Yosemite Open House February 23

Half Dome – Yosemite Musing

     If you are chaining up the Buick and heading to the park next week, take a break and attend the monthly Open House Wed Feb 23. It’s 1 to 4 pm in the Auditorium located behind the Valley Visitor Center. Casual wear. The MRP (Merced River Plan) will be briefed at 2. If anyone goes, please send us a report. The presentation will highlight the upcoming opportunities to get involved in helping shape the future of Yosemite by participating in the Merced River Plan. By the way, tell the Gate Ranger that you are attending this and you get in FREE …. Then go for a hike after.

     The snowpack is 150%. That means I would not try to get a permit for the weekend they are projected to be in place – May 21. The trail was not clear and the poles and boards on the cable route not up until June 16 in 2010. If you had a permit before then, you ate it. (Good with mayo.) A safer date is late June. The Falls will be gigantic. Class 5 rapids under the Vernal Fall footbridge.

    In the R.I.P. Dept, farewell to Ranger Doug Hubbard, the chief naturalist at Yosemite between 1955 and 1966. He was the driving force behind the Yosemite History Pioneer Center in Wawona which opened  in 1960. He was 92.

    Big 3-day weekend now.  I do a down/back to LA to get officially certified as a Nordic Walking Instructor. Yes, it’s raining down there too. I taught my Half Dome Hiking Class at Foothill College in Los Altos Tuesday night. Had 18 in the class – a record. Folks better do the HD hike in 2011 in case the cables get pulled off. I can do private sessions if your group wants Mr Half Dome in your living room.

Unrelated thought worth quoting: “Some national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations.  When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong.” – George Carlin

*MrHalfDome – Rick Deutsch – www.HikeHalfDome.com