Yosemite Nature Notes Blog

Hint of Winter

2012-01-24T08:31:00.000-08:00

It's been both a challenging and a welcome return to stormy winter weather over the past several days in Yosemite. Tioga, Glacier Point and Mariposa Grove Roads closed last week, we got rain and snow, and the waterfalls picked up in volume. It snowed a couple of inches in Yosemite Valley yesterday, then clearing sky and swirling clouds at sunset made magic.
Ranger Ryan Hiller was killed by a treefall during the rain and high winds over the weekend. Ryan spent much of last summer patrolling the busy Half Dome trail corridor and was planning to work at our ski area this winter. He was the 10th known person in park history to perish in this manner and his loss is deeply felt by all of us here.
On Sunday night a section of the north canyon wall above the Big Oak Flat Road came loose and wrecked part of that highway between the Merced River and the Foresta turn-off. The slide is below the 3 tunnels, includes a lot of smashed live oaks and some very big boulders. Moving the debris is one thing, but the roadbed itself has been broken through and pushed downhill. NPS has posted pictures on their Facebook site. I'd guess that this will take at least a few weeks to reopen. There is some Sherwin glacial till in that area but this slide looks like all talus and cliff material.
Badger Pass got about a foot of snow and groomers have been working on the slopes. Warm weather the rest of this week will not help retain this base, but -you hear it here first: all Badger Pass operations will open on Thursday.
UPDATE: The Big Oak Flat Road reopens Saturday 28 January! Amazing work by NPS Roads to make this repair. Caution: unpaved gravel surface in the slide area.

Finally wet

2012-01-20T13:27:00.000-08:00

After being dry for nearly two months we have a series of storms coming through Yosemite. Light precipitation overnight left snow down below 7000' in places. More accumulation is expected over the next few days, perhaps as much as 2-3 feet at high elevations by Monday.
Tioga Road is closed. Glacier Point Road is closed. But the snow level is high enough that we don't have any chain restrictions in effect. Badger Pass, at 7200' has a ways to go before even cross-country skiing will be possible there.
The Merced River had gone down to 27 cfs at Pohono Bridge - a mere 20% of normal flow! The tiny bit of overnight rain is showing up in the river already with a slight rise. Last night was quite a bit warmer than usual due to the cloud cover that limited radiational cooling. Some of the many frozen waterfalls that have been so visible for the past few weeks are softening up in the warmth and rain.
While Tioga was open, park resources people made some sound recordings of the lake ice on Tenaya, Dog and Lower Cathedral Lakes. If you were up there, you know how eerie those creaking, groaning, pinging sounds were. I hope they'll have some of these unique recordings available online soon.
Meanwhile the dry landscape is soaking up liquid moisture and stacking up the solid form for later use...

Wither Winter?

2012-01-07T10:54:00.000-08:00

I saw a huge scorpion this morning. It was creeping slowly up into the southeastern sky just before dawn: Scorpio, a hint of distant summer. Vega was well up in the northeast- part of the Summer Triangle asterism. It's too close to solstice for these to really be harbingers, but (depending on your horizon; our irregular canyon walls can interfere with the trajectory of change) the sun is rising a bit earlier and setting later than it was a couple weeks ago. Mars and Saturn are also overhead before sunup; Jupiter and Venus after sunset.

The remarkable dry and mild season continues in Yosemite. January snow surveys show a fraction of normal snowpack (13% in the central Sierra) with some sample sites bone dry. Tioga Pass and Glacier Point Roads remain open. It is not true that our ski area is changing its name to "Badger Grass" (photo). While many have observed that this is the latest that Tioga Road has stayed open, others have wondered if instead it's actually the earliest (for next summer) that it's been open to vehicles...
The original road to Tioga Pass was built by hundreds of Chinese laborers. Some of the story of the contributions of non-Anglos to Yosemite is told in this new NPS video. I'm delighted with ranger Chan's research that brings to light more of the details of Yosemite's culturally diverse heritage (and future).
Western Bluebirds are seen at Crane Flat (99% snow-free at 6200'). Great horned owls are calling every night in El Portal, Foresta and the Valley. Chorus frogs are heard here and there, but only individually so far. The Merced River trickles at about 35% of normal flow.

Sierra Sin Nevada

2012-01-01T10:00:00.001-08:00

Yosemite does not notice as people replace old calendars with new ones today; there is no date on the park's schedule. It's only our transient culture that has the conceit that we've just entered something called 2012 this morning. Solstice, a week and a half ago, is a more significant transitional event for our mountains.
Our December was one of the driest on record. There are a few inches of snow in shady places, but Tioga Road and Glacier Point Road are both dry and open to vehicles. Being able to drive to Tuolumne Meadows and over Tioga Pass is most unusual for Christmas and New Year's.
Visitors have been very excited to ice skate on Tenaya (pictured), Tioga and Ellery Lakes, as well as those wilder lakes requiring a short hike. XC skiers are hiking in to stay at Ostrander Ski Hut but without skis. In Yosemite Valley, people are comfortable in shirt sleeves mid-day; it should be in the mid-50's this week.
The Merced River has continued to shrink in volume, during the time of year when it's typically rising. At Pohono Bridge the average for today is 102 cfs, but it's now flowing at 38 - the lowest its been since October of 2010. (1977 was drier; only 14 cfs trickled through on January 1.)
The Christmas Bird Count recorded a healthy 70 species, including both species of eagles and lots of other raptors. It's a good winter for varied thrushes here and our white-headed woodpecker sightings will again be at/near the most in the nation.

Aeolian transition

2011-12-07T13:50:00.000-08:00

As did much of the West, Yosemite had a strong windstorm last week. The park had closed the Tioga Road in anticipation of problems and there were indeed numerous lodgepoles felled in the area near the Mono/Parker Pass trailhead (almost at treeline) and a few elsewhere. In Yosemite Valley there were some trees thrown down and many branches flung on Wednesday night. The last of the deciduous leaves were stripped off, though the Cascades area must've been a calmer pocket as there is still color there.
Along the FourMile Trail several large trees were knocked down (photo).
For the first time in many months the Merced River has dropped to below average flow and is as low as it's been in 14 months.
Six species of woodpeckers were observed by my birding group on Saturday, and a seventh just after we split up. Now we await the snows and look forward to getting out in the winter world.
Get up early on Saturday morning to find a spot where you have a good view of a low western horizon. The earth's shadow will eclipse the full moon as the moon sets; you should see it turn reddish-orange as the sky brightens to day.

Fall or Winter

2011-11-28T14:49:00.000-08:00

It's a mild week in Yosemite but most trees are bare and there's morning frost in Yosemite Valley. Tioga Pass is open to cars but Glacier Point Road is closed. A Clark's Nutcracker drifted down from treeline and was heard above the Valley's west end, while aerial plankton of spiders and small insects fills the air in the afternoon sun.
Balloon flies continue to float in quantities in El Portal, where Grindella is still in bloom. Juncoes and mixed winter flocks have displaced the swifts and swallows of summer. Fresh bear tracks were seen in the snow at 7000' on Thanksgiving day.
I was just outside the park with friends yesterday and saw 4 river otters on the Tuolumne River. Park biologist SStock has records of 37 prior sightings of river otters in/near the park. They include observations from throughout Yosemite, including up to 10,000'. Has fish introduction allowed the otters to range higher or stay longer than pre-fish?
This weekend is the Conservancy's woodpeckers field course; we have more kinds of woodpeckers than almost anywhere. Good weather should make a pleasant day for a quest to see as many as we can while learning about this important keystone guild. Our Christmas Bird Count is December 18 and would welcome more participants, whether experienced birders or not. Maybe mild weather will last, though La Nina is expected to be visiting for the winter.

So Autumn

2011-10-27T11:03:00.000-07:00

The fall glow in the Range of Light is especially remarkable in Yosemite Valley these days. We are at that point in the sun's apparent migration in the sky when it sets very low in the west, in the skyline notch that is the Merced River Canyon. It's the analog sunset point to that which produces the 'firefall effect' at Horsetail Fall. That photogenic phenomenon happens about 7-8 weeks after Winter Solstice; we are now 7-8 weeks before solstice. The low sunset lets a more colorful sunlight into the Valley at the end of the day. (Horsetail Fall is just trickling now so won't produce the volume of mist/water that catches the light in February.)
In mid-summer the sun sets well to the north of the Merced's exit point, so is high over the canyon rim; in winter it sets high over the canyon wall to the south - in both cases setting when the sunlight is still whiter.
During the day, the sun is traversing a lower angle than in summer, too, but still reaches more of the Valley floor than it does in mid-winter. The Valley's deciduous plants are ending their growing season with the decay of chorophyll that allows other leaf pigments to shine before leaves drop to the ground. Big-leaf maples put on the biggest color display now, and these bands of yellow highlight their preferred wetter, shady habitat in ways that may not have been apparent all summer. The one sugar maple in Old Yosemite Village turned more yellow than red this year, and the afternoon up-canyon breezes have this tree already about 20% bare now. Black oaks are going brown-yellow but many leaves have dropped from some. Dogwoods are still largely green, but showing their startling pink in places. Black cottonwoods are mostly bare now. The brightest plant in the Valley now is dogbane or Indian hemp (Apocynum) - their radiant gold almost hurts one's eyes.
The meadows are a light brown, the fallen pale leaves cover darker ground, more sunshine reaches the ground through branches that are baring. Even ponderosas participate in this season, browning and shedding some of their needles after the dry summer. It all adds up to a lighter albedo. Though the days are shorter and the sun is lower, Yosemite Valley is reflecting more light and is brighter than it is all summer. Only the winter snow will raise the Valley's albedo beyond this dreamy, pale glow of autumn.
Incense cedars are raining their helicopter seeds now. Gray squirrels have been shredding pine cones for a few weeks and their litter of cone scales is everywhere. Been seeing more chickarees than usual in the Valley, also working over the ponderosa cones. Down canyon a bit, Torreya has been dropping its strange green fruits.
The Merced is running at about 80 cfs at Pohono Bridge and dropping since our last storm on 5 October (average for this date is around 33 cfs). Last evening the Valley rim was entirely mantled in a cloud layer that built just at sunset.

Foliage change

2011-10-14T14:31:00.000-07:00

Rain ten days ago really swelled the Merced River. The historical average flow for last week was below 30 cfs. It had been running closer to 100 cfs, then leapt to over 600 after the rain. That the high country got snow showed in the nice 24-hour cycle of melt ebb and flow shortly after the storm. Our waterfalls are again looking exceptional for this time of year.
Ladybird beetles are on the move in this warm (moist) weather, with many swarming in El Portal the past couple of days.
A red-shouldered hawk, and a pair of great horned owls were heard in the volunteer campground in Yosemite Valley. A Say's phoebe was seen in Rancheria Flat.
Orion and Canis Major dominate the morning skies if you're out early and have a view to the south.
The sugar maple in old Yosemite Village has just started to show a tiny touch of color. At the Valley elevation, other than dogbane and some bracken, most color has not yet appeared. Alders skip the show and just start dropping their green leaves into the river when they're done, which is now.
Higher up you'll find aspen and bilberry being more colorful now. It should be a good weekend for getting out in the park.
Half Dome cables are down for the winter, Backpackers, Yosemite Creek and Crane Flat Campgrounds are closed for the season now.

Predation

2011-09-23T16:15:00.000-07:00

Happy, Balanced Equinox.
The Yosemite Facelift is underway and there are hundreds of volunteers deployed all over the park to clean it up. It's a very impressive endeavor, started by Yosemite Climbing Association and successfully grown into a significant success story.
Tony Carlstrom reports observing a California ground squirrel wrestle, subdue and kill a chipmunk atop Sentinel Dome on Tuesday. The chipmunk's body was then dragged off by the squirrel. This kind of gruesome aggression is not something we generally expect from those little snack-beggars. I have observed California ground squirrels feeding on road-killed squirrels in Yosemite Valley.
Rangers at Hodgdon Meadow watched a mountain lion kill a mule deer buck a few days ago. Local bucks are still in velvet but have full grown racks. Lions generally prefer easier prey than large adults males approaching rutting season.
Red columbine still in bloom in the "Ice Cut" on the JMT near Nevada Fall, along with waterfall buttercups.
Afternoon clouds massing from the crest toward the west these past few days.

Equinox approach

2011-09-20T06:35:00.000-07:00

Autumnal equinox arrives Friday, then it's already October at the end of next week. We had 5 days of afternoon monsoons a week ago, a fun change of season, but summer's heat is not done yet. Mts. Dana and Gibbs were quite snow-covered a week ago; Conness is pictured. Hail had piled up at the 8000' level along Tioga Road. A cloudburst in Yosemite Valley left big puddles that haven't evaporated yet, and lots of runoff debris in small channels everywhere. A torrent coming down the Indian Creek fan went into some NPS houses at the edge of Yosemite Creek. The river gauge shows nice spikes from the series of rainy afternoons.
As it has been for most of the past 9 months, the Merced is running above average: at 129 cfs this morning; the average is 32 cfs for today. Yosemite Falls looks like it does in some Julys; not big, but much more than the usual September dribble.
Lessingia's purple blooms on the Valley floor are even visible from Glacier Point. Bears are still finding ripe apples on trees (lots at McAuley Ranch) but it's a weak mast year for acorns in some spots. Migrating raptors are being seen regularly now. A ring-necked snake was seen near Foresta on the weekend.
Another Half Dome fatality yesterday; this time a climber whose rope broke after he pulled a block onto it. Crowds are absent from the Valley most days, though weekends are still relatively busy. Our visitors from other countries stand out more now.

