YOSEMITE – Yosemite National Park has announced the release of the Big Oak Flat Welcome Center Complex Environmental Assessment (EA). The public comment period for the EA is open until Dec. 20. The EA describes and analyzes one action alternative to improve visitor experience, address deferred maintenance, improve safety, and increase operational efficiency at the Big Oak Flat Welcome Center ...

“Ramble to the summit of Mount Hoffmann, eleven thousand feet high, the highest point in life’s journey my feet have yet touched.” (John Muir: My First Summer in the Sierra, 1911, p. 199.) We rambled in John Muir’s footsteps but didn’t make it to the top. We did explore around beautiful May Lake, up along the mountain, and even spotted ...

YOSEMITE —  As Yosemite National Park officials work to protect bears by reducing the number of incidents between bears and humans, bear activity in Yosemite National Park continues to decrease. Compared to this same week in 2017, the lowest year on record, bear incidents in 2018 are down by 43 percent and damage amounts in dollars are down by 64 ...

YOSEMITE – Yosemite National Park has announced that winter operations in the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias to begin on Friday, Nov. 30. The Mariposa Grove will be closed to automobiles for the winter season beginning on Friday. The Mariposa Grove Shuttle Service also ends for the season on Nov. 30. Visitors can use the South Entrance parking area and ...

YOSEMITE – The Tioga and Glacier Point Roads in Yosemite National Park will close to all vehicular traffic beginning at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 20, due to incoming winter weather. The road will reopen as weather and road conditions permit. This is not necessarily a seasonal closure. A series of winter storms are expected to pass through the Yosemite ...

A weather forecast of 16 degrees and 25 mph winds didn’t deter us from bundling up and heading to the Kuna Crest for my last fishing adventure for this year. Icy creeks led the way to Bingaman Lake where we also met up with some beautiful wildlife. Where: Yosemite National Park Distance: 8.65 Miles Difficulty: Moderate to Strenuous Elevation Range: ...

MARIPOSA COUNTY – The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is beginning an emergency project to rehabilitate and make repairs to State Route 140 from Briceburg to Yosemite National Park. The work is needed after the Ferguson Fire burned through the region. Work is scheduled to begin Tuesday, Nov. 13, and will occur during both day and night hours into April ...

OAKHURST — Here’s a fun gathering for adventurers big and small, including everyone who loves our national parks, and anyone who likes to hear a good yarn: Campfire Stories at Branches Books & Gifts. Campfire Stories is a collection of short stories from America’s National Parks that are perfect for reading aloud together around a fire. Branches welcomes the couple ...

YOSEMITE — Emergency rescue operations in Yosemite National Park were enabled by CHP Central Division Air Operations when a stranded climber and his partner required immediate assistance. On Saturday, Oct. 27, CHP helicopter H-40 was requested by park officials to assist with an injured rock climber on Mount Watkins. Colorado resident Vincent Worth, 39, had slipped and fallen approximately 50-feet ...

YOSEMITE — Yosemite National Park has identified the people who died falling from Taft Point on Wednesday, Oct 24, 2018. They are Vishnu Viswanath, male, age 29, and Meenakshi Moorthy, female, age 30. Both were citizens of India who were living in the United States. The College of Engineering in Chengannur posted this message on social media Saturday: College of ...