NORTHERN HEMISPHERE — Here we go! Summer officially kicks off at precisely at 3:07 a.m. PDT on Thursday, June 21, with solstice, marking the point during the year when the sun takes its most northerly path across the sky. Summer solstice is the longest day of the year, with the shortest night, and at noon your shadow will also be the shortest of ...

I got a sneak preview of the newly revamped Mariposa Grove in Yosemite National Park after it has been closed to the public since Spring of 2015. 250 acres with nearly 500 mature trees is a must see if you are visiting Yosemite. Reopening this Friday, parking at the Mariposa Grove Welcome Center and taking a shuttle up to Mariposa ...

FISH CAMP — The 1st Annual Yosemite Peace Symposium will bring together peacemakers from around the country to educate, motivate and activate attendees. The Symposium will take place Oct. 26 – 27 at Tenaya Lodge, just outside the southern entrance to Yosemite National Park. The Symposium includes motivating general sessions, featuring a screening of the documentary on the forced incarceration ...

Some of us snowshoed, some of us hiked and all of us postholed and sank through the spring snow on our way up to beautiful frozen lakes in the Tioga Pass area with blue sky and white puffy clouds to add some sparkly to the day. Where: Yosemite National Park, Inyo National Forest Distance: 4.98 Miles Difficulty: Moderate Elevation Range: ...

YOSEMITE – Yosemite National Park officials have identified the two climbers who died in a fall from El Capitan this morning. The two men are Jason Wells, 46, of Boulder, Colo.; and Tim Klien, 42, from Palmdale, Calif. The two were climbing the Freeblast Route on El Capitan. Park Rangers received multiple 911 calls reporting the incident and responded to ...

YOSEMITE – Two climbers fell to their deaths this morning from El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Though details of the incident are slim at this time, park officials say the accident happened at approximately 8:15 a.m. The two were climbing the Freeblast Route on El Capitan. Park Rangers received multiple 911 calls reporting the incident and responded to the ...

OAKHURST — Fresno Flats Historic Park invites the community to attend the June edition of their First Friday Lecture Series. On Friday, June 1, historian Tom Phillips presents a film about his great-uncle Jay C. Bruce who was, for three decades in the early 20th century, the appointed California state mountain lion hunter. Phillips is the co-author of Yosemite’s Forgotten Pioneers: ...

YOSEMITE – Yosemite National Park congratulates Assistant Helitack Foreman Andrew “Boots” Davenport as the 2018 winner of the National Park Service Wright Brothers National Aviation Safety Award. This is a rare National Park Service award given annually to aviation specialists who exemplify excellence in the field of aviation safety. Andrew Davenport was nominated by his peers for his impeccable commitment ...

YOSEMITE — Highway 140 between Crane Creek and Parkline in El Portal has become thick with thousands of California tortoiseshell butterflies, say officials in Yosemite National Park. This species emerges in spectacular numbers in some years and is thought to be the source of Mariposa County’s name, which is Spanish for butterfly. This particular corridor where butterflies converge can become a killing ...

YOSEMITE – Yosemite National Park anticipates an extremely busy Memorial Day weekend, so plan to arrive before 9 a.m. or after 4 p.m. to avoid the heaviest traffic. Once in the park, visitors are urged to park their vehicles at the Yosemite Village, Yosemite Falls, or Half Dome Village parking areas and enjoy Yosemite Valley by using the free shuttle ...