Information: Half Dome, the majestic symbol of Yosemite, is not the remaining "half" of a dome partially removed by glaciers, as is commonly thought. Rather, weathering along the "joints" or stress fractures within the rock peeled away the original rock faces, leaves the dramatic cliffs we see today. Domes are relatively rare in the world, and more are found in Yosemite than anywhere else.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE002
Title: Mariposa Trees
Information: Mariposa Grove contains about 500 mature giant sequoias spread over 250 acres at elevations ranging between 5,500 to nearly 7,000 feet. It is divided into a lower and upper section.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE003
Title: Bridalveil Fall
Information: Yosemite's diverse habitats support a wide variety of wildlife. There are 11 different species of fish, twenty-nine species of amphibians and reptiles, 240 species of birds and 77 species of mammals.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE004
Title: Snow-Covered Trees and Valley Wall
Information: John Muir, the great naturalist, was instrumental in getting federal protection for Yosemite when he acted as personal guide to President Teddy Roosevelt on a winter day in 1903. The two hiked through the dense forests, past the tall cliffs and majestic waterfalls and camped out together on the lush Valley floor. As they walked, Muir passionately shared his concerns for the state of wilderness both locally and across the country. The President and Muir slept under the trees with only their blankets for cover, and awoke in the morning covered in a fresh snowfall. Roosevelt declared it ". . . one of the pleasantest nights of my life." Heartened by the president's encouragement, Muir and the Sierra Club (an organization he partly founded) moved ahead with their efforts to consolidate management of the park. They were rewarded when Congress approved federal ownership of Yosemite Valley in 1905.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE005
Title: Top of Bridalveil Fall
Information: Hanging 620 feet above the Yosemite Valley floor is Bridalveil Fall, one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the whole valley. When viewed from the floor of Yosemite Valley, Bridalveil Fall almost appears to be falling directly from the sky. Behind the top of the cliff, however, is a lush valley leading up to a rolling plateau.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE006
Title: Wawona View
Information: Yosemite Valley was once covered by a glacial lake, and today the U-shaped valley floor is littered with lake sediment, which is responsible for the dense growth seen here. Half Dome is partially visible in the background, right and El Capitan is in the foreground, left.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE007
Title: Night Sky in the Valley
Information: Ansel Adams -- the most famous photographer of Yosemite and the preeminent American landscape photographer of the 20th Century -- was instrumental in introducing generations of Americans and others to the unparalleled beauty of the American West. For 37 years he served as a director of the Sierra Club and was the author of seven portfolios of prints and more than thirty books. He once wrote: "With reverence for life, and with restraint enough to leave some things as they are, we can continue approaching, and perhaps can attain, a new society at last -- one which is proportionate to nature."
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE008
Title: Mountains and Reflections
Information: The great height of the Sierra Nevada Mountains changes the local climate and creates local weather patterns. The air pressure decreases for each thousand foot rise, with a corresponding temperature drop of three and a half degrees. While western California may be experiencing hot and muggy temperatures, it will generally be a much more temperate climate at the Tioga Pass, the eastern entrance to Yosemite.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE009
Title: Trees and Half Dome
Information: Yosemite is home to a diverse and abundant plant community. With elevations ranging from 2,000 feet to 13,000 feet, many different micro-climates can be found within the park's borders. The conditions range between hot, nearly desertlike conditions to frozen treeless tundra at the highest elevations that is not much different from the conditions in the Arctic.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE010
Title: Snow Covered Trees
Information: Occasionally hikers will come upon trees embossed with a faint "T." These were left by Army troops around the turn of the century to aid them in their pursuit of illegal sheep herders. Since the trails the army followed were often faint and obscure, they were made more conspicuous by branding trailside conifers with a large "T", or trail mark. Very few of the original trees remain, but their popularity endures and in recent years trees along Yosemite's trails have been branded with a fresh "T."