Shake and Bake

2011-08-31T08:18:00.000-07:00

We thought that last Wednesday's little earthquake here was exciting, then we had the Motor Fire come to El Portal on Thursday. The fire started on the highway, on the south side of the Merced River, jumped across to the north and quickly shot to the canyon rim. It moved east toward Incline and El Portal, but a heavy application of brute force firefighting in steep terrain (including use of the mighty DC-10 Supertanker) has contained this in a few days.
Now outside the Conservancy office in El Portal there is fresh handline, just a hint of smoke, and no helicopter traffic. Ground squirrels bark, acorn woodpeckers laugh their maniacal cackles, scrub jays squawk. A tanager was 'br-dip'-ing earlier, and a phoebe 'p-chew'-ing. Grindelia remains in bloom in El Portal and the pale turkey mullein is having a good year. The river is more refreshing than ever as canyon temperatures will remain near 100 for the week.
The Motor Fire is nearly out, but the Avalanche Fire near Badger Pass continues to smolder. Though the park was open and not too smoky, visitation plummeted during the Motor Fire excitement; people may have misunderstood the location/impact of the blaze. Maybe it'll be a somewhat quieter holiday weekend.

Founders Day

2011-08-25T06:57:00.001-07:00

The National Park Service was established on this date in 1916, and today's Director is announcing big plans to prepare for celebrating the centennial in 5 years. In Yosemite we are also planning diverse ways to observe the sesquicentennial of the Yosemite Grant in 2014. This was when the US government protected Mariposa Grove and Yosemite Valley (yes, 8 years before Yellowstone).
There was yet another regretable fatality in the park early this week, when a hiker fell from the top of Half Dome, down the face. No official story for how this happened has been released.
Some of us woke to an earthquake yesterday (24 August). After anomalous quakes in the prairie of southern Colorado then near Washington, D.C. in recent days, it was a little more exciting to hear the ground roar then feel it tremble for a moment here. Our event was from a 4.2 shaker, over near Mammoth Lakes on the East Side at 5 a.m. The hypocenter was 10 km beneath the Sierra, between the crest and Mt. Morrison.
The Merced River is low, but not as low as it usually is at the end of August. Yosemite Falls is still relatively impressive - far more people are taking photographs of it than ever do in typical August. Squirrels are shredding ponderosa cones. Bears are finding ripening apples, and though the eat pounds of them, their scat appears to leave a lot of calories untouched.

Smoke and Heat

2011-08-10T07:57:00.000-07:00

The Avalanche Fire is putting up a good amount of smoke from just above the western end of the Glacier Point Road and it finally feels like summer in the Sierra. This fire was caused by lightning and is just over 400 acres. It's burning at ground level in a healthy way and managers hope it'll burn at least 2000 acres.
The river and waterfalls are still running at unusually high levels, approximately 4-5 times the trickling volumes normally seen in early August. Yosemite Falls is still worth a photograph and Vernal is still all the way across the lip, and putting lots of mist on to the Mist Trail.
Birdlife has quieted considerably in Yosemite Valley. Orioles and grosbeaks are still around, but they are silent. Mule deer bucks have full, velvety racks now.
Coneflower, some tincture plant, lotus and milkweed are in bloom in the Valley - it's a great year for floral displays. The show has shifted to higher elevations where pentstemon, gentians and others are blossoming. Post-bloom, our native raspberries are ready for harvest in the Valley. Yum!

Summer Still Coming

2011-07-14T11:41:00.000-07:00

Blazing stars and Clarkia are still in bloom in El Portal, buckeye flowers are gone and leaves are browning. Yosemite Valley has spicebush, cow parsnip, Draperia, Gray's lupine and azalea in bloom. Birds have gotten quiet, ducklings and merglets are nearly full grown. The Merced River is still running at 400% of normal flow for mid-July, but the top of Table Rock is partly above water and the Valley has been opened to rafting/floating.
Utilities challenges persist in Tuolumne Meadows, but NPS hopes to activate the septic and water systems tomorrow. If they work this means that employees can move in up there and that facilities can open up. The campground is supposed to open Friday night, the Visitor Center should open Saturday and the Tuolumne Meadows Lodge plans to open on Monday the 18th. It'll be a short season, with many facilities starting to shut down after Labor Day, in just 7-8 weeks.
Flowers are pretty good at the 7-8000' level now, with bright Sierra pride pentstemon lighting up the roadcuts. Lots of snow and high water persist along Tuolumne trails. Hikers should plan on covering fewer miles than on dry ground. The waterfalls in the Valley are still quite impressive.

June Skiing

2011-06-19T20:36:00.001-07:00

Tioga Road has opened, but summer has not really arrived in the park's high country yet. Tuolumne Meadows is a lake, Tenaya Lake is mostly iced over (with renewed freezing and new ice last night), snow covers a good portion of the terrain above 6000' (north-facing slopes are mostly snow) and meltwater is filling every trail. Skiers still have time to enjoy the slopes near Ellery Lake, False White, Mt. Conness, Mt. Hoffmann, Mt. Dana and more. Backpackers are going to struggle for a while to find trails, to make distance over snow, to avoid wet feet in all the runoff. No facilities are yet open along the Tioga corridor, including TPR, Saddlebag Lake road, White Wolf or anything in Tuolumne Meadows.
Half Dome cables go up this week for those with permits. Walked the west valley loop on Saturday; flowers are looking good: iris in El Cap and Bridalveil Meadows, yellow violets, white Nemophila, Arnica, Senecio, Alumroot, thimbleberry, Linanthus, larkspur near the base of Bridalveil Fall, creek dogwood, Azalea (smells SO good), globe gilia, blue dicks, golden brodeia, silverleaf lotus, Indian paintbrush, pussypaws, catchfly, and more. We saw no snowplants on the loop. One sow bear with two cubs near El Cap's Nose. Slackliners working their art over the icy Merced at El Cap Bridge. Ribbon Creek is running very high in several channels. Birdsong is still plenty active: grosbeak, tanager, Wilsons and yellow warbler, Cassins and warbling vireo, creeper, song sparrow, spotted towhee, etc.
Hotter days are coming this week and the river may hit another peak above flood stage. It is unusual to have such a late peak, such a high peak, and for the river to hover close to the flood level for two weeks like this. What next in this atypical spring/summer transition?

High Water is Here

2011-06-15T05:18:00.000-07:00

The river gauge at Pohono Bridge is just about tapping the formal 'flood' stage this morning, at 6300 cfs, or a hair under the 10' mark. This is a little lower than the forecasted overnight peak. Tonight's projection is to go over 11' or perhaps 9000 cfs. If it gets that high, the river will be up on parts of Valley roads, not to mention flowing into two campgrounds and Housekeeping Camp. Rangers have been preparing for days for this surge of meltwater, to evacuate people ahead of nighttime peaks as needed and to implement area closures for safety.
There have been lots of cyclists enjoying the delight of pedalling on the Tioga Road without cars for the past couple of weeks; no noise but birds, running water and the whisper of gumwalls. There is still snow at Crane Flat, and lots of deep snow higher up. The avalanche zone at Olmsted Point has been a lingering concern, so that part of the road is closed to cyclists and pedestrians. Road/trail crew personnel have been working on that spot and with this week's heat and clear skies, there is a fair bit of buzz about the road opening this weekend. Nothing is official and the high country route may not be safe enough to open until next week.
From Olmsted Point we can see that Tenaya Lake is still frozen over. Today's San Francisco Chronicle has an item about the park's Tenaya Lake Area Plan, in which the Conservancy is involved for funding.
Tenaya's ice is melting quickly, and washing down-canyon to fill Yosemite Valley with its own transient lakes.

Yosemite Flood Watch

2011-06-09T10:57:00.000-07:00

NWS has issued a Flood Watch for our part of the Sierra starting Friday evening. We are getting warmer weather this week and the Merced River has started rising again, reaching 4000 cubic feet per second (cfs) at Pohono Bridge (the west/downstream end of Yosemite Valley) last night. The average annual high water flow for the Pohono gauge is just 2500 cfs.
As has been said elsewhere, on top of our tremendous snowpack, it's been an unusually cool and wet spring. The normal warming (and therefore snowmelt) trajectory has not happened; there is still a huge quantity of snow in our higher elevations. We have just a little less snow now than what we usually have in April; the combination of June heat and April snowpack suggests powerful possibilities. The rate of Merced runoff may get interesting in the next few days.
We had two spikes of just under 5000 cfs in early May. Then we had another cool stretch and on the typical annual highest water date of May 20, the river was running only about 1800 cfs, 72% of average volume.
NBC Nightly News aired a feature last week about Yosemite's big waterfalls during a period when they were running right about average for springtime. The exceptional flows may have already happened, or may be coming within this next week. Though we're now 3 weeks past the usual highest flow date, we may not yet have seen our biggest water volume for the season. In 2010 we topped out at near 8000 cfs; if it stays warm (like June usually does; our forecast continues warming for the next 5 days) we may surpass that and see the Merced back up through Wosky Pond on to Northside Drive.

Summer Delayed

2011-06-04T06:35:00.000-07:00

Our cycle of stormy weather continues with another cool, wet weekend. We had rain and snow over Memorial Day weekend, but that didn't prevent traffic gridlock in the east end of Yosemite Valley. Glacier Point Road was open for a day before more snowfall closed the road again. It's been open this week, but some snow is likely on Sunday, perhaps below 7000' (= another closure seems likely).
Scott's Oriole was added to the park's bird list last week; another new species to add to the white-faced ibis seen a couple months ago. I saw a Lewis' Woodpecker above Foresta on Thursday - one of the 12 woodpecker species (!) in Yosemite records. Some of us feel that we are short on Pacific Slope Flycatchers this spring. The Conservancy's 'Hawks and Owls' course is happening this weekend and there is a lot going on in the raptor world, with peregrine and eagle nests lining the Merced Canyon. There is still space in the casual White Wolf Botany course and the North Dome Moonrise Photography Backpack Trek in July.
It doesn't appear that the Tioga Road will be open in time for the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua, but the birds will be there anyway.
Thursday night NBC did a program on the park's big waterfall flow , while the falls have actually been running at average or below average volumes for about half of the past month. We had early peaks on 7 and 14 May, which were higher than the average annual peak flow, but were maybe 60% of last year's high water mark. The slow advent of spring warmth may mean no snowmelt 'flood' this year, just a long period of higher water. Or a sudden spike in temperatures could send us a big pulse of meltwater; that's not in the immediate forecast. The waterfalls should still be strong if the royal couple visits Yosemite in July.

Hermit and Porcupine

2011-05-20T07:29:00.000-07:00

A bright male hermit warbler was a highlight of yesterday's birdwalk in the Valley. He was in a black oak in the company of several yellow-rumped warblers, a black-throated gray warbler and a Wilson's warbler. We love these springtime collections! Orioles have been silent and invisible this week- did they leave the Valley for lower elevations?
As part of their training on Wednesday park ornithologist Sarah Stock had interpretive rangers out in Ahwahnee Meadow looking at peregrine falcons coming and going from their eyrie up on the Rhombus Wall. She's teaching a terrific "Hawks and Owls" Yosemite Outdoor Adventure program, June 3-5, in the company of great gray owl specialist Joe Medley.
The river and waterfalls are below average volume now but will surely creep back up with a couple warm days here. More clouds come in late Saturday = more waterfalls still flowing in July.
Nearly two feet of new snow fell in the high country this past weekend. NPS road crews have plowed up to Porcupine Summit on Tioga Road. This is beyond Yosemite Creek, before the drop to the long straightaway near Porcupine Flat Campground. It's still many miles and several avalanche zones to Olmsted Point, Tenaya Lake and Tuolumne Meadows. At Glacier Point there's still so much snow it doesn't seem possible to open that area for Memorial Day weekend because water and septic systems won't be on line. It'll be a busy holiday weekend a week from now with all visitors concentrated in Yosemite Valley.

Towhee and Frazil

2011-05-17T07:24:00.000-07:00

Cold and snow chill Yosemite. We had frazil ice in Yosemite, Sentinel and Ribbon Creeks yesterday morning; a bit late in the season, but not unheard of. The Merced River has dropped just below the average flow rate for mid-May; it has been running at above-average volume since the big storms got started in November. Though average, the falls are still big, but they'll get bigger, and they'll still look good in July. Fire season gets delayed, though the moisture likely means more growth of small fuels like grasses.
A highlight on yesteday's birdwalk was seeing Superintendent Don Neubacher dash out of his office with binoculars in hand to stalk a seldom-seen green-tailed towhee outside the Administration building. He was accompanied by ace ranger-naturalist Karen Amstutz who spotted the unusual bird out her window and had the inspiration to pull the park's boss (a dedicated birder) away from his desk to see the towhee. I'm glad to know that our park is being looked after by such people. My group was surprised to see a second green-tailed towhee a short time later near Yosemite Creek.
Ranger JT reports snowplant emerging near Sentinel Bridge. I've seen a couple in the west end of the Valley, too. Along with new birds and plants, it's exciting to see the seasonal increase in park staffing as more interpretive rangers return to duty or start their first summer as seasonal rangers. Park visitors are lucky to have all these people leading walks and campfire programs, answering questions in the visitor centers, conducting tram tours and cultivating another 24,000+ Junior Rangers.
There is still room in the Yosemite Conservancy's 3-day "White Wolf Botany" course in early July. This is going to be some terrific field time for casual botanists in a special part of the park. We also have space for people to join us for the two "Family Camping Jamborees" in late-July in Tuolumne Meadows.

