The National Park : Yosemite Valley

Yosemite National Park is a beautiful park that is just hours away from San Francisco and has some of the best hiking and scenic areas found in our National Parks. Camping at Yosemite can be a challenge though. All of the campsites within Yosemite are on a reservation system that fills up in seconds after the dates are opened. Seriously! If you know you want to camp within the park, please plan way ahead of time to secure a spot. When making a reservation make sure you are signing up for an RV or a tent space. If you are tent camping, know that you will have to park a little bit away and carry your gear in as there is no space for you to park next to your tenting spot. Yosemite camping can get

	 In 1928 Ansel was an official photographer for the Sierra Club at the Jasper National Park in Canada. In 1932, Ansel opened the short-lived Ansel Adams Gallery for photography along with other arts. Ansel lectured and taught to make his living when his gallery was open.

There are so many sights to see at Yosemite National Park that it is difficult to choose where to start your Journey. This guide will tell you all about the great finds you will see as you explore some of the most beautiful and unique trails the park has to offer. Day one will be focused on the northern part of Yosemite National Park.

    When I was around 6 or 7 years old, my family decided to go to Yosemite National Park over the summer. We went on Saturday and during the morning so we could get there early. After about 30 minutes on the road, we stopped at a resting area. We ate there for about 15 minutes and used the restroom. My dad told us that if we wanted to get there early, we had to go right then. My family and I were back on the road and arrived there in 2 hours. I slept the whole way so I couldn't watch the environment as we passed by. When we got there, we entered the park and ate. I was so excited that I ran ahead of my family. I could feel the cool breeze and smell the fresh tree like scent as I ran. My brother asked if we could split into groups and my dad agreed. We split into groups and we started our adventure. I was with my grandma and my sister. The other group was my dad, my mom, and my brother. We also decided to meet at the a certain point at sunset.

Yosemite National Park is located in the northern California area, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Yosemite was the first both state and national park in the U.S., it was also the first piece of land to be set aside by the United State government for preservation and protection. In present day over 3 million people visit Yosemite each year. Visitors get to experience the park’s 800 miles of hiking trails and 282 miles of road amongst for many other things. The park received its name from the American Indian tribe that first lived in that area the tribe known as the Ahwahneechee Indian in the 1800’s. But in about 1849 the gold rush began and brought thousands of non-Indian miners and settlers to the park. Not too long after that, our current president at the time Abraham Lincoln declared protection for the park. Which was all to prevent any further damage done to the park.

In Matthew Hedger’s article “Yosemite National Park Day Hikes: Vernal Falls Death March”, he claims that you don’t always know what you’re getting into and find that things are harder than they seem. Hedger supports his claim with a story of his hike up Vernal Falls. His purpose is to inform his readers that you can always get through difficult things and that they’re stronger than they think. The intended audience is anyone who enjoys a good story and wants to know about hiking.

Muir believed that the stunning beauty of the Yosemite valley deserved to be protected so that people from all around the world could view. From the first time Muir saw the Sierra Nevadas he regarded them very highly, “a landscape was displayed that after all my wanderings still appears as the most beautiful I have ever beheld. At my feet lay the Great Central Valley of California” (Muir 2). Muir goes further in detail as to why it was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen, “Along the top and extending a good way down, was a rich pearl-gray belt of snow; below it a belt of blue and dark purple, marking the extension of the forests… from the blue sky to the yellow valley smoothly blending as they do in a rainbow, making a wall of light ineffably fine. Then it seemed to me that the Sierra should be called, not the Nevada or Snowy Range, but the Range of Light” (Muir 2 and 3). This beauty that Muir describes in his book The Yosemite was one of the major contributors to his founding of the Yosemite valley as a national park (Muir 1-3).

Tioga Pass is a mountain pass at the east of Yosemite National Park. Staying in the area around the Pass opens up the natural beauty of Yosemite to any visitor, with incredible natural features all around. Tioga Pass is the start of many natural trails into the Park, including the trail to Mount Dana and the Gaylor Lakes. The pass itself is often closed due to weather in winter. But summer visitors will be rewarded with stunning views, beautiful wildflower meadows, and mountain trails. Stop at Olmsted Point for views of Half Dome and a short hiking trail of just 0.2 miles to incredible views of Tenaya Peak, Tenaya Lake, and Mount Confess. At Tenaya Lake, you can hike, fish, and take part in water sports, including kayaking and sailing. Just

Many people might assume this, since it's one of the most well known parks in the United States. However, Yosemite did not officially become a national park until nearly two decades after Yellowstone. Sequoia also came before

Spending time in nature is very important in order to know how and why we should protect it. The best way to enjoy nature is to have no interferences from the modern world, the government has places like these called wilderness areas, where there is no human interference allowed except for hikers, planes aren't even allowed to fly over. Wilderness areas are also great for providing healthy ecosystems for the animals that live there. This resolution would expand the wilderness areas inside existing national parks and create wilderness areas inside national parks that don't already have wilderness areas.

All around the world we have National Parks that are protected areas by the government. John Muir was enraptured by it and Ansell Adame immortalized it, while Teddy Roosevelt created the National Park Service to protect these National Parks. These nationals parks are very important to keep for the environment, we all need to work together to keep these parks as nature as possible.

America’s National Parks are deeply indebted to the American photographer Ansel Adams. Through his masterful photography, he turned Yosemite National Park into an American icon. Ansel spent the majority of his life fighting for the National Parks through intense political activism. He was a key figure in conservation in the United States, beginning in a time when environmental conservation was a rare concept.

In our society, we have our ideals set on the values of Yosemite National Park as gateway to explore nature. As Yosemite is a tourist attraction, its breathtaking scenery is one of the marvels that brings people together. As others have seen or heard of Yosemite, only a few can personify and connect with its elements. Yosemite is home to the Ahwahneechee tribe as they live religiously and spiritually.

Ansel Adams (1902-1984) was a native of San Francisco. Throughout his childhood days, he often played in the sand dunes outside the Golden Gate. This is where he learned to appreciate nature, and it inspired him to use nature as his scenes for his photographs. He is known for preserving wilderness. He is viewed as an environmental legend and an image of the American West, particularly of Yosemite National Park. His first visit to Yosemite was in 1916.

"The splendor of Yosemite burst upon us and it was glorious... One wonder after another descended upon us... There was light everywhere... A new era began for me" (“American Experience | Ansel Adams | People & Events”). In year of 1916, he took his first trip to Yosemite National Park with his family. There, he saw the incredible views of the park, views he would continuously see throughout his life. His passion, not only for photography, but for nature surfaced during this first trip to Yosemite in California. Nobody knew that this sudden passion would affect the environment the way it did. Ansel Adams used his photography in order to help national parks gain popularity, as well as to help environmental groups. As one can see, Ansel Adams was an extremely influential photographer and environmentalist, because of his dedication to preserving nature, his support to the Sierra Club, and his famous black and white photography.