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Yosemite Conservancy Spring Forum Registration

The Yosemite Conservancy formerly was comprised of the Yosemite Association and Yosemite Fund. They were merged last year to become YC. The annual Spring Forum is a major event drawing a few hundred members. It’s March 31 at the Valley Auditorium and runs all day. It is a VERY good event to attend. The Park Update talk by the Superintendent, Don Neubacher, is a great way keep abreast of happenings. The price of admission is $75 each – but it includes a copious sandwich. Oh well, you gotta pay to play.

Here is the link to see the agenda and to register.

I suggest you sign up early as slots for sessions go fast. I’ll be there. Here’s my choices if you want to join me:

Unrelated thought worth quoting: “Get about as oiled as a diesel train. Gonna set this dance alight. ‘Cause Saturday night’s the night I like. Saturday night’s alright, alright, alright.” – Elton John 

*MrHalfDome™ – Rick Deutsch – www.HikeHalfDome.com

One Best Hike: Yosemite’s Half Dome…

Travel & Adventure show

Save the Date

On Feb 18 or 19, you should get out of the house and attend the San Francisco Bay Area Travel and Adventure Show. It will be held at the Santa Clara Convention Center on Great America Parkway at Tasman. Just like the 49ers, events are claiming to be in San Fran but are actually being held in the South Bay. Oh well. I go to this show every year. Clone shows by the same organizer are held in Chicago, New York, Washington DC, Dallas, Atlanta and LA and it’s pretty good.

Lots of outfitters and vacation spots will have booths. They even have a huge portable swimming pool – bring your trunks, you can try scuba diving. Well, kinda – they will let you safely breathe out of a tank while in the water.  (Oh, by the way, the proposed football stadium will be in the GA parking lot  just east on Tasman.)

Reps from most of the California outdoor attractions have booths … like DNC from Yosemite, Eastern Sierra lodges and the Mariposa County (home of Yosemite) tourism group. But I also want to mention that Econo-travel expert, Rick Steves, will be giving a talk. I’ve …

Yosemite Open House January 25

Next Wed, the park will have an Open House discuss plans and projects. Get updates on the Mariposa Grove Restoration Project,  Half Dome and Merced River Plan. Wilderness Rangers will also answer questions about the 2012 Interim Permit Program for the Half Dome Cables. I cannot attend. Anyone plan to go? Bring your chains.

I’ve asked for them to do a webinar or at least issue a transcript.  I don’t see how they can add much to the press release of the 2012 Interim lottery system.

Unrelated thought worth quoting: “I’m in Nicaragua today – hot and muggy.” – RangerRick 

*MrHalfDome™ – Rick Deutsch – www.HikeHalfDome.com

One Best Hike: Yosemite’s Half Dome…

Yule Yosemite

Even though there is no snow at the park, they are certainly in a festive mood. He’s some shots I took around the park.

If you want solitude, now is the time to head up. They are getting ready for their winter opening in the valley – even though the park is open 365 days, it is really a ghost town now. The ice rink will soon be filled and smoothed as best they can sans Zamboni. I have to admit the 26 degrees F on Thursday morning was something I am not accustomed to at my adobe in San Jose-by-the-sea.

Unrelated thought worth quoting: “Splish Splash, I was takin’ a bath, long about a Saturday night. Rub-a-dub, just relaxin’ in the tub. Thinkin’ everything was alright.” – Bobby Darin

*MrHalfDome™ – Rick Deutsch – www.HikeHalfDome.com
One Best Hike: Yosemite’s Half Dome…

Firefall

One very interesting event held at Camp Curry was the nightly
“firefall.” From its initiation in 1872, at 9 pm each night, workers above the
camp at Glacier Point would begin an orchestrated display of pushing burning
embers over the edge to cascade down toward the rocks behind Camp Curry. The
spectacle resembled a “waterfall of fire.” Witnesses who saw the spectacle when
they were children have told me that it was surreal. Watching the glowing
embers cascade down the granite looked like a fairytale. The firefalls were
stopped in January, 1968, when the Park Service decided that this show was not
in keeping with the mission of the organization. The meadows were being
trampled by hordes of spectators, and thefts increased during show hours. You
can briefly see the firefall in action, in the 1954 movie “The Caine Mutiny.”…

Yosemite Conservancy Fall Gathering

Half Dome – Yosemite Musing

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New blog look and feel

Hear ye! Mr Half Dome is back from yet another quest for the golden fleece of Carpe Diem. This time it was to the Burning Man event in the Black Rock desert of Nevada. Don’t pass judgment unless you have been there. The free expression of artistes is overwhelming. Sure, some unsavory “stuff” might goes on if you are looking for it, but I don’t. My 4^th time there. Anyway, I am trying to figure out the new website/blog. We are still drilling holes and putting paneling up so there will be a few bugs until things settle down. It’s a lot more modern and “mobile” friendly than the one that I used for 4 years. Just bookmark HikeHalfDome.com and you will be on the blog. WordPress is the underlying engine, so commenting will be similar.

Fall Gathering Celebration on Saturday October 1, 2011.

The Yosemite Conservancy is hosting  their annual fall gathering on Oct 1 – a Saturday in Wawona.  Get more information on the itinerary, making hotel reservations, and …

A crummy commercial???

First, I want to thank the nearly 1,000 daily readers of this bloog for carving out a few minutes each day to stop by. I love writing these notes. It takes me about an hour to research a topic and prepare the blog. But I learn by the process. I am still open to guest blogs. If you have a morsel to share about Yosemite or Half Dome, send me an email.

Yes, fans, tonight is a commercial. I gotta pay the bills. If you are new here, you noticed that I post no ads on my website or blog. WordPress does if you don’t subscribe. But not me. I am just sharing knowledge. But it does cost a few coins to run the good ship Half Dome. Why, my little dog, Yosey (as in Yosemite), is begging for kibble.

You can help send him to obedience camp by patronizing my humble store. I designed these nifty 4-color 2-sided Haynes Beefy TShirts and offer them at $20. They are sick. (My nephew’s term.) I will put my design up against anything you will find at the park from Asian firms. Buy American!

    I went over to Bldg 4 and …

A Petition To Save Half Dome?

The Half Dome beehive is being shaken again. There is a fellow from the Sierra foothills named Mason Harrison who set up a website and is asking the world to sign a petition to ask the park to put up a 3^rd cable on Half Dome. Right. So a 2-channel “up” side and a 2-channel “down” side. A sharing of the inner cable. With the intense pressure put on the NPS by environmentalists to REMOVE the cables, that idea has the proverbial “as much chance as a snowball in hell” of being done.   Mason created a basic website to support his “movement.” Click <HERE>  Let’s get some dialog going here. What do you think? This is a “community.” Reply with comments.  Go to the website – surprise: you will not read a petition – just a place submit your name/address etc.

My take? Well, since you asked: Question 1 – Did Mason attend the 2010 public presentations on the Half Dome Stewardship Plan and voice concerns then? Question 2 – Did he submit a written comment like 95 of us did (sadly a low number). Seems people only care when they want to go. In my opinion, …