Warm then Storm

2011-05-13T13:00:00.001-07:00

Last weekend's overcast and rain caused the Merced volume (and the tributary waterfalls) to drop back down to near average flow. One might think that rain would raise the river level, but, in fact, the cloud cover and cooler temperatures reduce the snow melting rate much more than a bit of rain can increase the runoff. Warm sun brought the flows up again through the week. Again this weekend we expect a cool storm to bring a bit of rain (and snow -which, of course, reduces the near-term runoff much more than rain does), so the waterfalls will be smaller at the start of next week than they are now.
On most days, the river (and tributary) volume exhibits a nice 24-hour cycle of rise and fall. The hottest part of the day is when the most snow melts up at 7-13,000'; this surge of melt doesn't reach the two Yosemite Valley river gauges until many hours later. It's odd that our highest water flows in the Valley happen after midnight - about 12 hours after the hottest part of the day. That's the lag time for high country runoff to make it down to 4000'.
It was cold enough in the Valley this past Tuesday morning (9 May) for people to observe frazil ice in Yosemite Creek and in Ribbon Creek. A deposit outside the eastern channel at Ribbon Creek persisted into the next day, looking like an anomalous patch of snow.
NPS road crews have reached Glacier Point, and they've reached the White Wolf area on Tioga Road, through average snow depths of 8' and 10' respectively.
The bizarre red snowplant is emerging from the ground in Yosemite Valley. Bracken fern is tall and unfolding its fiddlehead fronds. Dogwoods are fully alight now. Western Wood Pewees arrived this week in the Valley. The concentrations of yellow-rumped warblers and some other birds have dispersed from the Valley to higher elevations a bit. I've been seeing 1-2 bears a week in the Valley, more than has been my usual experience.
If you're up early and have a good eastern view, check out the concentration of planets in the east before dawn.

The burst of spring

2011-05-02T16:20:00.000-07:00

I encountered my first Western Tanager of the year on Monday's Conservancy bird walk - just moments after a participant asked about them. It was a stunning, bright male in the black oaks in front of the visitor center - lots of exclamations from all present. Since then, more males have arrived and are singing in Yosemite Valley. This morning we had the triple feature of the bright neo-tropicals when within a short time we also saw the male Black-headed Grosbeak and Bullock's Oriole. Surprises on Monday were the Lark Sparrow feeding on the gravel trail along Cook's Meadow and the Western Kingbird sallying out from the black oak canopy over the meadow. This morning we had a decent look at Vaux's Swifts.
Those black oaks are pale green with dangling flowers now and a few leaves are starting to emerge. The early dogwood below the former diversion dam site, along 140 has 'blooms' almost 3 inches across which are almost fully white. Most Valley dogwoods are still pale green - they're more than a week behind an average spring schedule.
The Merced River has leapt in volume with the warm weather this week; it's doubled in volume in the past five days. This morning it had already exceeded the average springtime peak - and there are still a few weeks of potential increase to the average high flow date. Low-lying Valley trails are starting to get wet, but there's no real flooding yet. (Last year peak flow reached 2.5 times what it is now!)

Wild, Wild Life

2011-04-29T08:42:00.000-07:00

Black-headed grosbeaks are now singing in the Valley, there were more orioles on Thursday's birdwalk, and several dozen yellow-rumps encountered in 3 flocks -a tiny portion of them singing. Three Vaux's swifts patrolled over the Valley Visitor Center. Hummingbirds are doing display flights. About a month ago NPS volunteer interpreter Kirsten discovered a rare Virginia Rail near the boardwalk in Cook's Meadow.
On the mammal side, a dark brown bear has been grazing the Ahwahnee Meadow area lately. Two rescue helicopters there on Tuesday night didn't disturb its feeding. Biologists researching our fisher populations are delighted to have encountered a mother with young, moving them from place to place in the south area of the park. Good news for predators and general food web health; bad news for mice and squirrels.
Road crews are grinding away at the extra-deep snow on both Glacier Point and Tioga Roads, slowly making progress to open up the high country for our cars. Tomorrow morning might be cold enough for frazil production, but then it warms up for the early part of the week. There is still a chance for big frazil flows for another few weeks; just because April's over doesn't mean that we won't have some sub-freezing nights in Yosemite Valley.

Slow spring

2011-04-25T20:20:00.000-07:00

Too warm for frazil ice, too cool for rapid snowmelt, our recent unsettled weather continues this week with a bit of cloudy damp. The weather forecast leads us to anticipate no frazil ice this week.
Black oak leaves are not quite starting to burst out of buds yet, though they have lower down. Cottonwood flowers are out along the river. Insectivorous orioles are in the Valley now, ahead of most insect food. Redwings are singing in Cook's Meadow, mallards swim in pairs, yellow-rumped warblers sing a bit on sunny days.
Former Yosemite employee Paul Keel, back for a visit, added a new species to the park's birdlist: our first ever white-faced ibis. Paul is a state park ranger now, down on the coast, and he got good photos of the ibis in El Capitan Meadow. You never know what you'll come across, if you're paying attention.
This morning we watched a male belted kingfisher working the oxbow lake in Cook's Meadow. Fun to see a fish predator well away from the river channel.
More predators will be on display in the Conservancy's "Hawks and Owls" field seminar the first weekend of June. Park ornithologist Sarah Stock and great grey owl specialist Joe Medley (yes, the son of Steve Medley) are the two instructors. We are delighted to have these two knowledgeable experts (and charming individuals) teaching this fun program. There's still space available; free camping and free park entry are part of the package. Raptors rule the skies...

National Parks Week

2011-04-20T14:31:00.000-07:00

I am back in Yosemite after two weeks away, and what changes there are. The free entrance to Yosemite for National Parks Week, combined with some school spring breaks has meant a busy week in the park. The natural scene is busy, too.
Snow is gone from the Valley floor except in a few shady spots. Waterfalls are bigger than average, with the recent warmth getting a start on melting off our exceptional snowpack. Cooks, Leidig, El Capitan, Stoneman, Ahwahnee and Slaughterhouse (lovely, I know) Meadows all have standing and/or running water in them now; some paths are blocked, but none of the main ones yet. Table Rock, our local visual river gauge for Valley commuters, is underwater.
Frazil ice forecast for this weekend: POOR.
Yellow-rumped warblers are at their brightest in the black oak canopies, where tiny pink leaves are barely starting to emerge in the Valley. Black-throated gray warblers are doing their excited, buzzy call in the live oaks in the Valley now, too. A great gray owl was reported on its nest up near Crane Flat, though there's so much snow there still, their food is out of reach and it's hard to imagine successful breeding at this point.
Our "Moonbow Photography" Outdoor Adventures course was a success on Sunday night, with a bright bow visible for a couple hours in-between overcast periods. Next up is Ken Rockwell and Dave Wyman's "Spring Light Photography" course, and then an excellent "Hawks and Owls" program the first weekend of June.
Our regular public birdwalk will be seeking John Muir's favorite bird tomorrow, Cinclus mexicanus. Thursday is his 173rd birthday. Friday is Earth's birthday; stand up for what you stand on, as they say.

Yosemite Recovered

2011-04-01T06:40:00.000-07:00

The storm of 20-21 March goes into the record books as one of the most significant in decades: over 12 feet of snow at the 7-8000' level, and 9 inches of heavy snow that broke down thousands of live oaks and other trees at the 2000' level. Electricity was restored after 6 days, and visitation has now picked up.
We've had very warm weather the past few days. Bird activity has increased, flowers are on the rebound, and the Merced River has doubled in volume and is really turbid. The river has gone over 1500 cfs at Pohono Bridge, more than twice the average flow for this date. Sierra-wide snow surveys show 165% of normal water content in the snowpack; our local results come out shortly and will surely be comparably abundant.
We all look ahead to the waterfall season of the next 3 months, hoping that all this snow runs off over a long span of summer, rather than all at once. Photographers Ken Rockwell and Dave Wyman have timed their "Spring Light Photography" course to coincide with predicted high volume, 19-22 May.
We're also coming into peak frazil season this month. The frazil ice forecast is poor for the next few days, as temperatures are mild. But the warmth makes more mist, which will produce more frazil particles when the temperature does drop again.
I'll be away from the park the next two weeks.

Yosemite Recovers

2011-03-26T09:30:00.000-07:00

Electricity is supposed to be restored to El Portal and Yosemite Valley today (Saturday). Most park roads are now open, though with chain restrictions on all of them. Highway 140 is closed between Mariposa and El Portal by a rockslide near Briceburg; it should be open by Monday or sooner. Badger Pass is closed, but hopes to open for its last weekend of the season, April 1-3. There is over 14 feet of NEW snow at Badger!
The Valley floor has 1- 1.5 feet on it. DNC is using these rare conditions to lead springtime snowshoe walks from the Ahwahnee this weekend. The Visitor Center is fully staffed, and a few visitors are trickling through. It's snowing in the Valley now, but snow isn't sticking much below the 3500' level. Though Hwy. 41 is open, buses are being turned away from the south entrance at the moment. You MUST call 209/372-0200 to check on road conditions before heading to the park.
The Conservancy's annual Spring Forum was supposed to be held today, but conditions obviate that possibility; we'll try again next year. Tomorrow's wildflower field seminar in El Portal is also cancelled; Michael Ross is teaching two other botany courses in the summer where we hope snow won't be a factor.
Warm weather returns to the Sierra next week, with sunny and low 60's in Yosemite Valley. We should see a big spike in runoff by late in the week, with lots of wet meadows, though we probably won't really approach flood level. It's going to be a terrific season for Yosemite waterfalls.

Yosemite Closure

2011-03-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

An unusually cold and wet storm has delivered a lot of snow, causing extensive tree damage in Yosemite. All roads into Yosemite are closed. Power is expected to be out for 5-7 days. At under 2000' El Portal got 8-9 inches of snow, something not seen in decades. Most of the damage is to live oaks, with hundreds of trees and large limbs down in El Portal alone. The rest of the Merced Canyon has numerous small rockfalls and landslips partly blocking roads between Mariposa and Yosemite Valley. The snowfall took place mostly overnight on Sunday. Skiers exiting Ostrander Hut on Sunday worked as a 20-person team to break trail. They scooped up others along the Glacier Point Road who had dropped from exhaustion pushing against the heavy accumulation. When they reached the trailhead, they couldn't leave Badger Pass; about 60 people spent the night in the day lodge at Badger. Yosemite West has run out of water and all residents and guests have been escorted out of the park. Community meetings later today will tell us more, but it's possible that the park will be closed and all remaining visitors and non-essential employees evacuated. The generators that keep the lights and heat working can only do so much, and they're needed to operate water and wastewater systems, too.
I'll post more when I can.

Wintery Equinox

2011-03-19T06:45:00.000-07:00

Yosemite Valley's mostly bare ground got a few inches of snow overnight and it even accumulated as low as El Portal; most park roads are R2 this morning. Another wave of snow arrives early Sunday morning.
We had frazil ice in the Valley this week, with Yosemite Creek sending frazil into the Merced twice, and Ribbon Creek even fraziling all the way into the river on Thursday. The snow cone at Upper Yosemite Fall is as big as ever. Frazil forecast for the next several days: moderate, best on Monday morning.
Sentinel, Eagle and Horsetail Creeks flow to the river. Wosky Pond is very full.
Varied thrushes, which have not been very evident here this winter, were making their odd squeaks in Yosemite Village yesterday. Karen Amstutz and Michael Ross heard and saw a phainopepla in El Portal earlier. Karen noted a disoriented flock of Canada geese in the rainy nighttime of Badger Pass last weekend, likely drawn to the illuminated slopes.
Tonight's full moon coincides with perigee (the point in its elliptical orbit where it's closest to earth) so will appear a bit larger and about 15% brighter than an average full moon; this happens about every 20 years. Elsewhere in the sky this weekend: vernal equinox on Sunday when the sun rises due East and sets due West, and our day and night are about equal in time. Vernal means springtime, so Sunday is the first day of astronomical spring for the northern hemisphere. Vernal also is a big waterfall that will be running strong this season - given its current name by the first Euro-Americans in the Valley who saw its ferns and moss as springlike. Just upstream was a bigger, but somehow colder-looking waterfall that they named Nevada, meaning snowy.
This weekend is thus both 'vernal' in astronomy and 'nevada' in weather - Yosemite perfection.

The Wearing o' the Green

2011-03-14T12:45:00.000-07:00

A lot of the recent snow is now gone from the floor of Yosemite Valley and run-off is picking up. The Merced River is now running at about twice its average volume for mid-March. We got a bit of rain last night and we expect more rain/snow off and on this week. It'll be a grand year for waterfalls with so much wet snowpack in our upper watersheds. Next weekend may also be stormy, with the snow level at or below Yosemite Valley. Frazil ice forecast: low-moderate probability for next weekend.
Meanwhile the foothills and Merced Canyon west of Yosemite are greener and greener with buckeye leaves still emerging. Redbuds are pinking, getting ready for their startling color show soon. Popcorn flower dominates at ground cover level, poppies are coming along, false goldfields and fiddlenecks are looking good. The Hites Cove Trail is well worth a stroll now - yes, even if it's on a rainy weekend; you'll see more newts and hear more chorus frogs singing love songs.
The Ahwahnee re-opens on Thursday, in time for St. Patrick's Day. Meanwhile, we send seismic sympathies to the people of Japan for the blow that the restless earth has dealt there.

Quake Noted

2011-03-08T06:19:00.000-08:00

A foothill earthquake was heard, not felt, by employee-residents in El Portal shortly before 11 p.m. last night. The hypocenter was nearly 15 miles beneath the Bootjack-Darrah Road-Triangle Road area, west of the park toward Mariposa. This is down in the granite batholith that underlies the western metamorphic belt we see at the surface along much of Highway 49 south of Mariposa. Hearing the earthquake in Rancheria Flat may be helped by its location at the contact zone of the granite and the older metamorphic rock.
The river has been well above average for months now, and the weekend rain has brought the river up again. It was very turbid yesterday. Yosemite Valley got rain and now the snow cover is patchy. The average flow for the Valley's exit in early March is about 300 cfs; it's now running over 500 cfs.
El Portal's flowers are looking good with numerous species found in many sunny locations. Bird activity has picked up, with abundant noisy robins joining vocal titmice, Hutton's vireos, flickers, both towhees and more. Treefrogs are chorusing in various places, even in snowy terrain in the Valley and Foresta.
The summertime's Scorpio is high in the south before dawn. The ISS flies across our sky about 7:30 this evening; STS Discovery has de-coupled for the last time before returning to solid ground tomorrow.

