How To Visit Yosemite From A Pro

Above, Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Travel writer John Flinn can't stop returning to Yosemite National Park. He's been there 100 times. Thrillist has an article on his many visits to Yosemite with his advice on how to fully enjoy the park.

It begins with:

There’s a way to arrive at Yosemite Valley, the well-trafficked area of Yosemite National Park that houses its most picturesque cliffs and waterfalls, that takes you through a tunnel. When you emerge, the vista of El Capitan and Bridalveil Fall are perfectly framed against the background of Half Dome, just as Ansel Adams captured it in his famous 1934 photograph. For those who have visited the viewpoint, it’s as if you can reach out and touch a postcard.

He even tells where to get lobster tacquitos just outside the park.

To read more, go here. 

What Was Yosemite Like Way Back When?

Above, El Capitan shrouded in clouds. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Practically ever since it was discovered, Yosemite National Park has always been popular with people and with photographers in particular.

The best known Yosemite photographer was Ansel Adams. His photographs of the park are famous and there's an Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite Village.

The San Francisco Chronicle has a photo gallery article on Yosemite over the years with 46 photos from over the years.

It begins with:

Yosemite is undeniably beautiful and crowded these days — but it's always been that way. 

Back in June of 1866, a Chronicle headline read: "Yosemite Getting Popular." According to the story, "There seems to be a mania for visiting the Yosemite this year, and already there has been about as many there as the average of any of the past five seasons."  

Fast forward to 2017 and a Google search of "Yosemite crowds" yields articles like, "How crowded is 'crowded'?" and "Yosemite Slammed," not to mention a plethora of articles advising visitors how to avoid the herd. Sound familiar?

Above, The Beast at Yosemite's North Pines Campground last year. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Although there were plenty of people in Yosemite when I camped there last year, the crowds weren't overwhelming. That's one advantage of being retired. Retirees can travel whenever they want and when the mood moves them, especially during the off-season.

To see the gallery, go here.

Rocky Mountain National Park Open, Why Not Mesa Verde?

Above, Mesa Verde's Cliff Palace Tower in 1941 by Ansel Adams.  Source: National Archives and Records Administration.

The Durango Herald is wondering why is Rocky Mountain National Park is open but not Mesa Verde National Park near Cortez, Colorado.

According to the Durango Herald's article:

Governors won the right to reopen national parks in their states last week, if they paid for them. Colorado responded by reopening Rocky Mountain National Park, whose gateway community, Estes Park, is struggling to recover from flooding in September. 

But the state has no plans to reopen Mesa Verde, Great Sand Dunes or Black Canyon of the Gunnison national parks, said Gov. John Hickenlooper’s spokesman, Eric Brown. 

Brown said the governor’s office has not received requests from Southwest Colorado officials to reopen Mesa Verde. 

That’s about to change. 

State Rep. Don Coram, R-Montrose, plans to send a letter to Hickenlooper today asking him to reopen all of Colorado’s national parks.

I visited Mesa Verde National Park twice and it is one beautiful park with plenty of Indian ruins to explore. It is close to Durango, Colorado and the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.

To read the full article, go here.