Rock fall reported near Yosemite's Curry Village

Campers and staff at Yosemite National Park woke to the rumblings of a small rock fall this morning in the Curry Village area.

The rock fall, which occurred between 5 and 7 a.m., consisted of about 150 tons of rock and was contained to an area of about 55 cubic meters, and didn't spread beyond the talus slope, the area of rock fragments at the base of a cliff, according to Yosemite spokeswoman Kari Cobb.

No injuries or damages were reported.

The rock slide occurred behind the area known as New Housing, a collection of employee homes near the guest cabins. A large dust cloud wafted over the area, but the rocks didn't reach into the inhabited areas, according to Yosemite employee Rosemary Regello.

An October 2008 rock slide in the same area closed part of Curry Village. A rock slide last month temporarily closed Yosemite's Ahwanee hotel.

--Brandon Bowers
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/105/story/1085551.html

There was another rockfall up behind Curry Village this morning with some debris almost reaching the new DNC employee housing area. No injuries or property damage.

Once again all the great voulunters for the Sixth Annual “Yosemite Facelift” Volunteer Event have been cleaning up and bringing in thousands of pounds of trash left all over Yosemite Park.

In addition to all the heavy trash seen in these photos hundreds of volunteers have been fanning out all over Yosemite with trash bags picking up hundreds of trash bags worth of Cigarette Butts( the #1 trash item) cans, bottles and other small trash.

These photos show the piles of heavy trash at the Sixth Annual “Yosemite Facelift” Volunteer Event headquarters in Yosemite Village Mall as of 8am this morning.

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After a long hot dry summer Yosemite Falls has finally dried up, not a drip of water coming down the face. Other waterfalls such as Bridalveil, Vernal and Nevada are surprisingly still flowing and Bridalveil Falls has enough volume to look like a waterfall.

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The fall colors are setting in around the Tioga Pass area and on the east side with the Aspens above 9,000'  really starting to turn golden with some orange and red. The weather has been perfect at the these elevations in fact it has been so warm that all you need are shorts and a t shirt mid day.

Today's photos were taken at the steep spectacular section of Tioga Pass.

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Meadow burn plan released by park
Written by James Damschroder, The Union Democrat September 22, 2009 11:41 am

While Yosemite National Park officials await the results of an investigation into the park’s decision to ignite a 90-acre controlled burn on a hot, August morning in the Foresta area— which quickly escaped its boundaries and turned into a wildfire — park officials have made the prescription burn plan and incident management plan available to the public.

The fire scorched 7,425 acres and closed Big Oak Flat Road into the park for a stretch — leaving businesses in the Groveland area that rely on Yosemite’s summer traffic empty. The cost to extinguish the fire totaled $16.3 million.

Ironically, the acreage burned did not include the meadow the fire was meant to torch in the first place.

While Acting Park Superintendent David Uberuaga has steadfastly supported the decision-making process to light the burn, he’s apologized to area business and home owners who were affected by the blaze.

Uberuaga said that to meet the objectives of the burn — to reduce fuel loads and for meadow restoration in the Foresta area — the day of the burn was within the prescription’s window.

It is that time of year again where we get really hot afternoons and as soon as the shade moves in it substantially cools down. The evenings are quite cool and even down to freezing above 8,000'.

The next couple of days are forecast to be extremely hot with near record temperatures with highs in the 90's in Yosemite Valley and high 70's in Tuolumne Meadows. What is nice is that the heat is short lived as the days are getting shorter and you can always find relief down at the river.

Here are some more shots of the Foresta area after the Big Meadow fire of 8/26/09.

The first photo is looking down on the community of Foresta and all the burned areas around it. Big Meadow is center right and that was the intended target for the prescribed fire that got out of control and as you can see they only burned 10% of their objective.

2nd photo is a burned hillside above Hwy 120 while the 3rd shot is of a sign they have explaining exactly what happened? Maybe one shouldn't play with fire on a hot dry August day.

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Y explore Announces Fall Schedule of Photography Workshops

Leading Photography Service Provider Plans Photo Sessions in Yosemite National Park.

Yosemite National Park, CA, September 18, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Y explore’s faculty of professional photographers will lead autumn photography field sessions in Yosemite National Park from September through November of 2009. Three programs will highlight the fall season: Yosemite Changing Seasons Masters Photo Workshops, Yosemite Valley Icons Photo Sessions, and The Icons of the High Sierra Photo Seminars. Instructional classes will cover topics including depth of field, hyper focal distance, exposure techniques, metering, the zone system, white balance and composition while capturing images from some of the most spectacular vista points in the world.

Sixth Annual “Yosemite Facelift” Volunteer Event to be Held in Yosemite National Park September 23-27, 2009 Yosemite National Park and the Yosemite Climbing Association invite the public to participate in the “Yosemite Facelift” September 23-27, 2009. This annual event is organized by the Yosemite Climbing Association to help clean up the park after the long and busy summer season. Volunteers are needed to pick up litter at various locations in Yosemite National Park including on roadways, in the river corridor, on trails, near climbing routes, and in parking, camping, and lodging areas. Events and presentations honoring Yosemite’s climbing history will be held throughout the weekend. Last year, over 2,021 Yosemite Facelift volunteers donated 16,168 hours and collected 41,631 pounds of trash. Interested volunteers should sign up at the booth in font of the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center at 8:00 am on days that they wish to participate. Crew leaders will be at the booth to organize work groups and hand out trash bags, gloves, and litter sticks. Trash must be returned to the booth by 5:00 pm to be weighed and sorted. Volunteers participating in the clean-up will receive free admission to the park. There are limited free camping sites still available for those participating in the clean up.