery. How did climbing become a sport? What technologies have advanced climbing to new literal and metaphorical heights? And who are the pioneers?

The Grouse Creek Fire on Hwy 41 has really kicked up today with smoke visible from many areas.  Here is the NPS report on this fire from 6/4 and it looks like they may just let it burn. With near record temperatures forecast in the coming days look for the fire to grow.

From 6/4/09 Yosemite Daily Report

"For the purposes of federal land and resource agencies, there are now two
kinds of fire: planned (prescribed fire), and unplanned (wildfire). The
Grouse fire began as a lightning caused fire and is an unplanned fire. A
wildland fire, or portions of a wildland fire, may be concurrently managed
for one or more objectives (e.g. costs, safety, resource benefits, etc.).
Those objectives, and the ability of a fire to meet those objective's, can
change as the fire spreads across the landscape. Yosemite is assessing the
Grouse fire following a decision support process that examines the full
range of potential responses. A good deal of the effort under the policy
is in planning during these kinds of fires, through the Wildland Fire
Decision Support System (WFDSS).

Daily Report - Yosemite National Park
Friday, June 26, 2009

Weather
Yosemite Valley
Today: Sunny, with a high near 91. Calm wind becoming west between 6 and 9
mph.
Tonight: Clear, with a low around 56. North northwest wind between 7 and 10
mph.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 95. East northeast wind 6 to 10 mph
becoming south southwest.
Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 61. West wind 6 to 8 mph
becoming north northeast.
Sunday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 96. East wind 6 to 10 mph becoming
west.
Sunday Night: Clear, with a low around 62.

El Portal
Today: Sunny, with a high near 94. Calm wind becoming west between 6 and 9
mph.
Tonight: Clear, with a low around 63. West wind 6 to 10 mph becoming north
northeast.
Saturday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 101. East northeast wind 7 to 11
mph becoming southwest.
Saturday Night: Clear, with a low around 66. West wind around 8 mph
becoming north northeast.
Sunday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 102. East wind 7 to 10 mph becoming
west southwest.
Sunday Night: Clear, with a low around 66.

Tuolumne Area
Today: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy,
with a high near 71. West northwest wind between 3 and 8 mph.
Tonight: Clear, with a low around 42. North northwest wind between 6 and 8
mph.

Daily Report - Yosemite National Park
Thursday, June 25, 2009

Weather
Yosemite Valley
Today: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 11am.
Increasing clouds, with a high near 89. Calm wind becoming southwest
between 6 and 9 mph.
Tonight: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy,
with a low around 57. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 87. Northwest wind between 5 and 10
mph.
Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 58. West northwest wind
around 10 mph becoming east northeast.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 92. East wind between 7 and 10 mph.
Saturday Night: Clear, with a low around 60.

El Portal
Today: Sunny, with a high near 93. Calm wind becoming west southwest
between 5 and 8 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 57. North northwest wind between 3
and 6 mph.
Friday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 96. North northeast wind at 9 mph
becoming west.
Friday Night: Clear, with a low around 61. West northwest wind around 8 mph
becoming east northeast.
Saturday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 99. East northeast wind 7 to 9
mph becoming south southwest.

Family-Friendly Travel Adventures in Yosemite National Park and Beyond

We recently took a week-long road trip from Los Angeles to Yosemite National Park.

Here was my plan: take as little luggage as possible since it was just me, my husband and my 8-year-old daughter, and we’d be changing hotels and national park lodges frequently.

Here’s what happened: two neatly packed, tiny little suitcases left oodles of room for mountains of pillows, random shoes, sweaters and jackets, hiking boots, snacks, water, dolls, toys and stuffed animals. Oops.

And, of course, cramming all of that into our Camry Hybrid took time. So my next plan—let’s leave by 9 o’clock—turned into “I’ll be happy if we leave by noon.” We hadn’t even pulled out of the driveway and things were already off plan.

But here’s where my family planning was spot on. We didn’t just rush up to Yosemite and spend all our time in the park. I’ve done that countless times and its splendor never ceases to inspire. But this time, we got smart. Since it was a family trip, we decided to take it slow, venture out and explore around the park as well as in it, looking for attractions and experiences that our daughter would love.

What I found blew me away.

By Jamie Simons for PeterGreenberg.com.
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In 1985, Dale Soria went to Yosemite National Park on a trans-Sierra ski trip.

Twenty-two years later, he’s still there.

Dale Soria is a dentist and when he learned that the only dentist working in Yosemite was retiring, he took his place.

At the time, he, his wife Catherine and their three children were living in the California Central Valley town of Merced.

But when the opportunity to live among the towering granite walls of Yosemite presented itself, they packed up everything and moved. “My father was in the military,” says Catherine Soria. “And when I was young we lived in Japan. We lived in a farming community and got to wander wherever we wanted. It was a magical time and I wanted that for my children.”

A teacher, Catherine took a job at the elementary school that sits on the valley floor. Today she is the principal. At its height, the school had about 100 students from kindergarten through eighth grade. But because family housing is the park’s most valuable commodity, today’s enrollment is down to about 30 students.

This little listing recording device, found behind a fence in Tuolumne Meadows by a employee fire pit, caused quite a stir among the employees. They thought NPS was eves dropping on them. They called the number and I guess the NPS female was quite rude to the employee when asked what it is for. A second call got a friendlier NPS person and it was  explained that it was to monitor sound for the upcoming Tuolumne River Plan. It was decided that it would be moved across the street away from the employee area.

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UPDATE---  The NPS person came up and talked to us and he said they do not listen to the sounds recorded as it is thousands of hours of recordings from around the park. They feed it into a program that identifies spikes which are almost always from Harleys, buses, cars and jets. They are trying to get a base line for future park planning.

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