Winter is Back

2011-03-01T11:27:00.000-08:00

A more usual sequence of wintery storms has returned to the Sierra after so many weeks of dry, mild weather. Wildflowers in the lower Merced Canyon have had to endure extra-frosty mornings and a few doses of snow, even down to 2000.' Today we're in-between snows, with warm-ish, sunny conditions. A few inches of snow still cover the Valley floor, but creeks will come up as the sun converts the snow coverage to run-off. More snow and rain arrive tonight. We expect another set of high elevation snow survey data soon.
Frazil ice continues to appear in Valley locations, with our above average run-off and cold overnight lows. We don't generally see it this early in the season, but this year is different. Maybe its abundant apparitions are a result of the popularity of the video. As April draws closer, we may try to post frazil forecasts here. These can only work 2-3 days ahead, when we get good temperature forecasts from NWS.
Yosemite has come to life indoors, in the form of the Yosemite Renaissance art exhibit in the Museum Gallery, next to the Valley Visitor Center. There were 578 entries submitted, and just the best 42 qualified to be displayed for our enjoyment. Come see the varied pieces between now and early May; pretty inspiring.

Same price, now with extra waterfalls

2011-02-20T16:40:00.000-08:00

This week's return to winter conditions has been a nice break from weeks of sunny, pleasant, mild weather. Skiers are happy (when the road to Badger Pass isn't closed) and waterfall enthusiasts should be, too. The snowline dipped below 2000' twice, and left snow in El Portal. More rain fell at low elevations, and all the small tributaries of the Merced filled with runoff.
The 140 corridor between El Portal and Briceburg has been dynamic in the past few days: lots of cascades pouring down to the highway, a couple of landslips, and still more flowers. It's not too early to go enjoy the Hite's Cove trail for living color. The highway is lined with sparse fiddlenecks in sunny spots. On sunny slopes across the river, patches of poppies and false goldfields are evident. Right now the waterfall buttercups are at their peak above the road, immediately downstream of Ned's Gulch - a lush display is found on the drippy metamorphic substrate.
A red-shouldered hawk was seen at Rancheria Flat today, joining the non-wintery black phoebes and Anna's hummingbirds that have weathered the snowfall. Treefrogs are chorusing in wet places.

Sunday 'Firefall,' Monday Snowfall

2011-02-14T08:46:00.000-08:00

We had a marvelous show at Horsetail Fall last evening, with a cloud layer to the west shading the East Buttress of El Capitan until just the right moment. Red sun suddenly came through and turned a gray cliff into a highway flare for the last 5 minutes before sunset. Some folks left early, thinking that the 'firefall' effect was altogether obscured by the clouds. Whoops of excitement arose from the dozens of hopeful fans along Northside Drive - it was like a bottom of the 9th grand slam that takes a losing team into victory; it ain't over til the sun has actually set beyond the Coast Range (around 5:40 now). As with our other waterfalls Horsetail Fall has had above average flow in it lately (it's keeping Woski Pond full); last night the wind made it look like less water, but it carried the red mist well aloft of the wall.
Much of this week looks less promising for observing Horsetail aflame, but we're excited to have another potential 2 feet of snow on the way to soften the mature hardpack that's tough to ski on. Stormy weather has made an initial appearance in Yosemite today and should taper off toward next weekend. We have good reason to hope that our photography course on Friday/Saturday stands a fair chance to get good Horsetail light. If high water persists, there's even a chance for a rare February moonbow next weekend.

More earth

2011-02-11T07:25:00.000-08:00

The latest snow surveys show that the Merced watershed courses snowpack has 142% of average water content. Runoff in the Merced and its tributaries is still well above average flow for early February; all the waterfalls are looking robust.
This high flow combined with cold nights to give us frazil ice in Yosemite Creek on Monday and Tuesday nights (and probably others). This is earlier than usual, but not unprecedented. We know that California temperatures have risen by 1.5 degrees C since 1880; there must've been much more frazil through the season back in Muir's day. That may be one reason he abandoned his cabin along Yosemite Creek and moved into his 'hang-nest' up high on the eaves of Hutching's sawmill.
You saw Steve's frazil ice video in the Yosemite Nature Notes series (which is funded by Yosemite Conservancy). He's out with his camera each evening right now working on a 'firefall' film. Watch for that one soon, or come up to the park in the next 2-3 weeks and take your chances on seeing the shining glow of Horsetail Fall at sunset yourself. Get out with a pro photographer in next weekend's Outdoor Adventure course for an improved chance of capturing this phenomenon for yourself before you see Steve's version on-line.

Frazil Ice Planned for April

2011-02-07T09:18:00.000-08:00

The NPS/YC Yosemite Nature Notes video on frazil ice has gotten remarkable viral traction on-line. We've received lots of messages lately about where/when people can see the stuff. As it says in the film, April is the best month for observing the ice flow in progress, but you have to either be lucky with timing, or come stay for the whole month so that you can go out before 8 every morning to see if it's there. If the night's temperature is well below freezing, you should see it. It doesn't generally happen in mid-winter because the water volume in the falls is too low to generate enough mist to form a lot of ice. (Though the conditions were right this year to form frazil in Bridalveil Creek in late December.) There's a decent likelihood that April visitors will at least see the remnant deposits of ice, which just look like snow lining the creek banks.
An earthquake near 1 a.m. Sunday morning was noted by some park locals, who heard it as much as felt it. It was a 2.2 magnitude, centered 14 km beneath the headwaters of the South Fork Merced River. The Clark Range has had a light series of small, deep quakes like this one over the past five years; this fits in with that movement under the batholith.
In more earth news, the Yosemite Conservancy has an Outdoor Adventure course February 18-19 seeking to photograph the elusive (almost mythical) 'firefall' effect that happens in Yosemite Valley for a couple weeks each year. Pro photographer John Senser has captured this transient phenomenon many times over the years and will be your best guide to find this glorious spectacle. Call Carolyn to sign up: 209/379-2646, extension 10.

Long Live Doug Hubbard

2011-01-31T13:59:00.000-08:00

Doug Hubbard passed away in Texas recently, at the age of 92. He worked in Yosemite from 1952 to 1966, mostly as the park's Chief Naturalist. Among other things, Doug is the guy we can credit with creating the Pioneer Yosemite History Center (and those stagecoach rides) in Wawona, establishing the Nature Center at Happy Isles , writing the guidebook to the Yosemite Cemetery, and initiating the work of Julia Parker and others in demonstrating Indian cultural practices. He got the old train station from Bagby (and other rail history elements) moved upriver to El Portal, where it serves as the Yosemite Conservancy's office (where I write these words) today. We are lucky to have had forward thinkers like Doug working for us all those years ago.

Bit of rain and snow over the weekend, with the Valley getting a few inches of new coverage. Badger Pass reports 8 inches of new. El Portal has more and more flowers: above Rancheria Flat are found less than a handful of poppies, fiddlenecks, popcorn flower and peppergrass in bloom. Waterfall buttercups are blossoming profusely in the shady wet spots they prefer along the lower canyon. Elderberry and buckeye are starting to leaf out.

Flowers of January

2011-01-29T07:21:00.000-08:00

Seen while strolling El Portal yesterday:
Amsinckia-fiddlenecks
Stellaria -starwort
Lamia-dead nettle
Plagiobothyrs-popcorn flower
Claytonia-miner's lettuce
Capsella-shepherd's purse
Erodium-crane's bill
All of these species were flowers in bloom - not many, but nonetheless, mountain wildflowers (four non-native) blossoming in January. Other locals report that the Hite's Cove trail now has small numbers of shooting-stars, western rue anemone and poppies in flower. (The photo is not today's, but what's to come.) Snow and rain tomorrow will keep most flowers to a more normal schedule.

January Thaw

2011-01-26T10:22:00.000-08:00

Dry mild weather continues for another week; expecting low 70's in El Portal today. There's still a heavy snowpack above 7000', but more bare ground is showing below that, depending on aspect, etc. Ephemeral streams Sentinel, Eagle, Horsetail and Ribbon Creek are all still flowing into the river -unusual for January, for weeks on end, and with 90% snow cover persisting on the Valley floor.
Alder catkins are releasing pollen. Some locals suffer allergies in some Januaries; could be alder, incense cedar, or maybe fine micaceous dust kicked up off of the sanded roadways.
Foresta is snow free and friends took a walk down the dirt road last weekend. Found Lawrence's goldfinches at McAuley Ranch and lots of water in Crane Creek (shown).
Stellaria is blooming in El Portal - a good genus name for non-native Common Starwort. (No relation to GW Steller of the jay, of course; different spellings.) Lamia and native Fiddlenecks will show a few blossoms any day now, if you can believe that. In other stellar news: if you're out before 6:30 a.m. and aren't deep in a chasm such as confines the Merced River, you'll see that the Summer Triangle is already clearing the eastern horizon before dawn and Scorpio crawls into the sky just like a July evening.
This Friday marks 25 years since the Challenger accident. Watch the skies.

Turtleback Dome

2011-01-12T17:44:00.000-08:00

Noel and I trudged through deep snow up to where two of our webcams are located and repositioned the east-facing camera from where recent winds had pushed it. A couple of weeks ago, during the latest of big rain/snow storms, there was a one-hour period when the wind averaged about 17 mph. Within this spell there were surely gusts that were in the mid-30's and perhaps as much as 50 mph, though the instrumentation here doesn't record that data. At least one of these gusts swiveled the camera to the north, giving a view of the forested slopes at the west end of the Valley. Now you can see El Cap and Half Dome again.
We had a few hours of light rain yesterday afternoon/evening but today was mostly clear and fairly mild. Badger Pass reports over 100" of snowpack.
All of the 2011 Outdoor Adventures programs are posted in our webstore now, and they'll be in the 'Experience Yosemite' part of our website soon. Think about one of these programs as a good, new reason to get to the park.
This coming weekend all national parks will observe Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by waiving entrance fees. The 15th-17th will all be free days to enter Yosemite. Now's a time to come see our popular park in the off-season, maybe to see it in a different way. Differences can be good things. Use your saved $20 in some generous way.

Ice, Ice

2011-01-06T15:23:00.000-08:00

Yosemite Valley is quite frosty this week. Last week's storms left shin-deep snow on the Valley floor and it's persisting nicely. The snow is off the trees on the sunny north side of the Valley, but the shady side remains all white, top to bottom. Surface hoar is building in all the shade zone -endlessly pretty stuff.
At the same time that not much snow is melting, there's still a good amount of run-off from side streams. Horsetail, Ribbon, and Eagle Creek all are flowing on the surface into the river. Wosky Pond is full.
Ravens and steller's jays are active, as usual. A coyote has been begging at the intersection of 140 and the Big Oak Flat Road (the diversion dam, for those who remember that feature from 1917-2003).
Venus reaches its greatest western elongation this weekend, which means that if you're up early in the morning, it's high in the sky and you'll see it for a long time before the sun comes up. If you mark its general position relative to the sun, you can actually see Venus shining in the bright blue sky all day. At a maximum elongation (greatest angular distance from the sun in our sky) it's easier to see than when it's close to the sun.
Another bright point for Yosemite fans is the reappearance of the cult classic Yosemite Marching Band video on the web after over a year of absence. If you appreciate elaborate absurd humor, give it a look at: http://www.vimeo.com/18242035.

La Nina Settles In

2011-01-01T16:07:00.000-08:00

It's been a pretty dynamic start to our Sierra winter with frequent storms and plentiful snow and rain. Sierra-wide, precipitation is reportedly twice normal. For New Year's Day the park got some snow down below the 4000' mark though that's lifted in the afternoon.
Highway 140 was closed by a rockslide just above Parkline on Thursday morning, but NPS road crews did some blasting and re-opened the road last evening. The recent cold/wet weather has brought a lot of rocks down here and there.
Down canyon at Clearinghouse, there's a bank of yellow mustard (Sinapis) in bloom. This is the green season below 3000' here, and the El Portal area is lush with the new foliage of lupine, poppies, etc. ready to add color in a couple more months. We'll be looking for waterfall buttercups within the next few weeks, as well as skiing on a deep snowpack above 6000.'

Hecka Weather

2010-12-20T17:56:00.000-08:00

We've had a terrific storm over the past few days, with more to come. It started raining Friday and has stayed wet since; Yosemite Valley has had more than 8 inches of precipitation (20% of the year's average total) in the past 4 days. Until this morning, it's all been rain, with high snowline; even Badger Pass got a soaking. This has brought up the waterfalls and flooded the Valley meadows. The gully below Cathedral Spires again surged out into Southside Drive. Sentinel, Ribbon, Eagle, Horsetail and Royal Arch Creeks (but not Indian Creek) are all flowing into the river. Wosky Pond is full and connected to the river. The river itself never approached flood stage, as had been threatened in earlier forecasts.
It was cold enough this morning to have frazil ice forming in Yosemite Creek; unusual for this point in the season. The Valley got over 6 inches of snow today, and Badger's gotten a lot more than that. The picture shown is from a walk up to the Vernal Fall Bridge this morning.
For more than a year I've been looking forward to tonight's astronomical coincidence of the winter solstice and a full moon - with that moon showing a total eclipse over North America. On top of that, the peak totality for our part of earth will be just after midnight, providing the potential for a nice long show. Now it appears that clouds over Yosemite will eclipse the dark orange midnight moon for us. As always, a lunar eclipse only happens with a full moon. A full moon always rises near sunset, is highest near midnight and sets around sunrise. That this full moon (and eclipse) happens during the longest night of the year and with totality close to midnight/overhead is just a happy accident. Whether we see the moon or not, winter solstice means that the days will start to lengthen toward summer - indeed an important date in the calendar.