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE011
Title: El Capitan and Trees
Information: Large trees provide a number of different habitats for a variety of animal life. The overhanging branches provide shelter from wind, rain, and heat to species like the spotted owl. At their bases these trees also possess a number of snags beneath their roots that are important to many cavity nesting birds, squirrels and other small mammals. When these trees fall to the forest floor they provide hiding places for small mammals, reptiles and other wildlife on the ground. And, if they fall into streams, they create an aquatic habitat for insects and fishes. Because large trees rot more slowly than small trees, they are also a source of nutrients that can be stored and released over an extended period of time.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE012
Title: Incense Cedar and Foliage in Spring
Information: The incense cedar with its red bark and delicate foliage is sometimes mistaken for a young sequoia, and is one of the most common trees in Yosemite. Its ubiquitous presence is due to several factors. The first is the tree's ability to thrive in shade. Also, fire suppression has allowed other species to grow, and the resulting competition for water, nutrients, and light reduces the overall vitality of mature pines and makes them subject to attack from insects and disease.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE013
Title: Half Dome at Dusk
Information: Between the years of 1914 and 1918, the number of annual park visitors increased from 15,154 to 35,527, due in large part to the automobile. The National Park Service's first director, Stephen Mather, encouraged visitation, and opened Yosemite to private automobiles in 1913. This, more than anything else, made the park available to the masses. By 1929, more than 461,000 people came to Yosemite each year.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE014
Title: Tenaya Lake
Information: With the exception of thirteen lakes, the park's policy of stocking its freshwater with fish has been discontinued. Usually, stocking waters with fish disturbs natural ecological processes and can have an effect on certain populations of animals. For example, the general decline in park amphibians has been largely attributed to predation from certain artificially introduced trouts. Trouts all have similar diets, feeding on aquatic insects, small fish, frogs and other amphibians.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE015
Title: Mariposa Sequoias
Information: Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove constituted the original Yosemite Grant, created in 1864 and governed by the State of California until the creation of Yosemite National Park in 1890. The name Mariposa is derived from the Spanish name given in 1806, "Llamose este Sitio de las Mariposas", or "the place of the butterflies" for the abundance of butterflies in the region.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE016
Title: Winter View, Half Dome with Trees
Information: Granitic rocks are the primary component in Yosemite's soils. The decomposition of these rocks produces a deep, well drained soil that will support a forest of Jeffrey pines and white firs, such as on the slopes below the back side of Half Dome.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE017
Title: El Capitan Profile
Information: The presence or absence of ground fires can drastically alter an ecosystem because it has a significant impact on the populations of ground dwelling plants and animals. At one time fires were thought to be detrimental to an ecosystem and every effort was made toward their suppression. However, in 1971, because of an overaccumulation of thick ground litter, dense brush and overmature trees, the policy was changed. Natural fires are no longer prevented, only regulated under extreme conditions, and Yosemite's plant and wildlife community has benefited greatly.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE018
Title: Fallen Trees, Spring, near Merced River
Information: The name Yosemite is derived from the Indian word u-zu-ma-te, which means "grizzly bear." Unfortunately the entire grizzly bear population was wiped out in an attempt to make the park "safer" for visitors. The smaller cousin of the grizzly, the black bear, survived and has maintained a fairly healthy population within the park's borders.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE019
Title: Tuolumne River
Information: The most abundant and ubiquitous species of fish in Yosemite's waters are members of the trout family. This is due in large part to human stocking efforts. Hatcheries were built at Wawona in 1895 and at Happy Isles in 1927 to create a permanent source for filling Yosemite's lakes and streams. Before this artificial intervention, the waters above the 4,000 foot elevation contained little or no fish. The species of introduced trout include the brown trout, brook trout, cutthroat trout, and golden trout.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE020
Title: Half Dome
Information: Certain plants common to Yosemite have tremendous ranges. For example, the bottlebrush squirreltail -- a variety of grass -- extends from Mexico north to British Columbia and east to Texas and South Dakota. It can be found in differing climates from dry open plains to alpine fields. Other large range plants found within Yosemite include golden brodiaea, comb draba, woolly sunflower, bracken fern and common yarrow.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE021
Title: Mariposa Grove of Big Trees
Information: Many of Yosemite's birds dwell within the cavities of trees or fallen logs. Cavities are not common in the environment and competition for the limited space is fierce. The obvious advantages to dwelling in a cavity are the lack of exposure to the elements and a natural protection from predators. Some of the cavity dwellers common to the region include the northern flicker, black-backed woodpecker, common goldeneye, wood duck, white-breasted nuthatch, mountain bluebird, northern pygmy owl, and American kestrel.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE022
Title: Mountain Light on Cliffs
Information: The 1849 California gold rush was prompted by the discovery of loose gold in the foothills and streams along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. However, most evidence of the region's gold rush period is gone, with the exception of an old miner's cabin near Mono Pass below Mount Lewis. The Tioga Road, the road that bisects the park, was originally intended to access mines near Saddlebag Lake, just east of Yosemite.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE023
Title: Summer, Merced River
Information: During the 1970s the number of Yosemite visitors temporarily leveled off at about two to two and one-half million per year. However, the 1980s saw an increase in visitation and by the 1990s the number had risen to about three and one-half million per year, with the amount continuing to rise.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE024
Title: Mountain Glow
Information: When compared with nearly every other mountain range in the United States, the climate of Yosemite is fairly unremarkable. It has been dubbed by many as the "Gentle Wilderness" because of its temperate weather; below zero temperatures seldom occur and the summers are almost entirely rainless.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE025
Title: Mule Deer in Cook's Meadow
Information: These adaptable mammals are found in all habitats and are distinguished by their black-tipped tails and large mule-like ears (hence their name). Large mule deer can weigh as much as four-hundred pounds, but generally weigh around two hundred pounds.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE026
Title: Close-up of El Capitan
Information: The name Sierra Nevada, or "snowy mountain range" was a relatively common designation given by Spanish explorers who used it whenever they saw a mountain range covered with snow. The present Sierra Nevada received its name in April 1776, when Fray Pedro Font saw it from a hill east of the town of Antioch. The word Sierra means "saw", but when used geographically implies a jagged or "saw"-like row of mountain peaks. John Muir, the famous naturalist and champion of Yosemite suggested what he felt should be a more appropriate name when he wrote, ". . . it seemed to me the Sierra should be called, not the Nevada or Snowy Range, but the Range of Light."
