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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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Topic Author's Original Post - Feb 10, 2010 - 05:07pm PT
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Hello everybody,
I am starting to gear up for this year's Facelift. I am looking for cleanup project ideas. All of you cover more area in the Park than I can in one year. The climbers have been my best resource in the past and I hope you can be this year. Projects could be a heavily littered area that we have missed in previous Facelifts. Or it could be materials that just don't belong in a National Park (construction debris, dumpsites, rotting mattresses in a cave, etc...). You know, this kind of stuff.
It can be anywhere within the boundaries of Yosemite National Park. It also has to be less than 50 years old or else it is historical. Moosie, Tork or Karl, anything down Wawona way? We have barely touched things in that area. I need to get these projects identified early so that I can run them through compliance.
Thank you,
Ken
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Feb 10, 2010 - 05:18pm PT
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Ken, ask Pinkie. When I talked with her in September, she had several projects around Camp 4 that needed to be done. Primarily excavating and removing old concrete fire pits, and similar things. She was going to make a list for your consideration. Probably the challenge would be hoisting them onto a flatbed and taking them away - I suspect they weigh several hundred kg each. Apart from locating the things, tools, safety, and getting people to move their tents temporarily, it shouldn't require too much organization.
At the FaceLift last year, Pinkie hoped to remove the old firepit from the site that jstan and I were in. It was beside/beneath my tent, and I had visions of jstan coming very early one morning, rousting me out (I was on the night shift), and starting work. He's a pretty energetic fellow, so I made sure there was no easy access to shovels and such tools, just in case. :-)
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happiegrrrl
Trad climber
New York, NY
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Feb 10, 2010 - 05:18pm PT
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Ken - At the Saturday night shindig last year, I was talking to a guy who had gone with a group down a really steep slope to clean up the wreck from a car that had gone off(hopefully the people were uninjured in the crash).
As I was talking, he described how difficult it was, hauling the debris over a sloping scree field. I got the idea that this sort of a situation(and others - any where we have to haul heavy crap, especially up, over/through difficult terrain) might be improved if we had access to a griphoist.
Say you had a bunch of crap down in a valley, and were bringing it up. Run the cable from a tree up top, send it down... and winch that stuff up instead of hand carrying! Or across a rock field. Set up the line from one end to another, raise it high enough to clear, hook the crap up to a pulley and then pull it along(with a rope would work in most situations, but could use a second grip if needed).
I'm sure you don't just happen to have a dozen griphoists laying around the place but....you never know! And, maybe some volunteers actually do have them, or have access to ones they could borrow.
Just a thought!
Yay Facelift!!! I sure hope to be there this year again!
edit: A griphoist would probably work to get that firepit mentioned above loaded to the flatbed(so long as the park allows you to use trees for anchors, I suppose).
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John Moosie
climber
Beautiful California
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Feb 10, 2010 - 05:39pm PT
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The park service bought many houses here in Wawona in the past. They were suppose to be torn down and taken away. It is a complicated issue which involved lawsuits as the park used techniques to get people to sell that were illegal. However it happened, now there are abandoned home around Wawona that the park does not have the money to clear out. Some are falling down and are a danger. Some have been partially removed but foundations and fireplaces were left.
Personally I don't know if facelift and climbers should be involved in this as there is old history and people are still pissed at how the park did this. What I do think is that the park would likely love to get some free help removing these homes.
It is a call I don't want to make. I have too many friends and neighbors who are still upset about this. It is a mess because folks want the dangerous homes and the ones with just foundations and fireplaces cleaned up, but they think the park service should be forced to do it as some sort of punishment for how they acquired the homes.
Long history.
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Mtnmun
Trad climber
Top of the Mountain Mun
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Feb 10, 2010 - 05:41pm PT
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Block the roads, clear out the tourons.
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Hugh of Lincoln
climber
South Carolina
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Feb 10, 2010 - 05:47pm PT
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If you walk from the parking lot to the Sentinal bouldering area then cut due left (east) when you get into the main boulders, within 100 yards you'll run into a small clearing that has what appears to be the remains of a a set of steps/risers about 10-12 feet wide. Its been a few years since I was over there but I'll bet they are still there unless removed in the last two facelifts. Probably wouldn't be too hard to find em again.
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jstan
climber
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Feb 10, 2010 - 05:57pm PT
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I saw Anders hiding the tools. So I slipped the pickaxe underneath his foam pad along with a pound of bacon. If you are the least bit creative you can always find a good show in The Valley.
In picking over C4 a magnet would help so I'll try to remember to bring mine. Also the nanotrash is so layered in with the duff I wonder if it would be possible to rake the ground so as to bring some of it up.
If we had a few hundred feet of garden hose we could pressure wash the chalk off many of the boulder problems in C4. With a few tools taking out some of the old slabs in C4 should be doable. Need a rake for restoration after finishing. Put a flash of paint on the ones to be removed.
