Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks
- mikeembler1
- Nov 16
- 2 min read
Updated: Nov 17
I have described Yosemite NP as being the high temple of the conservation movement. I have certainly written a lot about it throughout the site, particularly in connection with John Muir. But I had never been there. I am so grateful to finally have had the opportunity to visit - Maria and I spent several days there last month on a road/hiking trip through the Sierras.
One can know and even write about how vast the park is, but until you are there it is difficult to truly appreciate. We spent three days and barely scratched the surface. We were not up to wrangling the requisite equipment to backpack or even camp, but we did some beautiful hikes in and above the Yosemite Valley. We also spent some time hiking in the Hetch-Hetchy area. As the first real national conservation battle, the unsuccessful fight to save the H-H Valley alone is the subject of much verbiage on this site. Seeing the dam and reservoir was both moving and sad.
We also spent some time in Sequoia NP. Wow. As in Yosemite, we went on some truly unforgettable hikes. We did not have time to get up to Kings Canyon, but we will next time.
An unexpected highlight of the trip was a visit to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains Region of Inyo National Forest. The White Mountains near the CA-NV border make up the eastern edge of the Owens Valley, with the Sierras to the west. The whole area of the eastern Sierras was stunning - in some ways my favorite part of the trip. The Bristlecone Forest contains the oldest individual living trees in the world, the oldest of which, Methuselah, is not specifically identified so as to avoid the unwanted attention of assholes.
Give California credit - one day we were looking at the oldest individual tree on the planet, a day or two later we were looking at the largest. That is pretty cool.
A list of books and materials specifically about the Yosemite from the Collection, by no means exhaustive:
James Hutchings' Scenes of Wonder... (1861) and In the Heart of the Sierras (1886)
Frederick Law Olmstead's Yosemite and the Mariposa... (1993 ed of unissued 1865 report)
Samuel Kneeland's The Wonders of the Yosemite Valley... (1871 - Guidebooks)
The Yosemite Guide-Book (1874 - Guidebooks)
John Muir's Our National Parks (1901) and The Yosemite (1912)
Santa Fe Railroad's Yosemite (1909 - pamphlet in Guidebooks)
Robert Sterling Yard's National Parks Portfolio (1916) - also has Sequoia
Doing Yosemite (circa 1917-18 - Guidebooks)
Ansel F. Hall's Guide to Yosemite (1920 - Guidebooks)
Ansel Adams' works generally (1938, 1948, 1979)
Francis Farquhar's History of the Sierra Nevada (1965)
Walter Fry and John R. White's Big Trees (1930) is about Sequoia NP, and Mary Austin's The Land of Little Rain (1903) is about the Owens Valley and Mojave Desert.
I'll close this post with a few photos from the trip. Enjoy.
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