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| The
western and northern approaches to Yosemite come up from the San
Jauquin Valley through the foothills.
The foothills being not very attractive, with mesquite, Oak
and Scrub Oak, tend to leave you wanting. |
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Then
after passing the entrance and your first view of pine trees, you enter
another of the famous tunnels. As you begin to exit the tunnel the view
to the right assails you senses.
One
has to be extra careful here as people will stop
their cars right
in the middle of the road and get out and began taking pictures oblivious
to traffic or their own safety. It can become a wild scene when
the traffic is heavy. |
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| The
signs say Yosemite was carved by Glaciers during the last Ice Age.
It looks more like a big crack
in the earth that happened fairly recently, with the valley floor being
alluvial flow. The vertical walls are granite and granite decomposes far
too rapidly to allow for any great passage of time to have taken place. |
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| If
you enter the Park from the northern entrance, you pass the turn off to
Hetch
Hetchy Res. The Hetch Hetchy Valley is
another valley with canyon walls like Yosemite, but greedy individuals
long ago damned the valley to provide the city of San Francisco
with a permanent supply of fresh drinking
water. The loss of another Yosemite should
be a crime against humanity. |
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| The
shot above is of a group of climbers
on the rock face about half way up the wall. The climbers can't be seen
in the photograph as anything other than a blur even under extreme magnification.
One of the climbers had fallen and quite a bit of attention was being given
to the incident. |
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| Our
next and last Yosemite album will show more of the incredible scenery of
both upper and lower Yosemite. |
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