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How a bear taught me that some people visit Yosemite and find something other...
One night in 1999, after my partner and I chased a bear out Upper Pines Campground, we walked back through the campsite the bear had run through. The person staying in that campsite had just arrived...
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Watch a Yosemite rockfall!
In a follow-up of sorts to my last post, a visit to Yosemite resulted in me changing my college major to geology. Of course, after working in Yosemite for a few years, my interest in geology waned as...
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A singing bear…
Ranger Jeff Lahr, who I had the pleasure of working with for a few years when I worked in Wawona, wrote a blog post about an interesting August night in Wawona Campground… Two Beers and a Bear August...
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Blue 23, a Yosemite bear (with video)
I first started working in Yosemite’s bear program in 1999 and quickly became acquainted with a few bears, Blue 23 being one of them. The second time I saw him, he was eating chocolate chip cookies in...
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Yosemite: a worthless place full of killers (Also, Yellowstone is way better)
Yosemite is worthless. I mean it. The US Senate agrees. The Senate discussed this worthless place in 1864. Senator John Conness of California said, in reference to Yosemite, that these “premises in...
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That’s a lot of people…
In 1866, Frederick Law Olmsted (the same Olmsted who helped design Central Park, among others) was a member of the commission entrusted with managing the Yosemite Grant. He wrote a lengthy report about...
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Abraham Lincoln’s mysterious connection to Yosemite
February 11 marked the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s departure from Springfield to Washington, DC, where he would become one of our greatest presidents. And, I don’t think he’s one of our...
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Will Yosemite Valley always have bear problems?
Ten years ago, I envisioned a time in the future when Yosemite visitors would sit back in their chairs around the campfire and remember longingly how the bears used to walk into campsites to snatch...
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Why People Die in Yosemite: Not Enough Cliffs
Several people have had fatal accidents in Yosemite this year, which has brought up the question of why people die in Yosemite. In his classic, Staying Alive, Ranger John Dill mentions three states of...
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What Do a Glowing Waterfall and a Chipmunk Have in Common?
Two stories are filling up my Twitter stream this morning. One is about Horsetail Fall, which, at this time of year, glows orange with the setting sun, and the other is about the alpine chipmunk, a...
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A great article every outdoorsperson should read: Snow Fall – The Avalanche...
If you didn’t see it when it came out a few months ago, you really need to take an hour or two and read Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek by John Branch of The New York Times. Not only is it a...
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Relocating bears… no more.
White 52 was a clever sow (female bear) who I had the pleasure (and, occasionally, displeasure) of meeting more times than I can remember. She was adept at getting human food, from campsites, cars, and...
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What would happen if…
I was at the edge of a cliff, contemplating a little scramble to get onto a rocky ridge that looked slightly more interesting than where I was. I was slightly nervous because it was very cliffy. As I...
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