Read More. The landscape of the Park is the result of glacial interactions between glaciers and rock millions of years ago. The distinct rock formations of Yosemite National Park geography are mostly comprised of granite. The impressive granite formations found throughout the park are some of the most recognizable natural phenomena in the world. Granite is not the most abundant type of rock to be found in Yosemite. That honor is held by the igneous rock strewn across the park and beyond the boundaries of Yosemite.
Igneous rock is created from lava flows and the appearance of this rock in Yosemite dates back to when molten rock flowed under the ground's surface before cooling and hardening, forming quartz and other kinds of crystallized rock.
Yosemite is more than just rock, however. Yosemite is home to magnificent canyons, pristine lakes, breath-taking waterfalls, and awe-inspiring rock formations consisting of peaks, domes, cliffs, and mountains. Three to four million people visit Yosemite each year to share in the wonder and natural beauty of the land. Human interest in Yosemite has only grown over the years, but people and Yosemite National Park history have had a long and lasting relationship.
Early Inhabitants Yosemite Valley was home to the Ahwahneechee people for thousands of years before settlers arrived in the area. Although not the first Native American tribe, the Ahwahneechee were present when the first outsiders encountered them in the s. In fact, the tribe is responsible for the naming of Yosemite Valley. Called "Ahwahnee", the valley became "Yosemite" due to the mispronunciation of settlers.
During to fervor of the California Gold Rush in , the valley was slated to be cleared by the United States Army, resulting in a conflict with the tribe. Chief Tenaya put up a resistance and the fight culminated into the Mariposa Wars. The Native American eventually relented, were captured, and relocated to a reservation, thus ending the tribal habitation of Yosemite Valley and ushering in the era of the settler. Early Settlers and Pioneers Years before the Mariposa Wars, the Sierra Nevada had been visited by small parties of fur trappers, though none ventured into Yosemite Valley, with was thought impassable.
The first confirmation of a non-Native American visitor was in , only two years before the conflict with the native tribes. With the Gold Rush in the s came miners, some of which were killed in the wars with the Army. It was not until after the tribe was relocated that tourists began to slowly trickle into the Valley.
Most of the tourists were early photographers and artists seeking to capture the beauty of the wilderness. Journalists wrote articles detailing the majesty of the valley and there were numerous sketches and photographs displayed in exhibits to bring awareness of Yosemite to Americans. Galen Clark was one of the first settlers to establish a permanent residence within Yosemite. The Mariposa Grove in Wawona Valley is shrouded by the Giant Sequoia trees and was isolated by the Merced River before a bridge was built to ease crossing the water in The crisp summer morning that I was guided to the site, the mountain air was perfumed with ponderosa and cedar; jays, larks and ground squirrels gamboled about.
And every turn offered picture-postcard views of the valley's soaring granite cliffs, so majestic that early visitors compared them to the walls of Gothic cathedrals. No wonder many 19th-century travelers who visited Yosemite saw it as a new Eden. Although no structure remains, we know from Muir's diaries and letters that he built the one-room cabin from pine and cedar with his friend Harry Randall, and that he diverted nearby Yosemite Creek to run beneath its floor.
Plants grew through the floorboards; he wove the threads of two ferns into what he called an "ornamental arch" over his writing desk. And he slept on sheepskin blankets over cedar branches. Today, Muir has become such an icon that it's hard to remember that he was ever a living human being, let alone a wide-eyed and adventurous young man—a Gilded Age flower child.
Even at the Yosemite Visitor Center, he's depicted in a life-size bronze statue as a wizened prophet with a Methuselah beard. In a nearby museum, his battered tin cup and the traced outline of his foot are displayed like religious relics. And his pithy inspirational quotes—"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine into trees"—are everywhere.
But all this hero worship risks obscuring the real story of the man and his achievements. Others assume he lived here all his life. Later in life, Muir would return to Yosemite on shorter trips, burdened with his own celebrity and the responsibilities of family and work.