Long Live Bob Fry

2010-12-13T20:46:00.000-08:00

A hybrid yellow-shafted/red-shafted flicker has been seen in El Portal for more than a week now. The last record of such here was in 1957. El Portal also had 5 raptors seen this past weekend: kestrel, sharp-shinned hawk, golden eagle, red-tailed hawk and peregrine falcon. Warm afternoons lately have made for good soaring conditions.
But a series of winter storms will bring more precipitation starting tomorrow and running at least a week. Snow levels are expected to remain high (7000') for now. This means that runoff will be strong for the moment but perhaps less so in the spring. The Merced is running at much higher than average volume and the Valley's waterfalls are likewise pretty impressive now. This morning Upper Yosemite Falls was catching a twisty wind and a nice solar spectrum.
Speaking of showers, tonight is the peak for the Geminid meteors. If you can see clear sky between midnight and dawn, you may see as many as 120/hour. Go out at 5 a.m. and you'll see Venus bright enough to cast a shadow; Saturn is just above Venus. Both planets are "in Virgo", which is of no human significance.
Of true human significance is the passing of Yosemite ranger naturalist Bob Fry last week. Bob was an old-timer, a buddy of Carl Sharsmith's, and a living legend to today's naturalist staff. "Encyclopedia Bobtannica" he was called with fondness and awe, in reference to his vast breadth and depth of natural history knowledge. No one will ever know all the stuff that Bob knew about Yosemite. A giant sequoia has gone down and our forest is diminished.

Rockefeller Purchase

2010-12-06T11:52:00.000-08:00

In 1930 John D. Rockefeller, Jr. gave $1.7 million to Yosemite (matched by Congress) to purchase thousands of acres of old-growth forest just north of Crane Flat. That forest was due to be harvested by timber companies that owned the land just inside the edge of the national park. For many years the NPS worked with various timber companies to minimize visual and other impacts to Yosemite. Logging impacts on the two small sequoia groves in the area were a concern and both groves were almost traded out of Yosemite to the Forest Service in order to acquire the private timber in-holdings. When Mr. Rockefeller became interested in the issue, a financial solution was suddenly possible.
Today, we can enjoy the benefit of this far-sighted philanthropy by hiking or skiing on the old logging railbed that goes into a section of this parcel. Park at Merced Grove trailhead and you'll find the unmarked "Rockefeller Grove" trailhead across the highway and just to the north. It's a gradual (except for one short hill) trip of about 3 miles, and the route ends in a mature forest of diverse conifers. The big sugar pines are a main attraction but don't expect a pure stand at any point. Along the way, keep your eyes open for an uncommon stand of knobcone pine in much younger forest.
Yesterday a handful of park employees found just enough snow to ski out to the end of the logging railroad. There were recent bear tracks criss-crossing the length of the railbed. Last night's warm storm brought only rain to that 6000' level, so more snow will be needed before that can be skied again.

Winter Deepens

2010-11-30T14:35:00.000-08:00

DNC is making plans to open the Badger Pass Ski Area this weekend, and awaiting the NPS go-ahead. If they do open, it'd be just for the weekends, then opening 7 days a week as of 17 December. Watch their website to be sure.
We got more snow over the weekend, and it's been so cold that little has melted. Park roads have chain restrictions on them, even down Hwy. 140, so call 209/372-0200 before you head to Yosemite to get the latest conditions. The Valley has a foot of snow in most places, and trees on the shady south side are still snow covered, 3 days after the storm. People are skiing and snowshoeing and sledding in the Valley now, but bundling up for the temps in the 20's and a thin overcast. A local Indian told me yesterday that things looked like this shortly before the big flood in 1997. Hmmm.
At the base of Upper Yosemite Falls a large snowcone has already built - unusual for it to be so big in late November. Because it's been so cold, ice accumulates for most of each day, with only a few hours warm enough to reduce it.
The forecast includes a chance of more precipitation in the next few days, with temperatures remaining quite cool.
Have you seen the new Yosemite Conservancy magazine? Parts of it are here.

Winter is On

2010-11-24T08:13:00.000-08:00

Extra cold temperatures (low 20's in Yosemite Valley) follow the recent heavy snows. The webcams this morning show you blue skies with snow on ridgetops as far west of the park as you can see. In the Valley the outside wall of Dave's house is 28F and there's a bit of dry spindrift in the air. The high country is well and truly coated with a healthy season's snowpack base layer.
The Four Mile Trail, Mist Trail/Ice Cut, and Glacier Point and Tioga Roads (to cars, not skiers) are officially closed for the season. The ice rink is open and the ski area opens on 17 December.
Yosemite's Christmas Bird Count -the 79th annual- happens on Sunday 19 December. Contact sarah_stock@nps.gov if you're interested in participating. The low snowline will have birds shifting downslope and concentrating in pockets of accessible habitat. If these conditions remain for 3 more weeks, we should have good numbers this year. Another storm this weekend suggests it'll be wintery for at least a little while yet. Don't forget: this is the number one place on the planet for wintering white-headed woodpeckers.
The day before, Saturday 18 December, there are still spaces available on the Conservancy's "Moonlight Snowshoe" Outdoor Adventures course. We'll meet up at Badger Pass at 3 p.m., give you snowshoes, and head out to watch the sunset and moonrise over a unique landscape of bright white and deep black. What a weekend that'd make: an evening snowshoe trek then a day of birding.
We have a lot to be thankful for in this astounding place. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Early, substantial snows

2010-11-21T09:28:00.001-08:00

We got a few inches of snow on the Valley floor overnight on Friday, then a bit of sun came through mid-day and lots of melting took place. Even more snow accumulated Saturday night and is still piling on this morning. Snow is even sticking in El Portal, down under 2000' elevation. This means messy driving, even on the 'all-weather' route of Highway 140 through the Merced Canyon. The road between El Portal and the Valley has R2 conditions this morning, and there'll be snow all the way west of Mariposa into the foothills.
The Badger Pass Ski Area isn't supposed to open until 17 December, but there's enough snow now for XC skiers to get out at Crane Flat or Chinquapin today - provided they can get there safely. Mariposa Grove might be another option, skiing or snowshoeing up from the South Entrance. This is an early holiday present for those who look forward to Sierra winters.

Autumn Out

2010-11-15T10:13:00.000-08:00

Walked up northwest from Foresta to Little Nellie Falls on Saturday - very crowded - with foliage color, blue sky, deer and bear tracks, a few birds (including a surprise solo horned lark!), and millions of springtails. There were some puddles in ruts on the Coulterville Road from the prior weekend's rain. On the surface of the sunlit puddles were rafts of millions and millions of the tiny gray insects, too small to break the surface tension, even when massed this way. They were hopping continuously, there were dispersed individuals on the muddy road surface, but the party was all afloat. Hard to comprehend but wonderful to observe.
Sunday's saunter took us from Chinquapin out the old logging rail grade southeast to the Alder Creek watershed. It is unusual to be able to stroll on the horizontal for mile after mile above 6000' in the Sierra, but here's a pleasant legacy of commercial forestry. From the 1907 railroad that came to El Portal, steep (up to 78%!) inclines were built up the south side canyon wall in 1912 and the north side canyon wall by 1924. It's hard to imagine the costly labor of hundreds of people creating this access for extracting sugar pine from what is now peaceful forest. There's a bit of patchy snow, which held tracks of coyote, deer, bear and squirrel. Aspens in Bishop Meadow are bare now, the black oaks and dogwoods still have a bit of color hanging on.
Glacier Point and Tioga Roads are still closed, though the weather will determine whether this is a closure for the whole season or not. A La Nina season is expected, which could go either way for wet/dry.
A new speed record for ascending the Nose Route on El Capitan was established over the weekend: just under two hours, 37 minutes. Human springtails?

Into Merced Grove

2010-11-09T17:21:00.000-08:00

After weeks of nice foliage color, it's STILL really colorful in Yosemite. Black oaks in the Valley have come into their own, dogwoods, bracken, azalea, dogbane and maples are still so bright. Adding to the glow, now the forest floor is lightened by fallen leaves, too. I was with a group in Merced Grove over the weekend and we enjoyed the quiet of the big trees enhanced by the startling albedo change brought on by yellow dogwood, azalea and hazel. What a colorful look for this deep shady valley.
It was mighty pleasant to walk on the old Coulterville Road to the old ranger cabin, in the middle of Yosemite's smallest sequoia stand. I'll be snowshoeing in for a night in the ranger cabin with another group the first weekend of February.
Sunday night brought snow down to about 6000' in Yosemite. Glacier Point Road and Tioga Road are closed, perhaps for the whole winter now. The Valley's great fall colors now include a good amount of white, from snow extending down from the south rim, and ice that builds on Yosemite and Sentinel Falls.

Indian Summer

2010-11-01T14:16:00.000-07:00

Another storm Friday night. Tioga Road is closed for now. Glacier Point Road closed then reopened. Exceptionally warm weather is forecast for this week, up into the mid-70's for Yosemite Valley. The river is still above average from the 24 October rains, but is much closer to normal volume than when it filled meadows and covered trails early last week. Foliage is quite colorful in spots still - many of the maples add color with leaves on the ground. Cottonwoods are lighting up now.
Yes, Oprah camped here a few weeks ago, but even better news: biologists at Texas Tech published the formal description of a new species of pseudoscorpion that lives in some of the talus caves along the north wall of the Valley: Parobisium yosemite. There are about 3300 species of these tiny arachnids worldwide, part of a vast, hidden world of scavengers and predators in the leaf litter, under rocks, and in the soil. Pseudoscorpions lack the stinger/tail of a scorpion and are too tiny to harm us. Oprah has 30 million viewers a day but she doesn't get to live in Yosemite like this little critter does.
Once again, Yosemite claims the world championship for the wintertime population of the white-headed woodpecker. My copy of Audubon's 2009 Christmas Bird Count summaries came last week, and there we are: there were more white-headed woodpeckers in Yosemite on last winter's count day than anywhere else. The Yosemite CBC has been the kingdom of Picoides albolarvatus three times in the past 20 years or so. Check the NPS site and consider joining us for this winter's count, 19 December.

Buckets!

2010-10-25T06:10:00.000-07:00

We had a terrific rainstorm last night and the river has leapt to an extremely high flow. The average volume at Pohono Bridge is about 30 cfs for this week. Because of the good rains of early October, it's been flowing at about 100 cfs for the past week. Since yesterday the river has engorged to over 5700 cfs and is still rising by the minute! This is not quite flood stage, but is higher than it gets during most spring runoffs. It's too dark to go see it at the moment, but Yosemite Falls and all the other falls will have gone from trickles barely worth a photograph to gushing cataracts that'd make the newspapers in May. We've seldom seen such a tremendous surge overnight: from 100 to near 6000 cfs in a matter of hours.
Tioga Road was closed by snow on Saturday morning and remains closed today. Glacier Point Road is still open. This wasn't a cold storm, but it was forecast to deposit 1-2 feet of snow up high. We're a few weeks ahead of the average winter closing date for Tioga Road, but it may be closed for a spell to allow plowing and some melting.

Anthocyanin

2010-10-21T08:17:00.000-07:00

Fall foliage is looking good in Yosemite Valley now. The sugar maple (pictured) is like one very small glimpse of Vermont; an exotic species we especially cherish for 2-3 weeks a year. The native maples are bright yellow for the most part now. While it's been warm for the past couple of weeks, there was a tiny bit of frost on the lowest parts of Valley meadows a while back, so we could say that we're in Indian Summer. Black oaks are shelling Yosemite Village with a healthy acorn crop - a good time to be an Indian. Deer, pigeons, bears, woodpeckers, etc. are eating and/or storing lots of that mast now. Mule deer bucks have lost their velvet; a time for visitors to be cautious about approaching too closely with their eager photography.

Illilouette Gorge

2010-10-18T11:41:00.000-07:00

The sugar maple is peaking now, its bright blaze of surreal orange dominating that part of the old village like a column of flame. The native maples are getting brighter, too (the Fern Spring corner has a new, pale light now), though many are still entirely green. Oaks aren't yet very colorful; some are just browning. Cottonwoods are mostly still green along the river; even up higher, the aspen are just begining to color. Dogbane is one of the brightest natives in the Valley now.
I made a trip up Illilouette Gorge to the base of the waterfall yesterday; a bouldery scramble. Don't try this unless you're up for considerable steep clambering. Some light rain slicked the rocks a bit, but it was nice to be out where no one else was, across the canyon from the busy Mist/Muir Trail. Sagebrush, Brickellia, and plenty of Douglas-fir. Band-tailed pigeons overhead, a canyon wren in the rocks. One primate looking at a waterfall.

Some geo notes

2010-10-13T15:39:00.000-07:00

The big storms early last week caused a spike in river volume and turbidity which tapered quickly. This week's warmth is causing the river to rise just a bit as the previous week's snow melts into the upper Merced watershed. The gully that drains Cathedral Spires sent a debris flow of sand and gravel several inches deep on to Southside Drive. A 3-part rockfall from near Horsetail Fall sent up a big dust cloud from the bench below El Capitan's East Buttress two days ago. Last week a local girl was seriously injured by a large slab of rock that fell near Church Bowl; she appears to be recovering well.
The famous sugar maple is just starting to show some red/orange color. Invasive locust trees are finally being removed from the Old Yosemite Village site. The meadows are the most yellow part of the Valley, with most of the oaks and maples still getting started in colors.
Oaks are dropping acorns, and Torreya is dropping its odd green 'drupes' in the localized pockets where that tree grows.

