Yosemite
National Park is internationally famous for its spectacular granite cliffs,
waterfalls, clear streams, Giant Sequoia groves, and biological diversity. Approximately
95% of the Yosemite Park is designated wilderness, and central to the
development of the national park idea. Yosemite National Park is one of the
largest and least fragmented habitat blocks in the Sierra Nevada, and the park
supports a variety of plants and animals.
The
stunning Yosemite National Park has an elevation range from 2,127 to 13,114
feet and contains five major vegetation zones: chaparral/oak woodland, lower
montane forest, upper montane forest, subalpine zone, and alpine. There is appropriate
habitat or documentation for more than 160 rare plants in the park, with rare
local geologic formations and exclusive soils characterizing the restricted
ranges many of these plants occupy. The Yosemite Park geology is characterized
by granitic rocks and remnants of older rock.
The
National Park Service was formed in 1916, and Yosemite was transferred to that
agency's jurisdiction. Automobiles began to enter the park in rising numbers
following the construction of all-weather highways to the park. Moreover; the
Yosemite Museum was founded in 1926 through the efforts of Ansel Franklin Hall.
In 1903 a dam was proposed in Hetch Hetchy Valley to provide water and
hydroelectric power to San Franciso. Currently preservationists convinced
Congress to designate 677,600 acres or about 89% of the park, as the Yosemite
Wilderness a highly protected wilderness area.
The
Park Service has reduced artificial inducements to visit the park, such as the
Firefall, in which red-hot embers were pushed off a cliff near Glacier Point at
night. In summer traffic congestion becomes a major concern, and two electric
buses commenced service in September 1995. The buses are quiet and do not emit
pollutants. Eventually, all the buses in Yosemite will be electric.
The
3,080 km2 park is approximately the size of the U.S. state of Rhode Island and
contains thousands of lakes and ponds, 2600 km of streams, 1300 km of hiking
trails, and 560 km of roads. Two federally designated Wild and Scenic Rivers,
the Merced and the Tuolumne, start within Yosemite's borders and flow westward
through the Sierra foothills, into the Central Valley of California. Annual
park visitation exceeds 3.5 million, with most visitor use concentrated in the
seven-square mile area of Yosemite Valley.
Approximately
all of the landforms in the Yosemite vicinity are cut from the granitic rock of
the Sierra Nevada Batholith are a large mass of intrusive igneous rock that
formed deep below the surface. About 5% of the park's landforms are
metamorphosed volcanic and sedimentary rocks. These rocks are called roof
pendants because they were once the roof of the underlying granitic rock.
Yosemite
Valley Tunnel View is the first sight of the Valley for many visitors and is widely
photographed. El Capitan, a prominent granite cliff that looms over Yosemite
Valley, is one of the most well-liked rock climbing destinations in the world
because of its diverse range of climbing routes in addition to its year-round
accessibility. Granite domes such as Sentinel Dome and Half Dome rise 3,000 and
4,800 feet, respectively, above the valley floor. The Lyell Glacier is the
largest glacier in Park and is one of the few remaining in the Sierra Nevada
today.
The
high country of Yosemite contains beautiful areas such as Tuolumne Meadows,
Dana Meadows, the Clark Range, the Cathedral Range, and the Kuna Crest. The
Sierra crest and the Pacific Crest Trail run through Yosemite, with peaks of
red metamorphic rock, such as Mount Dana and Mount Gibbs, and granite peaks,
such as Mount Conness. Mount Lyell is the highest point in the park, standing
at 13,120 ft. The park has three groves of ancient Giant Sequoia trees; the Mariposa
Grove the Tuolumne Grove, and the Merced Grove. This species grows larger in
volume than any other and is one of the tallest and longest-lived.
Yosemite
is famed for its high concentration of waterfalls in a undersized area.
Numerous sheer drops, glacial steps and hanging valleys in the park provide
many places for waterfalls to exist, especially during April, May, and June. The
Yosemite Falls is the highest in North America at 2,425-foot. Also in Yosemite
Valley is the much lower volume Ribbon Falls, which has the highest single
vertical drop, 1,612 feet, maybe the most famous of the Yosemite Valley waterfalls is Bridalveil Fall, which is
the waterfall seen from the Tunnel View viewpoint at the east end of the Wawona
Tunnel. Wapama Falls in Hetch Hetchy Valley is another notable waterfall.
Hundreds of ephemeral waterfalls also exist in the park.
All
glaciers in the park are relatively small glaciers that occupy areas that are
in almost permanent shade, such as north- and northeast-facing cirques. Climate
change has reduced the number and size of glaciers around the world. Several
Yosemite glaciers, including Merced Glacier, which was discovered by John Muir
in 1871 and bolstered his glacial origins theory of the Yosemite area, have
disappeared and most of the others have lost up to 75% of their surface area.
Yosemite Range of Light from Shawn Reeder on Vimeo.
