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Spider Savage
Mountain climber
The shaggy fringe of Los Angeles
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Mar 22, 2013 - 09:48am PT
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Boo!
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Don Paul
Big Wall climber
Colombia, South America
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Mar 22, 2013 - 09:54am PT
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Great news!
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climbski2
Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
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Mar 22, 2013 - 10:06am PT
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As long as they build the gondolas I'll be happy.
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10b4me
Ice climber
Happy Boulders
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Mar 22, 2013 - 11:13am PT
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I am not sure. I guess I would be concerned with the possible loss of revenue.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Mar 22, 2013 - 11:19am PT
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A good beginning but just a start.
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Gunkie
Trad climber
East Coast US
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Mar 22, 2013 - 11:22am PT
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The plan calls for the removal of stone Sugar Pine Bridge, built in 1928 and located behind the Ahwahnee Hotel, because its abutments impede the flow of the Merced River and cause erosion. It also recommends rebuilding about half the 400 campsites lost in a 1997 flood, restoring 203 acres of meadows and improving parking. Visitors still would be allowed to bring bikes, horses or rafts to the park.
Just my opinion, but it sounds like a move in the right direction. However, I'm having difficulty understanding the banning of mostly non-polluting transportation in the form of rental bicycles and rental horses. That seems weird. I'm Ok with the removal of ice skating rinks and swimming pools. Those items seem forced in a place like Yosemite.
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couchmaster
climber
pdx
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Mar 22, 2013 - 11:52am PT
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Does anyone else wonder how much money which has been flushed and now can't be utilized for something productive, this "process" has cost so far?
"We were trying to block the construction of dams near the park. We weren't trying to ban recreation," said Ron Stork, policy director of Friends of the River, a Sacramento group that fought for the river protections in the 1980s. "I'm heartbroken about this."
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briham89
Big Wall climber
san jose, ca
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Mar 22, 2013 - 11:55am PT
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The bikes idea is so upside down...
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elcap-pics
Big Wall climber
Crestline CA
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Mar 22, 2013 - 12:40pm PT
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"restoring 203 acres of meadows" means they want to keep you out of the ElCap meadow. "Restoring" just means building a fence and keeping people out.
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ontheedgeandscaredtodeath
Social climber
SLO, Ca
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Mar 22, 2013 - 12:47pm PT
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It doesn't matter what they decide-- all choices will lead to protracted litigation, nothing will be done, and we will look at all that temporary and decaying eyesore bullshit for at least another decade and probably more.
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
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Mar 22, 2013 - 12:48pm PT
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I am sure you are right, Tom. Imagine the botanists reaction to our overuse of the meadow. I have no clue how important that habitat is but we certainly have been invading it.
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John M
climber
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Mar 22, 2013 - 01:17pm PT
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I enjoyed ice skating in the winter when the snow wasn't any good for skiing and there wasn't anything else to do in the evenings.
I didn't really care about the pool. It gives kids something to do when their parents are lame. It never really affected my experience of the park.
I doubt that they will remove the bike rental.
I believe that they will remove the pool so that they can appear to be doing something the extremist want.
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chill
climber
between the flat part and the blue wobbly thing
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Mar 22, 2013 - 01:31pm PT
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Along similar lines, a question for our Canadian readers: any chance they will tear down that hotel at Lake Louise? Now that is an eyesore.
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Dapper Dan
Trad climber
Menlo Park
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Mar 22, 2013 - 01:53pm PT
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The best swimming spots are almost out of the park anyway ... Elephant rock , octogon , Patties Pool ... Not too much riff raff there .
I always thought it was ironic to see people in the swimming pool when the lovely Merced was right there .
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Nor Cal
Trad climber
San Mateo
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Mar 22, 2013 - 02:08pm PT
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It was not mentioned in this article but we must not forget that they also want to eliminate "social trails" and as climbers we all use the social trails.
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Mar 22, 2013 - 02:12pm PT
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It saddens me to see so many responses on this thread in the form of: "I don't care about , but I want ."
I see rather little consideration of what might actually be fair to the American people, for whom this park was set aside and to whom, in theory, it belongs. I see an undercurrent of hostility toward those same ordinary people we disdain as "tourists." While I've learned to expect nothing better, I still get saddened when I read it.
John
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Mar 22, 2013 - 02:32pm PT
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There is no more using vanilla flavor in the NRPS. National Recreational Park Service should be the new appropriate designation for these BEAROCRATS.
"It impedes the flow"...as if the Merced gives a dam.
"It should incorporate a more NATURAL LOOK."
"You can ice-skate in lots of places. You don't have to do it in Yosemite Valley." It's true. But the experience is unique. It is obvious to my casual observation that just because an non-enthusiast is included in a commission, the others don't have to listen to garbage. I don't know what the rink looks like, as I don't skate that way. But the old rink was pretty green-sounding and low-impact, relative to much else that goes on. Take a bunch of logs, make a rectangle and pump water into it and watch it freeze. When the air warms, it's time to stack the logs for next season. Maybe they could just go back to this way of doing things. Why BAN something if you don't need to?
Millis is rolling around laughing about the bike rentals. YOU NEED BIKE RENTALS, DAMMIT!
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Risk
Mountain climber
Olympia, WA
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Mar 22, 2013 - 02:45pm PT
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It is shortsighted for NPS to claim that removing the pools will help protect the river. Quite the opposite. Letting all those people concentrate in one spot and in one pool keeps them from wandering along the banks of the river looking for places to swim. Plus, all that suntan lotion and human waste stays in the pool, which is emptied into the sewer system for treatment.
I suppose they could just ban swimming altogether. Like ice skating, horseback riding and biking, one can do that anywhere. Plus, with all the social trails closed, walking along the banks of the river will be off limits. Under the proposed plan, I envision the future Yosemite Valley visitor relegated to boardwalks, paved interpretive trails, cars (windows must be kept rolled up if smoking), and lots of new videos in the visitor center. Laughing, singing or yelling, whistling or playing musical instruments, and trailside daytime napping or laying down will be illegal, as well as any behavior not directly related to the park environment.
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Dapper Dan
Trad climber
Menlo Park
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Mar 22, 2013 - 02:56pm PT
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Best swimming hole in the Valley : The pool on top of Lower Yosemite Falls
FACT !
...if not, which is better? Anybody been to hidden falls out past Mirror?
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