Weather and change

2010-10-11T10:12:00.000-07:00

Nice weather forecast this week, with a small chance of rain/snow up high tonight. Tioga Road was re-opened; watch for ice early in the morning, though. After this coming Friday backpackers won't be allowed to park on the Tioga or Glacier Point Roads until next summer. Half Dome's cables are being de-rigged, so you have an excuse for not climbing up there until next May.
Oprah Winfrey had a couple of nice nights camped at Lower Pines Campground last week. Golden-crowned Sparrows have shown up with their plaintive whistles in El Portal. The summer's big fires (not at all big) have been quieted by the 2-3 inches of rain from a week ago and those trails near White Wolf and north of Hetchy have been re-opened. A couple dozen new fires were started in last week's lightning storms, but most are small and fuels are wet so only a few near roads/buildings need to be suppressed by our fire crews.
The NPS observes a Columbus Day holiday today, while some celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day in recognition of 8-9000 years of history that vastly pre-dates Euro-American arrival in Yosemite (and still continues). Plans to fix up the heavily used shoreline of (what we now call) Tenaya Lake come up for public comment next Monday; see www.nps.gov/yose for the planning section. It's your chance to weigh in on how people visit the lake named for Yosemite's best known member of the First Nations.

China Parks

2010-10-06T14:50:00.000-07:00

Just back from another outstanding visit to Yosemite's two sister national parks in the mountains of China. Our group witnessed firsthand how Huangshan provided inspiration to James Cameron for some of the fantastical landscapes in "Avatar." We also had great discussions with Jiuzhaigou rangers about the challenges of protecting resources in a popular park. Close encounters with pandas concluded a terrific exploration. We look forward to bringing more Yosemite-philes to hike in China next fall.
Meanwhile in Yosemite, autumn has arrived with lightning and rain. Black oaks, redbud, bigleaf maple, grape, and poison oak are turning bright yellow. The Merced River is up in volume and quite turbid with runoff sediment. Tioga Road has been closed for several days now due to snow up high.

Equinox Report

2010-09-21T05:54:00.000-07:00

We are half-way between solstices now. Sunlight shines on the park's peaks and canyon rims just before 7 a.m. It's frosty above 6000' in the low meadows at dawn. At Tuolumne and above bilberry is red, willows are yellowing. Smoke from the Slope Fire near White Wolf has tapered off. The Merced is down to 36 cfs at Pohono Bridge (still a tad above average). Fewer people are dipping in the river, but the Valley is still somewhat busy. Lessingia is the main flower still seen in Yosemite Valley. The famed sugar maple is still all green, but we see color starting in some dogwoods, bracken, sedges, and dogbane. Birds are quiet; year-round residents are mostly all that's left: raven, jay, chickadee.
I will be watching birds, etc. on the Conservancy's trip to Yosemite's two sister national parks in China for the next two weeks. I'll post from there if I can; otherwise it'll be towards mid-October for Yosemite updates.

Lyell Glacier

2010-09-19T06:48:00.000-07:00

I just returned from a couple days up at Lyell and Maclure Glaciers with videographers Josh Helling and Steve Bumgardner and park geologist Greg Stock. Greg was checking some of his instrumentation on the glacier while Steve and Josh were working on an installment of the excellent Yosemite Nature Notes video series. I was on my annual survey trip to take the photographs that show the rate of recession of the ice.
There's been no debate about climate change in Yosemite for 150 years; even young John Muir knew that the park's glaciers were melting away. The first glacier that Muir explored is now gone and the Maclure is half the size it was when Muir conducted the first quantitative glacier measurements in North America. That reducing trend continues with the east lobe of Lyell Glacier having wasted away to a couple small flakes of ice on the cirque headwall, and the west lobe steadily shrinking year by year. Last winter's above average snowfall is still evident but isn't likely to sustain the glacier significantly. According to Greg, the western quarter of the west lobe is not quite a meter thick; a major areal reduction looms. The east edge of the west lobe has fallen 37 meters in elevation in the past 60 years.
For next summer I'm planning a Yosemite Conservancy trip to see Lyell, and a trek to where Muir found the first recognized glacier in the Sierra. Think about a visit to Yosemite's ice before it's gone...

Labor Day in Yosemite

2010-09-03T15:30:00.001-07:00

Park roads were very mellow before 9 this morning, but it'll be extra busy this afternoon and evening as visitors pour in for the long weekend. Good weather is expected.
It's warmed back up to "hot" now, after a cool spell last weekend which brought a few snowflakes to Tuolumne Meadows.
Datura still has some huge white blooms in El Portal, and gumplant is still yellow. There's still Madea in bloom at Cascades. Gin Flat, up at 7000' has lots of Solidago, Eriogonum, Yampah, Gayophytum, broad-leafed lupine in bloom - an exceptional flower season continues into September. Chinquapin is emitting its odd, musky odor now. If you haven't smelled this strange essence, now's the time for sniffing around at 6-7000'.
Leaves starting to turn color in the lower canyon now: spicebush, poison oak, grape, and redbud. Buckeye has long gone rusty brown.

LeConte Lives On

2010-08-25T17:06:00.000-07:00

I did a presentation at the LeConte Memorial Lodge in Yosemite Valley the other night about Yosemite's two sister national parks in China. People do get pretty interested when they learn that Yosemite has sister parks, and then even moreso when they learn about the astonishing landscapes of those fellow World Heritage Sites. Yosemite Conservancy is bringing a group to those parks in a few weeks to do some hiking, birding and botanizing.
LeConte is a really unique Yosemite building. It was named for Sierra Club co-founder Joseph LeConte, a geology professor at Berkeley and a friend of John Muir's. A spectacular structure of massive granite blocks, it is further remarkable in that it is run as an educational facility by the Sierra Club. Muir and LeConte's little group of mountain-lovers has an important presence in the heart of their beloved Yosemite to this day.
As a wise man once noted that everything is connected: China has a serious forestry problem in the form of an invasive bark beetle accidentally introduced from the US and which was first scientifically described by LeConte's nephew, John Lawrence Le Conte (sic). The year that the LeConte Memorial Lodge was built by the Sierra Club (1904) is the same year that John Muir was observing botany - in China. It IS all connected...

Cloud Time

2010-08-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

Unusual, cloudy day in Tuolumne Meadows yesterday, with lenticular and strato-cumulus coverage and a healthy west wind. The grayness was not in the forecast, so that had some folks worried about getting rained on, but it wasn't that kind of cloud layer.
My group observed an osprey with a fish, being slowly pursued in an upward spiral by what I believe was a female Cooper's Hawk. Eventually the osprey dropped the fish from a couple hundred feet up, perhaps by accident, but perhaps to get the accipter to leave it alone.
Tuolumne has elephant's heads, yellow monkeyflower, purple asters, some paintbrush, groundsel, purple gentian, and lots of yampah in bloom. There are about 6-7 mosquitoes left in Tuolumne, so you can pretty much stow your bugspray til next summer.

August Water

2010-08-19T11:53:00.001-07:00

The Merced River has dropped below 100 cubic feet per second (cfs) at the Pohono Bridge gauging station now. This is about 15% of the annual mean daily flow, but is still a bit higher than usual for this date. Locals who commute into Yosemite Valley for work refer to a different measuring gauge: Table Rock, which is located just upstream of the junction of Hwy. 140 and the Big Oak Flat Road. Table Rock is now 3-4 feet above the surface, but it was underwater without a ripple just a short time ago. It's hard to believe that the river was at nearly 7000 cfs just 2.5 months ago. That's our Mediterranean climate of strongly disparate seasonal precipitation. Rivers in most of our country do not regularly vary their volumes by two orders of magnitude within a year.
Some unexpected cloud cover yesterday moderated temperatures in El Portal, Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne Meadows. More monsoon moisture is probably on the way over the next few weeks, and we are likely to see some small spikes in river flow as rain runoff from the uppermost watershed is added to the low river volume. Any surges will probably not be that visible on Table Rock, but we should see them on the gauging station display.

Reckless Burning in the Valley

2010-08-17T15:43:00.000-07:00

Someone lit a fire in the west end of Yosemite Valley mid-day today, across the canyon from Bridalveil Fall. It was a small fire very quickly contained by an NPS engine crew. How or why someone would ignite a fire in this out of the way spot, off of a seldom used trail is hard to explain. Must be August in Yosemite.
Afternoons are hot and dry in the park now though our wet, late spring still has lingering effects. People are still taking photographs of Yosemite Falls, there is spicebush, Lessingia and tarweed still blooming in the Valley, and the river is still 30% above average flow. Raspberries have gone by but elderberries are ripe now.
With a group today we found a bear scat that contained manzanita berries and the wing feathers of a Steller's Jay.
Apologies for the gap in postings; I've been in Sequoia NP backcountry.

Showing you the Money

2010-07-29T09:54:00.000-07:00

The director of the US Mint is in Yosemite Valley this morning to release the new California quarter into public circulation. Park staff has erected a stage in front of the visitor center, the mounted ranger honor guard is standing by, and a great treasure chest of new currency is available to be traded for old. (Kids can get a free quarter this morning!) This is all happening here because for the second time in five years we have put Yosemite on our money. You may recall the 2005 California quarter featured John Muir, Half Dome and a California Condor. Now the mint is initiating a new series of 56 quarters focused on 'America the Beautiful.' The Golden State's design is among the first five quarters being released this year, because of the early date (8 years before Yellowstone) at which Yosemite was first set aside as a protected reserve. George Washington (of Washington's Column fame) is still on the 'heads' side; the reverse is an image of El Capitan seen from the west at Valley View, that spot along Northside Drive where the Merced River comes up against a parking lot and you have a nice view of Bridalveil and the Captain.
As much as I like the new design, I'm disappointed that one of the alternates wasn't chosen. The candidate image I preferred was of Yosemite Falls viewed down the long walkway to the base of Lower Yosemite Falls. In a branch of one of the bordering trees was a Steller's Jay, a creature surely deserving representation on our currency.
At any rate, it is a great testament to the importance of Yosemite National Park to the state and the nation that we've chosen to put it on our currency again. Of all the beautiful things in California, this is the one place that rates that highly. We are a lucky land, indeed, to have such a treasure to care for and to share.

Valley Flora

2010-07-26T13:53:00.000-07:00

Western raspberries are ripening and delicious in Yosemite Valley now. Bigelow's sneezeweed (such a great name!) is fading from Cook's Meadow, but still adds color. Tall evening primrose here and there, extensive tincture plant in western El Capitan Meadow, dogbane and Calochortus are also blooming in the Valley.
Crane Flat meadow is likewise rich with flowery goodness. Bistort and shooting star are most prominent. There is still a bear show on most days at Crane Flat.
The Merced River actually came up a tad from rains in the high country. The diurnal snowmelt pulse cycle has virtually flattened out, but the river is still much higher than average for late July.

Peak Flowers at 7000'

2010-07-24T17:21:00.000-07:00

It's a great time to hike around at 7-8000' in Yosemite, with an exceptional quantity and diversity of plants in bloom now. Along Glacier Point Road, check Summit Meadow (Shootings Stars!), McGurk, Peregoy, and upper Sentinel Creek meadows and bring your camera and a field guide. Hiking to Ostrander Lake this morning we saw almost 4 dozen species of flowers in bloom. Highlights included corn lily 5 feet tall, alpine lilies 4-5 feet tall, several lupines, lots of purple Erigeron, abundant larkspur and Calochortus. Now's the time to get out there. Very few mosquitoes.
We also encountered Williamson's sapsucker, hermit thrush, western bluebird, mountain chickadee, yellow-rumped warbler, olive-sided flycatcher and Clark's nutcracker.
Great masses of cumuli build to the east, making 'higher Sierras' and we expect rain somewhere in the higher country.

Finally Fires

2010-07-23T10:03:00.001-07:00

Localized storm cells that built up last Thursday and Friday have started the park's first wildland fires. These are small fires that weren't reported for 2-3 days after ignition. There are two burning just north of the Tuolumne River a few miles from Glen Aulin. They aren't putting up much smoke, are mostly crawling along the ground, and may just creep for a couple months, the way fires have for thousands of years here. A third start occurred near the top of the Snow Creek switchbacks above Tenaya Canyon; this was was contained and extinguished by an NPS fire crew. It wouldn't be summer in the Sierra without a bit of smoke in the air; now we're finally getting started.
Turkey vulture over El Cap Meadow yesterday, and my group got a brief look at a peregrine soaring along the North American Wall. Yosemite Art and Education Center coordinator Aline Allen observed a female common merganser with fuzzy young on her back yesterday near Swinging Bridge. This is a late clutch, or perhaps a second brood.

Up to Half Dome

2010-07-21T06:46:00.000-07:00

I took a full YC field seminar group up to Little Yosemite Valley to overnight and climb Half Dome this past weekend. Quite warm; the Merced was a welcome element in LYV. Even though it was clear and dry in Yosemite Valley, a broad cumulus mass on Friday afternoon poured rain into the upper watershed and the river almost doubled in volume and became quite turbid. Vernal's stretch of the Mist Trail was drenching - in mid-July! Conditions were a mix of May water and July heat.
The day use permit system limited the number of day hikers and my group (enthusiastically leaving our LYV camp at 4 a.m.) had the summit to itself for a while - unprecedented. Thank-you, George Anderson.

Double Rainbow

2010-07-15T16:59:00.000-07:00

Milkweed and sneezeweed are coloring Leidig Meadow with pink and gold. Bush lupine blooms in the west Valley. Above 9000' tiny Lewisia covers a lot of ground, but so much acreage is still thawing out from its snowcover that there's a lot of dormant terrain. Naturalist Michael Ross is leading a 'Tuolumne Alpine Studies' course for YC (www.yosemite.org) that still has room in it. It's the weekend of July 30-August 1; free park entry and free camping are included.
CBS did a nice piece the other day on park waterfalls having a big year. The river is still running 2.5 times its average volume for mid-July but more swimmers are getting in to that chilly water. Yosemite Falls still looks good but Staircase, Royal Arch, Ribbon and Sentinel Falls are shrinking away.
I am thoroughly enjoying park geologist Greg Stock's new book "Geology Underfoot in Yosemite." Up to date, very conversational, well illustrated, easy to follow - worth adding to your Yosemite bookshelf.