I think there are still some major telephone facilities down near the intersection with 120. Some of it may need to be dropped before we can haul it out.
Two years ago we also failed to get some phone lines out of the trees up near the tunnels on 120. Probably could find them again.
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tinker b
climber
the commonwealth
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Feb 10, 2010 - 05:59pm PT
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it would be great to put more energy into tuolumne...
i think the campground is closed at that point, but having a site up there to work out of would be incredible.
the lenticular dome area always needs love.
i can't think of any massive projects, but i'll get my wheels turning.
i'll be back in town on monday if i can get my sinuses cleared enough to get on a plane, and look forward to seeing you and your family.
jo-lynne
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Feb 10, 2010 - 06:08pm PT
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Give a team of four hazmat suits and have them rap from the top of HD and clean the poop chimney behind Big Sandy!!!
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Strider
Trad climber
one of god's mountain temples....
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Feb 10, 2010 - 06:42pm PT
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Jesse had made some comments in another thread here about doing some work on trail access to Reeds. Might want to get in touch with him for more info...
-n
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nita
Social climber
chica from chico, I don't claim to be a daisy
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Feb 10, 2010 - 07:01pm PT
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Ekat, "TheTrainWreck", what a freaking eyesore! Who was the knucklehead that planned that housing?
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Ihateplastic
Trad climber
It ain't El Cap, Oregon
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Feb 10, 2010 - 07:03pm PT
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Only slightly unrelated...
Ken has a supply of 2009 Facelift shirts that he wants to sell to help with funding this year's event. I will be putting them up on my site (www.shop.vershke.com) this week at killer deal pricing! $15 for one $25 for two INCLUDING shipping! And... the best part... I make ZERO from the sale! It all goes to the YCA!
So I expect EVERYONE to fill their closet with these collector's items and... be prepared for the 2010 Facelift T-shirt!
Pics to be posted here soon... too much going on at the moment...
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Feb 10, 2010 - 07:26pm PT
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Hi Ken,
When I walked up to check out The Lamb-North Face last summer I saw a lot of big coils of wire somewhere below Left North Book. My quess was there was some old power lines in there and when they took them out the wire got left behind. Seems like there was a lot of it and i remember thinking it would be a good facelift project. Maybe three people and one pickup for four hours. Might be more because didn't walk the line parallel to the road very far in either direction.
Zander
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Buju
Trad climber
the range of light
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Feb 10, 2010 - 07:38pm PT
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Hey Ken!
I know the area that we were pulling the asphault out of near cathedral beach has A LOT more that could come out. We put in 2 solid days worth of work on it last year and I know it could probably use at least 2 more.
Good luck with the compliance,
Roger
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Feb 10, 2010 - 07:43pm PT
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Can someone past the exact dates for the Facelift this year?
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Erik Sloan
climber
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Feb 10, 2010 - 07:58pm PT
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Hey, easy on the trainwreck folks, that's my home turf.
I would love the public to get with a program of replacing all the "temporary" and "emergency" housing in the valley. They say temporary in NPS lingo means up to 15 years, but these trainwreck units are coming up on 13 this summer and I don't hear anyone talking about a longer-term replacement.
Build first. Then dismantle.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Feb 10, 2010 - 08:10pm PT
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No problem, Eric - we'll build you a new igloo. With your nom de plume, you'll feel right at home. Several ice-heads will be there, and after the Olympics, we'll have had lots of practice moving around snow.
Another project: In 2008, I did the May Lake trail loop, starting at Tenaya Lake. You walk back (west) along the road from the parking area for about a km, then turn uphill. There was quite a lot of stuff on the south side of the road - left over construction debris, it looked like. Some a fair way away, as it's fairly open and flat. At least for that section, it looked like it would take a few people and a pickup an afternoon to clean it up, but maybe there's more, and maybe it's already been done.
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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 10, 2010 - 08:20pm PT
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Crimpie,
The dates are September 22-26, 2010. Evening programs will start the 21st.
There are some good comments coming in. Keep them coming and I will follow up.
Thanks,
Ken
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Feb 10, 2010 - 08:57pm PT
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on the north side (the lower slope of the hill) of 41 between Bridalveil Falls parking lot and the tunnel has a lot of asphalt "curbing"..
also 41 out to the Wawona entrance probably hasn't seen as systematic a clean up as either, at least not as much attention as 120 and 140 have had.
My guess is that 120 from Crane Flat out to the Tuolumne Meadows entrance could also see a little more attention, including all those camp sites....
What about the trail to Yosemite Falls and the area around the top of the falls too, lots of hiker impact.
Isn't there still loose cable on Half Dome? Jesse knows about that...
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Feb 10, 2010 - 09:18pm PT
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Thanks. I want to build in a "study day" in my syllabi for the fall. :)
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