News from Yosemite
Local, Yosemite. & General news
Canon in Yosemite
For the last several years, Canon Photography in the Parks has spent a couple of weeks in Yosemite. They have a stand set up right on the Yosemite Mall in front of the Visitor’s Center where you can sign up in advance to go on a 2-hour photo walk, get instruction from their staff photographers, … Read more
Dude, we’re all Magicians
Sometimes, it’s the little things. I got out of work late today. It was a long day, and I’m still recovering from this stupid cold so it felt longer than it was. My bike was parked at Curry Village, which meant that instead of a <5 minute bike ride, I was resigned to a whole … Read more
State Parks in Danger
Living in a National Park is such a luxury. We’re surrounded by vast open spaces and long trails to disappear down. It’s so wonderful to see people smiling from their dose of fresh air, mountains, rivers, and big trees. But it’s the state parks, the ones that are a little closer to urban centers, that … Read more
Save the Butterflies
I’ve never taken a picture, but it’s always disconcerting when there are enough butterfly carcasses in and by the side of the road that they are easy to see at driving speeds. They are everywhere, fluttering, broken and dying. Please slow down, enjoy the butterflies and the scenery. It’s a small price to pay for … Read more
Least Crowded Channel
A while back, Tom turned me on to some great interviews on Mixergy.com, and in particular an interview with Tim Ferris – the author of The 4-Hour Workweek
Of course, that doesn’t just apply to people on the A-list, or even the B, C, or D-list. And it also isn’t just that face-to-face meetings are better. If you’re meeting people constantly in real life, but you have a new account on Twitter, maybe that is the best way to approach you. I wonder if that is/was part of the beauty of Twitter – especially at the beginning. There weren’t that many people on it, and so it was an uncrowded channel.
Today, I had my own little Least Crowded Channel experience. I’m online. There’s Twitter and email and Facebook, and a woman today took the time to find my phone number. Huh. It’s not exactly like a face-to-face meeting, but I get fewer phone calls than I get emails, so it worked. She wanted to submit a testimonial to YosemitePark.com about her family’s long-standing relationship with Yosemite to celebrate her parents’ 69th anniversary (they honeymooned in Yosemite in 1940). Today. And she called me at 4:30 as I was starting to think about winding down for the day. But, she had such a sweet and beautiful story, that I couldn’t resist. If she’d sent me an email – I may have skimmed it before I left. Maybe. But I’m sure I would not have felt as compelled to stay a little late to put her testimonial up today – much less give it front-page billing.
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Other notes:
Moonbows and Meteor Showers
The full moon is coming this Saturday, May 9, and full moons are always a special event in Yosemite, but in spring time, you also add the magic of the moonbows in Yosemite Falls. Walking through the Valley under a full moon is a sublime and otherworldly experience. The silvery light bounces off the granite … Read more
April is Poetry Month and other Goings Ons
April is almost over, and I’m just getting around to collecting some ideas about in one place. Being busy is good, but if someone could slow the clocks down and give me a chance to catch up again that would be nice.
In addition to the big things (Easter, Earth Day etc.) There were a bunch of interesting things going on to distinguish the month (as if the beginning of wildflower season wasn’t distinction enough around here). I don’t know if they are interesting enough to actually get me to participate – which is probably why it took me so long to mention them – but definitely interesting enough to get my head going around a bit. Helping out with the Yosemite Sentinel brings a lot of these random events to the surface, and is one of the most rewarding things about working on it.
Frazil Ice in Yosemite Creek
In the late winter, early spring, the water in Yosemite Falls can become super cooled and form small ice crystals that turn Yosemite Creek into a beautiful flowing slushie. I’ve been living in Yosemite for 6 years, and it’s the first time I’ve actually gone to Yosemite Creek when it was cold out and seen … Read more
Ahwiyah Point Rockfall Bigger than 1996 Rockfall
NPS just came out with an estimate of how large the March 28 Ahwiyah Point rockfall was, and I was surprised to learn that it was nearly 50% larger than the major rockfall in 1996 that fell near Happy Isles. Turns out, there has been a really interesting conversation going on over at Supertopo about the rockfall, and I picked up some more interesting information as well, and would recommend that as a good source for pictures and analysis about where the rockfall came from.