But it was during the happy period of his relative youth, when he was free to amble around Yosemite, that Muir's ideas were shaped. Some of his most famous adventures, recounted in his books The Yosemite and Our National Parks , were from this time. This is where he decided who he was, what he wanted to say and how he was going to say it. When he first strode into Yosemite in the spring of , Muir was a scruffy Midwestern vagabond wandering the wilderness fringes of post-bellum America, taking odd jobs where he could.
In retrospect, visiting Yosemite might seem an inevitable stop on his life's journey. But his later recollections reveal a young man plagued with self-doubt and uncertainty, often lonely and confused about the future. But was I in it? John Muir was born in Dunbar, Scotland, in , the eldest son of a Calvinist shopkeeper father. Though his days were consumed with farm work, he was a voracious reader. By his mids, Muir seemed to have a career as an inventor ahead of him.
His gadgets included an "early-rising bed," which raised the sleeper to an upright position, and a clock made in the shape of a scythe, to signify the advance of Father Time. But after being nearly blinded in a factory mishap in , Muir decided to devote his life to studying the beauties of Creation.
With almost no money and already sporting the full beard that would become his trademark, he set off on a 1,mile walk from Kentucky to Florida, intending to continue to South America to see the Amazon. But a bout of malaria in Florida's Cedar Key forced a change in plans.
He sailed to San Francisco via Panama, intending to stay only a short time. Muir would later famously, and perhaps apocryphally, recall that after hopping off the boat in San Francisco on March 28, , he asked a carpenter on the street the quickest way out of the chaotic city.
Yosemite National Park is perhaps best known for its giant sequoia trees which are believed to be approximately 3, years old. These magnificent trees can grow to be about 30 feet wide and more than feet tall.
The park features approximately mature giant sequoias in Mariposa Grove. You can also find sequoias in the Tuolumne and Merced Groves near Crane Flat, but you will need to do some hiking to see them. Approximately one million years ago, glaciers reached a thickness of 4, feet. These glaciers were formed at high elevations.
From there, they began to move down the river valleys. It was the downwards movement of these large pieces of ice cut which formed the U-shaped Yosemite Valley. Lyell Glacier was climbed by John Muir in It is on the north facing slopes of Mount Lyell, the highest peak in the national park at 13, feet. Lyell is the second largest glacier in the Sierra Nevada and the largest in Yosemite.
Maclure is the second largest glacier in the Yosemite. It has an ice cave that allows hikers to actually look underneath the glacier. If you enjoy watching wildlife then Yosemite is definitely worth a visit. The park supports more than species including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. The high diversity is a consequence of diverse habitats that are largely intact. These range from thick foothill chaparral to conifer forests to expanses of alpine rock.
Animals feel at home in each location. Yosemite is home to some of the most magnificent waterfalls on the planet. Of course, the best time of year to see these waterfalls is in the spring when the snowpack has melted. By August, the waterfalls turn to a trickle before they are restored by the fall rains. Among the waterfalls you should check out are Sentinel Fall , which flows an impressive 2, feet, Bridalveil Fall across from El Capitan, which is simply stunning, Ribbon Fall , which is the highest single drop waterfall in North America at over 1, feet and Tueeulala Falls in the beautiful Hetch Hetchy Valley.
It would become known as the camping trip that changed the nation. In , President Theodore Roosevelt , who was on a swing of western states.
He left his official party to go camping with Conservationist John Muir. Muir had fallen in love with Yosemite. John Muir was preaching to the choir as Roosevelt was already a dedicated conservationist himself. He got that and much more.
At the end of the trip, Roosevelt signed a law bringing the Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove under the jurisdiction of the federal government, thus expanding the national park.
Roosevelt then went on to sign into existence five more national parks, 18 national monuments, 55 national bird sanctuaries and wildlife refuges and national forests.
And, what made this cinematic experience so unique is that the filmmakers made no bones did you trekkies get that not-so-subtle reference to Doctor McCoy? Why should they given the natural beauty of Yosemite. El Capitan is one of its favorite destinations for visitors. These include: tablets, tractor beams, tricorders, flip communicators, wearable badge communicators, cloaking devices and voice interface computers to name a few.
Yosemite National Park has some incredible rock formations which makes it a magnet for climbers. Since John Muir scaled the summit of Cathedral Peak in , climbers have found challenges ranging from easy to difficult.
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