YOSEMITE (Day 7 - part 2)
At Big Oak Flat Road, we turned left and continued into the park. The snow had stopped but it rained on and off.
Our first stop was the barn overlook. Far below us was Big Meadow. By 1874, the first wagon road was completed through there. George Meyer, a German immigrant, built two barns in the 1880s, which provided a stop for weary travelers. The barns were restored in 1996.
Continuing on...
Between 1995 to 2012, at least 300 black bears were struck by cars. It's unknown how many of them died later.
Tree mortality is a natural process that benefits a healthy forest ecosystem. Bark beetles are a normal part of this, invading older and weaker trees. Unfortunately due to ongoing drought, fire suppression (which would normally thin out the number of trees) and warming temperatures, highly stressed trees have been unable to fend off the larger and larger population of bark beetles which used to be killed off by severe winters. One pair of mating beetles can produce more than 12 million beetles a year. An estimated 102 million trees have died throughout the Sierra Nevada, particularly at lower elevations. In Yosemite, there are an estimated 2.4 million dead trees within about 131,000 acres, especially between 3,000 and 4,500 foot elevations.
Big Oak Flat Road ended in El Portal Road (which headed into the valley), but we took the first cut off at Fern Spring, then at Bridalveil Fall we doubled back up Wawona Road, eventually turning left onto Glacier Point Road which we took to its end.
We passed through three historic tunnels, completed in 1937, along Big Oak Flat Road.
Tunnel #1, the longest
Overlook by Wildcat Creek, looking at the entrance of Yosemite Valley (with Bridalveil Fall at the very back).... The Merced River far below
Accidents do happen.
Tunnel #2 ... and #3
Fern Spring
A short walk lead to the base of Bridalveil Fall.
Large ravens loitered about the parking lot.
In spite of the NUMEROUS warning signs to keep on the path and stay off the slippery, dangerous rocks... almost no one listened.
Crushed skull ... and broken bones
A stickman in peril .... Apparently the falls washed away almost all of the punctuation as well! Wow!
And all they got was a closer view of this... a thin wispy stream of water. Apparently the 617-foot falls is only full in spring.
A stop at Tunnel View...
The road now ... and then!
The awesome but super misty view up Yosemite Valley
On a clear day, we would also be able to see Half Dome in the far distance.
Click for a larger view (left)
Continuing our drive up to Glacier Point...
The Wawona Tunnel was built in 1933 and is the longest highway tunnel in California. It was bored through solid granite bedrock.
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