Smoke on the Water

2010-07-08T05:59:00.001-07:00

We collected 117 lightning strikes yesterday from afternoon storms that built over the 5-10,000' level, but no fires were ignited; it's still relatively wet or snowy at those elevations. Nice to see those big cumuli build over the higher elevations the past two days.
Baby flicker learning to find ants near the Ahwahnee yesterday morning. Turkey vulture flying over the Ahwahnee Meadow at 8:30 a.m., suggesting that the bird roosted in the Valley. Three peregrines (one calling) at the Rhombus later in the morning - a healthy sign to have predators around in quantity. Azalea is smelling so sweet now!
The Conservancy's Sentinel Dome webcam connection has been fixed and that feed is back on line. It was a very complicated process, with lots of helpers, to get this operational again.

Half Dome Permits: Good!

2010-07-07T05:23:00.000-07:00

So far the new, temporary system requiring day use permits for Half Dome day hikes on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and holiday Mondays is a great success. Yes, there are some people who are unaware of the new permit system and are denied a chance to show up and go on these three days of the week, but for most people, there are real plusses. Some folks pooled their friends and got dozens of permits - then didn't use them all, making the weekend days more safe and pleasant than ever. Mondays and Thursdays have gotten a little busier than they were. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are still fairly mellow. Visitor complaints have been few while commendations have been many - a real improvement in the Half Dome experience has been achieved quickly. There's a broad realization that going to a seven-day day hike permit system would be a further positive step. NPS is compiling data and hiker input for a more quantitative assessment. Public comment on the future of Half Dome's cables is being sought now; speak up!
The river and falls continue to decline in volume. Mosquitos are still annoying in the Valley and in places in the high country.
Datura, spicebush, Clarkia, elderberry, and mockorange are in bloom in the Merced canyon below the Valley.

Delayed season

2010-07-02T18:34:00.000-07:00

The Merced River is flowing at better than double its usual volume for early July. After a week of holding steady it is dropping again with cooler temperatures. Another way to look at it is that for the past week the river volume has been equal to the average annual high water mark, but it's over a month after that average peak, and near three weeks after this year's peak. Local gauge Table Rock breached the surface yesterday for the first time this season.
Side streams in Yosemite Valley are shrinking back, too. Eagle Creek no longer reaches Northside Drive. Sentinel is still flowing in 9 culverts, but many are just seeping. Indian Creek is still dribbling through the Village Store parking lot and is flowing under the Art and Education Center. Yosemite and Bridalveil Falls are looking terrific for July.
Cow parsnip, western azalea, striped penstemon and several lupines add color and fragrance to the Valley. Tuolumne's store, lodge, visitor center and campground are all open now, and the Tuolumne River has retreated to within its banks. Backpackers should still be prepared for wet trails, tricky creek crossings and a good amount of snow on shaded slopes higher up.

The Livin' is Easy

2010-06-30T07:50:00.001-07:00

Our first controlled burn of the season brought a bit of smoke to the park's skies yesterday. Two hundred some acres northwest of Crane Flat, near the Merced Grove trailhead were ignited to add to the mosaic forest mix on the park's western boundary. While many don't care for it, some locals love to see and smell a bit of smoke in the air; it's a normal part of a Sierra summertime, just like snow is a regular element of winter here.
Witnesses observed a sharp-shinned Hawk take a songbird (possibly a redwing) at Bridalveil Meadow on Monday. Tiny baby California quails in El Portal can already take flight. There's still some Clarkia, Lotus and Lupinus in bloom in El Portal; buckeyes fade. Glow worms are alight in certain places there, too. The Valley's cow parsnip is tall and in bloom. The delicious smell of wester azalea is aloft in wet spots in the Valley. Also a-buzz in the Valley now are a terrific quantity of mosquitoes. Lots of standing water has favored their prosperity.

River Recession

2010-06-11T22:03:00.001-07:00

After its annual peak a few days ago, the Merced is easing back towards its regular channel, though it's still far higher than usual, still covering some trails. Half Dome cables are being installed next week, quite a bit later than usual.
Yesterday ranger Bob Roney and I watched ravens, Steller's jays and western tanagers all active in the afternoon near where Eagle Creek reaches the Valley floor. Suddenly Bob spots a male mountain quail speeding along the open ground of the Valley floor. I've encountered more of these than usual in the Valley this spring, all near the foot of the walls. Have they been displaced to lower elevation by the heavy snows and the delayed melt higher up? Is it the burned acreage of last summer's fire in Big Meadow that has bumped them in this direction? Is it just us getting out more this spring? It's been nice to be surprised by their querulous "kwerp!?" now and then.
I'll be in other parks for the next couple weeks, so apologize for a temporary hiatus in postings to late June.

Lake Yosemite

2010-06-07T21:17:00.000-07:00

The river peaked last night right at 7000 cfs at Pohono gauge, sending just a bit of water into the pullout at Wosky Pond on Northside Drive. The river has actually backed up under the road culverts here, too. The deck of Swinging Bridge didn't quite go under, but the bridge is closed as it is accumulating logs, and the bike trail over to Yosemite Lodge is underwater for its entirety. Cooks Meadow's loop trail is all wet, though the gray trex boardwalk across the upper meadow remains above the flow. The approaches to Superintendent's Bridge are washed over on both sides of the river. There is water just everywhere today, but the ebb has begun. Temps cool a bit and though the river is expected to top 'flood stage' tonight and tomorrow night, it won't be as high. It seems we saw 2010's spring melt high water mark last night.
Big white buckeye blossoms fully emerged in El Portal now. Creek dogwood still shows its very modest flowers in the Valley. Grosbeaks, vireos and tanagers are singing away.

Runoff Election

2010-06-06T18:47:00.000-07:00

I don't know that I've ever actually observed so much snow and runoff in all my years here. The Tioga Road opened to cars this weekend and it is impressive to see how much snow lies deep in the high country still. (We could only bike as far as Olmsted Point last weekend.) Lots of skiers were at play near the pass. At the same time, the temperatures rose substantially: mid-60's in Tuolumne Meadows today, low 80's in Yosemite Valley. Considerable portions of the snowpack are melting suddenly and there is running water everywhere. I've never seen the Tioga Road so gushing wet with overflowing snowmelt - wow.
Tuolumne Meadows is perhaps 75% snow, 10% water, and the rest bare ground in sunny spots. Tenaya Lake is still 90% iced over, as is Siesta Lake. Even Gin Flat at just over 7000' is 90% snow-covered. Mist is gusting off of Cascade Falls in amounts just not seen in most years.
The Merced River just tapped 'flood stage' in the early hours today, before subsiding in the normal springtime diurnal cycling. Tonight and tomorrow night it should exceed the 'flood' definition in Yosemite Valley by the better part of a foot, then by just a little early Wednesday a.m., as it starts a late decline in volume. Again, the river is at triple the average flow for this date - exciting!

Overflowing with Mercy

2010-06-05T07:54:00.000-07:00

The river swelled to over 5300 cfs at Pohono Bridge last night, more than double the average volume for this date. Our definition of 'flood stage' is about 6500 and it should almost reach that tonight. In the wee hours of Monday morning, it should extend about 700 cfs (=6-8 inches) over 'flood stage.' The boardwalk at Sentinel Meadow (Chapel Straight) went into the drink yesterday. Swinging Bridge is close to getting its deck wet. There's water in unusual places all over, making hiking around the Valley floor a fun challenge and full of discovery. Projections are that the high water will begin to subside after Monday morning's peak. Great time to be a duck (if you're done with nesting...)
There was an issue with an overflowing culvert yesterday, but Tioga Road is open all the way through this morning.
Yosemite Association and Yosemite Fund announced their merger with a big public ceremony at the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center yesterday. Many details are still evolving, but the brand new Yosemite Conservancy will surely make good things happen for Yosemite.

High Water and High Country

2010-06-03T21:30:00.000-07:00

The river forecast calls for our Rio Merced to reach 'flood stage' on Saturday night and to hover near there for at least a few days. The diurnal cycling of the snowmelt runoff has the river in Yosemite Valley peak after midnight, then ebb lowest in early afternoon. We noticed this readily today, while watching a peewee flycatch: the trail near El Capitan Bridge was drying out from last night's peaking. At Devil's Elbow and near Middle Brother, the river owns the trailbed.
Tioga Road will open this Saturday morning; it's a good June to be a skier. Backpackers will find reasonable conditions by late July; until then there'll be lots of snow, wet trails and challenging stream crossings.
Mosquitos are biting in Yosemite Valley. Dogwoods starting to fade. More lupine in bloom. Special 3-hour tram tours have started this week, focusing on single subjects in depth: birds, geology, waterfalls, etc.

Happy Isles Specials

2010-06-03T05:54:00.000-07:00

Lots of bird activity at the Happy Isles fen yesterday morning. This is the only place I know of where 2-3 Swainson's Thrushes have been seen in the park in several decades. I saw a thrush with a non-Hermit-like call note, but couldn't be more definitive than that. Mountain quail was another nice surprise there. MacGillivray's warblers singing in low alders in handily visible spots.
Michael Ross has two YA birding courses coming up next weekend, one of which will include Happy Isles, the other is going to the hotspot of Foresta.
No word officially on Tioga Road or Half Dome cables.
Our river has swollen again, to over 4400 cfs at Pohono; near tripling in volume over a week. Exciting!

Cycling on Tioga Road

2010-05-31T06:58:00.000-07:00

There really is an exceptional quantity of snow in the high country: roadside snowbanks 6-8 feet tall, Tenaya and Siesta Lakes frozen over, lots of runoff, and persistent avalanche danger: a 6-foot granite slab slid onto the road above Yosemite Creek. A mild, sunny day had lots of bird activity: sooty grouse booming, Williamson's sapsucker drumming, and hermit thrush, olive-sided flycatcher and mountain chickadee singing. Marmots were up and about, despite 80% snowcover in the Olmsted Point area.
Skiers could park as low as the White Wolf area and make some runs at Siesta Cirque. The district ranger figures it may be a couple more weeks until the road can be opened to cars.
A couple warm days means the Merced River has leapt from around 1500 cfs at Pohono Bridge to 2800 cfs last night; it should get even more exciting over the next few days.

Summer Rolls In

2010-05-29T05:45:00.000-07:00

One of the coolest Mays on record finishes up on a warm note this weekend with temperatures going from 50's-60's up to near 80. The Merced has been running at about 2/3 of average flow all week, but that's likely to change in a big way over the next few days. We'll have this late spike in river volume, and a delayed runoff that will keep the waterfalls healthy for weeks to come.
A couple inches of snow and ice on Thursday night kept the Glacier Point Road closed and had Hwy. 41 at R2 conditions yesterday. Glacier Point should open this morning for weekend crowds. Re-opening is likely for the Mariposa Grove Road, too. Tioga Road is open 4 miles up from Crane Flat, for those who want a look at the Gin Flat snowpack. Cyclists are allowed to pedal car-free between tall snowbanks and lots of fresh runoff as far east as Olmsted Point - the world's best bike trail.
Half Dome cables won't be installed for at least two more weeks; it's still too snowy to access this part of the Wilderness safely.
Snowplant and groundsel are blooming in the Valley, Wawona is full of lupine, and El Portal has nice stretches of Clarkia right at the park boundary. It's a very flowery time of this cool, wet season.

Stormy Monday

2010-05-24T21:05:00.000-07:00

More chilly weather lingers in our Sierra, with a winter storm warning starting tomorrow night, and several more inches of snow expected above 6000' again. The river has dropped to 1500 cfs at Pohono Bridge.
Highway 41 was closed for a time yesterday due to snow and vehicle accidents. A rockfall closed the Yosemite Falls Trail this morning. These are January scenarios, yet it'll be June next week.
Ribbon Creek carried frazil ice yesterday. Steve Bumgardner's terrific frazil ice video has been featured on the world's number one blog, boingboing: http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/24/frazil-ice-fascinati.html#comments. Pete is honored.
Concentrated numbers of yellow-rumped warblers on this morning's birdwalk. Juncos were both flocking and singing.
Poison Oak on the Valley floor is about 50% leafed out, though it may have some frost damage. Yes, there is p.o. on the floor of Yosemite Valley, but you have to be remarkably unlucky to stumble into it. Farewell-to-spring (Clarkia) is blooming in El Portal now; given the conditions a little higher up it seems premature to bid farewell to a a season we've only glimpsed.

Slow progress

2010-05-23T10:40:00.000-07:00

The Mariposa Grove Road has opened to all traffic, though there's still snow aplenty in the upper grove. Glacier Point legend Dick Ewart is helping out in the Wawona Visitor Center while he waits for visitors to be allowed out to Glacier Point. The point still needs two feet of snow shoveled off of walkways. The Sentinel Dome/Taft Point trailhead area still has 4 feet of snow; it'll be easy to get lost with those trails being buried. We got a bit of snow on the Valley rim last night. The cool and clouds dropped the Merced volume at Pohono Bridge down from 3500 cfs a few days ago, to below 2000.
The startling red snowplant is seen throughout the Valley floor now. Blackberries are blooming in El Portal, along with plentiful tarweed, lupine, blazing star, and elderberry. Still the invasive pink clover owns some of the roadsides.

Yet More Winter

2010-05-21T06:48:00.001-07:00

No cables on Half Dome for Memorial Day. I was in error, with old (insider) information that they'd be installed next week. The photo from the Snow Creek trail shows plenty of snow on the "sub-dome's" north slope; this makes trail work and travel to the base of the cables too dangerous still.
At the same time, the warmth of the past few days has brought the Merced to its highest volume yet, over 3500 cubic feet per second at the Valley's west end. The river has backed into all its tributary outlets. Wosky Pond is connected the river by flowing water at the surface.
The Valley still has lots of Miner's Lettuce and Varied-leaf Nemophila in flower as ground cover. Highway 140 is abloom with white flowers on Ceanothus integerrimus. Some cherries in the Valley have flowers. Cow parsnip in Cook's Meadow has leaves up to 10 inches long, but it's still less than 2 feet tall.

