Stay out of Yosemite NP New Years!

[Two23]

Of course it's not, but he and others who would politicize everything can't help themselves from dumping on this state, messing up threads in a photography forum that bans politics. Sad.

It's not about politics. It's about solving problems.


Kent in SD

[Tin Can]

I think I was in Yosemite for about an hour in 1977. I have a memory (maybe) of the Geyser.

I didn't like the crowds then and left.

I will never visit it again after reading of all the yahoos.

I like my very quiet State Park 16 miles away where nobody goes and is immaculately kept.

Happy New Year!

[Drew Wiley]

Yosemite has no geysers, Randy. That would be Yellowstone, way over on the Wyoming-Montana border.

[faberryman]

Yosemite has no geysers, Randy. That would be Yellowstone, way over on the Wyoming-Montana border.

Thank goodness. I thought I missed something.

[Drew Wiley]

Our biggest "biker" rally is held once a year at the tiny town of Bridgeport, within sight of the ragged peaks which comprise the NE boundary of Yosemite. Thousands of Harley hogs and couples having fun. All fines for misbehavior go to the local school district. No problem simply because the Hell's Angels and Mongols are 100% banned from attending. No drugs, no knives, no guns.

[Drew Wiley]

There are some erroneous stereotypes about CA on this thread. We have more NP than any other state, and far more designated Wilderness Areas. Some of these are bigger than certain entire states. Yosemite Valley is just a tiny percent of this. It's even a small percent of Yosemite Park itself, and even there you can find plenty of quiet and elbow room if you simply avoid the peak tourist season, when it's likely to be hot and smoggy anyway. Or just drive uphill and walk a few yards from the road. There's no law that states you have to follow the herds to exactly the same turnouts! I could say the same thing about Zion, Yellowstone, or any number of other popular parks.

[ic-racer]

I did not realize Yosemite was so close to the rest of Kalifornia until I looked it up on Google Map (though I did know the geysers are in Yellowstone---Randy????). I grew up imagining it was a place in the middle of nowhere that required a good two-day road trip. Of course, with Google map 3D I can just upload my screen shots to my iPhone and show off travel pictures just like everyone else. This is without paying or having to use the bathrooms there...

[Doremus Scudder]

The whole issue with problems in the parks when "mom & dad" supervision is gone due to the shutdown just points to the lack of character and poor quality of people problem that seems to be increasing exponentially these days. To quote him whose name shall not be mentioned. "Sad!" I hope that things are being exaggerated somewhat regarding the vandalism and violence. The sanitation and garbage issues are to be expected with the personnel issues, but one would hope that the park visitors would buck up and take such things in stride. Too bad they just don't close the park to visitors during periods of inadequate staffing. That might put some pressure on our elected representatives to work together to end the shutdown as well.

I try to hit the parks in the off seasons, when the populations there are lower, but my recent road trips Aug-Dec were quite pleasant in the parks. I visited Glacier, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Colorado Cliffs, Dinosaur, Great Sand Dunes, Joshua Tree, Mohave Nt Preserve and Death Valley plus a lot of State, County and other places. Sometimes crowded, but never an incidence of unpleasantness, fighting, excessive revelry or vandalism (mind you, I don't mind a bit of revelry at all). I wish my experiences were the norm.

Best,

Doremus

[Tin Can]

My mistake, most likely I have been to both from the Badlands to wherever. Family vacations in the 50's and we moved house almost every year.

My road days are over.

I have been to 47 states by all kinds of ways.

California was a good place to vacation but not settle. I considered it, but no.

The Mojave/Sonoran Desert In mid winter was interesting to me. I would drive the Bradshaw Trail. That place sticks in my mind as i went there 3 years in a row 6 weeks at a time. We camped in the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range. Saw a lot of odd debris and strange things in the sky.

Age 68 I am already in reminisce mode...

If I wander I may not come home.

Yosemite has no geysers, Randy. That would be Yellowstone, way over on the Wyoming-Montana border.

[Drew Wiley]

"Bad character" against parks and public lands is being deliberately incited from the very top these days. No need to elaborate. But I actually wanted to respond to John K. The old French Trail was reopened just a tiny section above Redinger Lk, plus the segment parallel to Millerton Lk. No funds, no motive for the hard parts. I'd really like to see Patterson Bend designated as formal wilderness, since lower altitude protection is scant and it contains some of the most spectacular Spring biota in the entire country. But I'm one of only a handful of people alive who have ever actually walked in there (vs whitewater runs). It would have been ruined by the stupendous Temperance Flat Dam idea, which would have also drowned three hydroelectric plants upstream, and left Millerton as a dry mudhole downstream most years. But I suspect the insane cost of the project will doom it anyway. That's steep rugged country, so trail-building isn't for sissies. I prefer it as-is, no trails except a few old mining tracks, and certainly no dam.