Geo Notes

2010-05-20T12:26:00.001-07:00

Last week's heavy rains brought a small debris flow down the Cathedral Spires gully, covering Southside Drive with several inches of sand and gravel. A rockfall at Church Bowl seriously injured a local girl last week; thankfully she appears to be recovering well. Another good-sized rockfall occured yesterday, from beneath Horsetail Fall on El Capitan, sending up a big cloud of dust from the ledge below the East Buttress.
The famous sugar maple is just starting to turn. Native big-leafed maples vary in their color now from bright yellow, to leaf margins starting to brown, to altogether green. Willows and cottonwoods will start to color soon, but haven't yet. The meadows in Yosemite Valley are the most yellow places at the moment. Torreya 'drupes' are mature and dropping in the isolated pockets where they grow. Invasive black locust trees are finally being removed from Old Yosemite Village by Resource Management.

More and more Spring

2010-05-20T12:26:00.000-07:00

The excellent Dave Wyman took this unearthly photo of a favored place on Earth. His autumn YA photography course has filled, but there are plenty of other great ones, including Howard Weamer's August high country course. People on our September China national parks trip may well come home with images that compare to this.
A road crew friend told me he didn't think Tioga Road would be open for Memorial Day; avalanches are still a factor. Half Dome cables should get installed next week, in time for those who have permits for Memorial Day weekend. Mariposa Grove Road opens this Friday to all vehicles.
Senecio is in bloom along Southside Drive. Mallard and merganser ducklings have been seen in calm Valley waters this week. A lazuli bunting was singing atop a still-leafing-out black oak near Cook's Meadow earlier today. Birders on this morning's walk also got to compare Vaux's swift with violet-green swallow flight.
Bit of rain overnight. The river is coming up a bit, a little over average flow again, with Table Rock fully covered. Side streams are still increasing; water leaks on to the road near Fern Spring now and Sentinel Creek is the biggest it's been this season.

Crowds and Clouds

2010-05-17T06:52:00.000-07:00

REALLY busy weekend in Yosemite Valley, with lots of traffic and inappropriate parking. People poured in to see the dogwoods and waterfalls at their maxima. Warm weather brought the Merced and its tributary falls up to well over 3000 cfs at Pohono Bridge last night.
Madea lines the lower Merced Canyon. Clarkia is out in force down south at the Kaweah River entrance to Sequoia NP, but has yet to really show here. Ball gilia in El Portal.
We've got rain again this morning, making it the 4th of the past 5 Mondays with a storm.
No bikes allowed on Tioga Road past Crane Flat yet; perhaps next weekend. Rumors of a Memorial Day weekend opening were reinforced by NPS sources Saturday. High country services (bathrooms, store, camping, visitor center, etc.) are still many weeks away. No Half Dome cables yet; there's still snow on the subdome area.

Tanager Swarm

2010-05-13T21:23:00.000-07:00

This morning's YA birdwalk featured good looks at at least a dozen male tanagers in the black oaks near the Valley Visitor Center. The birds were quite silent, we saw no females, but the guys gave us some lively, near eye-level views of their brightest tropical plumage with the morning sun behind us. I've seen similar concentrations of male tanagers before; once I counted 125 streaming through the oaks near the medical clinic, all moving east together. My eyes hurt for some time afterward from all that color.
The trail beyond Mirror Lake has some muddy, wet stretches, but few people. The view from just ten switchbacks up the Snow Creek Trail is remarkable, with melting snow pouring down from Clouds Rest. In bloom: Nemophila, Phacelia, Castilleja, Viola, banks of Claytonia, and of course, Cornus.
The Tuolumne Grove has about 50% snow cover, with depths of less than a meter. It's melting out quickly and the big trees are drinking big from the melting snowpack. Did we see a goshawk flash by?

April Showers Bring May Showers

2010-05-11T13:13:00.001-07:00

Three of the past four Mondays have had storms. Snow fell on Yosemite Valley's floor again last night, adding frosting to the dogwoods. Considerable frazil ice flows clogged Yosemite Creek, Sentinel Creek and Ribbon Creek, with the latter carrying the slurry deposits all the way to the Merced. If you still haven't seen Steve's terrific frazil footage, find it here. I watched a coyote flounder across the loose ice and balance on a log to cross part of Yosemite Creek, while a female mallard watched calmly from her safe platform on a fresh floe. The spot where the John Muir plaque and Galen Clark bench are located was awash in ice and water this morning. After ten, there was no more new ice coming from the falls, but the lower creek ran mud brown with newly displaced sediment as it left its channels and ran in novel directions through the forest.
The part of Indian Creek that flows under the Yosemite Art and Education Center was backing up over the bike path that runs by there.
Cassin's vireo and Bullock's oriole did some singing this morning, encouraged a bit by the bright sun and the melting snow. Tough weather for some insectivores.

Crane Flat Bear Jam

2010-05-10T21:21:00.001-07:00

A cinnamon sow has a nice pair of cubs of two different colors at Crane Flat. The family stopped a lot of traffic while they were grazing on new grass in the wet meadows there. Sad to think that so many bears are hit by cars each year; please drive with the wildlife in mind when you're in the park.
The Valley's dogwoods are maybe 90% emerged at this point; stormy weather today and yesterday further stalls their full brilliance. Cool, cloudy conditions dropped the river level down from 3000 to less than 2000 cfs at Pohono Bridge, below average for this date. But all the meadows are wet, some trails on the Valley floor have challenging creek crossings. There was a small quantity of frazil ice flowing this morning in Yosemite Creek and Ribbon Creek.
Juncos were back to winter flock behavior this morning. Chickadees were still observed in pairs, but no singing was heard. Tanagers and orioles were subdued by the cold. Snow coated the Valley rim this morning, but temperatures should be back up to the mid-70's by the end of the week.

Head for the Hill's Studio

2010-05-07T11:37:00.000-07:00

The Wawona Visitor Center is opening today for the summer. It's in the Hill's Studio next to the Wawona Hotel. If you haven't been in there since the new layout and exhibits were unveiled last spring, you really should make a stop on the way through Wawona. We were excited to have a huge Thomas Hill Yosemite painting prominently employed during the last presidential inauguration.
The road from Lee Vining is open to Tioga Pass, and plows have chewed down into Tuolumne Meadows from the east side. On the west, our guys have gotten the plows to Olmsted Point, where a very sensitive avalanche zone is found.
Blue skies with a healthy upcanyon breeze this morning. Western Wood Peewees are wheezing in the Valley. Dogwoods still coming along.

Rippin' Falls

2010-05-06T15:33:00.001-07:00

Ribbon Fall is one of the many unheralded glories of Yosemite. Anywhere other than Yosemite Valley, you might build a whole national park around this one feature. It's North America's highest uninterrupted waterfall, at over 1600', but few visitors see it. It's a springtime-only show, supplied by a small watershed which runs dry when the snow's gone. It's at the west end of the Valley, which most people simply drive through. It's opposite Bridalveil Fall, which is closer to the Valley floor and roads, and more visible; Ribbon is way up high on the rim. It's tucked into an alcove so only seen from a relatively narrow area. Steve Bumgardner told me about a short walk to a seldom seen view of Ribbon Fall, where this picture was taken at mid-day today.
Sentinel Creek is bigger than ever, crossing under the road in nine culverts now. The creek from what some call West Sentinel Falls is finally flowing all the way to Southside Drive. Meanwhile the river volume actually dropped a bit, from just a few degrees cooler temperature.
Pileated Woodpeckers are making themselves known with loud trumpeting in various Valley locations.

Mist Trail Open

2010-05-05T09:09:00.000-07:00

The Mist Trail to the top of Vernal Fall opens today. Lots of people have been ignoring the closed gate for the past week, but the considerable ice build-up during last week's cold shows why NPS didn't open it until now. More freezing could prompt a closure. The "Ice Cut" from Clark Point to the top of Nevada Fall is still closed.
Road crews have plowed all the way to Glacier Point, but still have a lot of clearing to do, to get two lanes fully open, and all the parking areas cleared of snow. The Tioga crew has pushed up to near the May Lake turn-off, still with 7-9 feet of snow.
May 1 snow surveys show the Tuolumne watershed with 141% and the Merced watershed with 134% of average water content in the snowpack. The Merced River almost hit 3000 cfs at Pohono Bridge last night and warmth for the next few days means our river will be getting to the exciting level.

Indian Creek

2010-05-04T12:47:00.000-07:00

The ephemeral Indian Creek has filled with snowmelt and is claiming its numerous channels at the east edge of Yosemite Village. There's the main creek that descends near the clinic and Tecoya housing, but that's not enough for this runoff. Yosemite Village is partly built on the torrent fan outwash from Indian Canyon; look at all the boulders around the clinic, above the post office and the Indian Village. This fan leaks water everywhere now; my favorite part of Indian Creek is where it runs the length of the Village Store parking lot. It just trickles out all along the broad fan in this part of the village, runs underneath the Yosemite Art and Education Center, drains across the road at Ahwahnee Meadow, and works with gravity to wet down the store parking lot on its way to the Merced. We try to civilize nature, but it doesn't work for long.

Dogwood Day Afternoon

2010-05-03T14:28:00.000-07:00

Some late cold weather has stalled the dogwood blooms in Yosemite Valley a little this season; all but a few flowers are still green. It's my sense that the emerging bracts are 3-5 days behind a 'normal' spring's phenology. The one early tree that locals first look for is a few hundred yards below the former diversion dam on Highway 140. Its display is mostly white, but the bracts are still not full-sized.
This morning's birdwalk included the triple feature of three of our brightest neotropical migrants: oriole, grosbeak and tanager. The latter two were on the same flowery oak branch at one point. Best surprise: a California ground squirrel a good 30 feet up in a black oak near the Administration building.
Claytonia and Nemophila are adding some color (white) to the ground cover in the Valley this week.
Expected warmth for the next few days should bring the dogwoods into full glory by next weekend, and it'll bring the river up well over 2000 cfs again.

Black and White TV

2010-04-29T17:09:00.000-07:00

A turkey vulture flew over Yosemite Village, about 100 meters up, at 7:30 this morning. Especially on this cold, snowy sun-up, I take this to mean that the vulture roosted in Yosemite Valley rather than soaring upcanyon on thermals from lower elevation - something new for our neighborhood. Will condors be next?
More frazil ice formed up in Yosemite Creek this morning, covering all the channels and scouring more forest terrain of its natural duff. A good volume of slurry flowed into the Merced River. Frazil flowed in Ribbon Creek, too, and it went downstream of Northside Drive for the first time this season.
The handful of planted redbuds in Yosemite Valley are blooming; they endured a taste of snow overnight. Dogwoods are making progress, with some 'blossoms' up to 10 cm across and just starting to turn white.

Tioga Road is Open

2010-04-28T13:06:00.000-07:00

Tioga Road is not open to vehicles, but people have been traveling it all winter on skis, snowshoes and splitboards. More snow is accumulating this week, but we know it won't last long. NPS road crews have plowed from Crane Flat up to the White Wolf intersection, through an average of 7 feet of snow. Cyclists should soon be permitted to ride from Crane Flat up the highway a few miles - but be wary of administrative and maintenance traffic that may not be expecting you, and don't go beyond the marked closure points, even if you see bare pavement. Besides heavy equipment, there are avalanche dangers up here, too.
I stopped near the park's high-tech Wastewater Treatment Plant in El Portal this morning and noted four species of swallows in flight there: barn, rough-winged, cliff and violet-green. It's good to be an aerial insectivore at this time of year.

All Hydrologies

2010-04-26T14:29:00.000-07:00

In the sun, our tremendous snowpack is moving downhill in more and bigger creeks flowing into Yosemite Valley. The heavy wet snowstorm that damaged a lot of trees 22 January is continuing to have its effects now, with fallen branches and tree trunks blocking some stream channels. There's a small ephemeral stream that drains the gully east of Sentinel Rock and the lower part of the Four Mile Trail; you've hopped over it if you've hiked this trail between May-August. On the Valley floor it usually runs through a culvert under Southside Drive and down toward the Merced River. A fallen black oak is sending it down a small overflow channel, where there is no culvert beneath the road. It's exciting to see it creating a new pond in Chapel Meadow at the moment.
Eagle Creek is flowing nicely, but it's not in its main channel at Northside Drive; I'll hike up there soon to see what's diverting it to the west. Sentinel Creek, Ribbon Creek, Bridalveil Creek are all flowing quite strongly now and the river has gone above average volume, to almost 2000 cfs at Pohono Bridge last night. Table Rock is all but covered. Great times to be a mallard or a merganser.

Muir Day and Earth Day

2010-04-22T15:10:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was Muir's birthday, today is the Earth's. Saturday is National Junior Ranger Day. There's a lot to celebrate during National Parks Week. In honor of all this I just had a chance to talk about Yosemite, the Half Dome day use permit system, our new California quarter, the merger of Yosemite Association and Yosemite Fund, etc. with Jeffrey Callison on Sacramento's NPR station (www.capradio.org/insight). He's another Scotsman (like Muir) who has made good in the Golden State. I hope we'll have an mp3 of our chat posted on the Association website soon.
Steve Bumgarder's excellent frazil ice film is getting lots of notice, as it should. If you haven't seen it yet, it's worth a look. It's not been posted on the park's website yet, but you can find it here. It's still possible for a few more weeks that we'll have frazil form up in any of the Valley's growing side streams. If you're in the park and the Valley is below freezing at night, it's worth it to go out early to scope Yosemite Creek for fresh slurry.