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE027
Title: Reflections in Merced River
Information: Starting at an elevation of 11,000 feet within Yosemite National Park, the Merced River flows west to join the San Joaquin River. The Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service maintain a total of 122 miles of the river as protected area. Dam construction is not permitted and the area of protection is divided into three segments: 79 "wild" miles, 14 "scenic" miles, and 29 "recreational" miles.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE028
Title: Gates of the Valley in Winter
Information: Sometimes referred to as "The Incomparable Valley," Yosemite Valley attracts visitors from all over the world. Though there are other valleys in the area that resemble Yosemite Valley, none exceed the beauty of its deep canyons, wide spacious floor, towering waterfalls, and the majesty of its two enduring symbols El Capitan and Half Dome.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE029
Title: Winter Scene with Half Dome
Information: The Sierra Nevada range is one of the snowiest regions in the United States, exceeded only by mountains in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. In January 1911 the North American record for snowfall was set when a winter storm dumped thirty-two and a half feet of snow in a single month. On the eastern slope of the Sierra, cold Arctic fronts sweeping down from Canada have brought temperatures as low as twenty-five degrees below zero. However, because of its location on the western slope of the range, Yosemite almost never experiences these extremes.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE030
Title: Classic View
Information: Evidence of glacial activity abounds in Yosemite Valley. A moving glacier acts like an enormous file, smoothing away rough surfaces. A traditionally glaciated valley appears flattened and U-shaped in cross-section, and Yosemite Valley is no exception. The tremendous weight of a glacier, combined with the eroding power of accumulated rocks and debris, makes the glacier and ideal tool for smoothing away obstructions.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE031
Title: Bridalveil Fall
Information: Deer and bear are probably the most popular animals with visitors to Yosemite Valley, and the best time for viewing is in the early morning or late evening, especially in forest meadows and along the roads. In fact, deer on the roadways present a hazard to motorists at these times. Feeding or interacting with park animals is dangerous and strictly prohibited by regulation.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE032
Title: Tuolumne River
Information: The Tuolumne River derives its name from a tribe of Indians that lived on the banks of the lower Tuolumne and Stanislaus rivers. Some of the water from the river is diverted from its wilderness course and is sent by pipeline to San Francisco. The majority of its volume is comprised of melting snow, but the three upstream glaciers contribute meltwater and glacial flour. Glacial flour, which is finely divided rock ground up by ice, can create an occasional milkiness in the otherwise clear water of the Tuolumne.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE033
Title: Winter View, Yosemite Valley Floor
Information: The greatest damage to trail and backcountry within Yosemite occurs as a result of horse use, not from hiking, as is commonly thought. It is said that one horse does as much damage to the land as ten to twenty-five hikers.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE034
Title: Western Redbud in Yosemite Valley
Information: The Western Redbud is found primarily along the Merced River. Its branches bloom into spectacular magenta blossoms in the springtime that cover every inch of the plant with color. When the blossoms eventually fade in the late summer, the plant's green leaves begin to take over, and lend a unique quality to this interesting resident of Yosemite Valley.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE035
Title: Rocks and Trees
Information: The rocky cliffs of Yosemite were once home to bighorn sheep until the last one disappeared from the high country in 1914. Recently an attempt has been made to reintroduce these animals to the area, and so far these efforts have been fairly successful. Not all of Yosemite's native wildlife have been so fortunate. The last grizzly bear was killed in 1895, the rivers no longer house Chinook salmon and wolves can no longer be found in the lush coniferous forests of the Valley. There is hope, however, that like the bighorn, these animals may one day be returned to Yosemite National Park's ecosystem.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE036
Title: Early Morning
Information: When a single ridge is carved out on opposite sides by two or more glaciers, a sharp edged crest or arete is produced. When three sides are filed away simultaneously a "matterhorn" is produced. The name "matterhorn" is, in fact, derived from the famous Matterhorn in Switzerland. Examples of matterhorns in Yosemite include the appropriately named Matterhorn Peak and Cathedral Peak.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE037
Title: Summer Reflections
Information: In 1956 a plan called "Mission 66" was formulated by the National Park Service. Its ten year aim was to, in the words of the Park Service, "assure the maximum protection of the scenic, scientific, wilderness, and historic resources of the National Park System in such ways and by such means as will make them available for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations." Yosemite was inundated with an unwieldy number of visitors, which by 1966 had reached about 2 million per year.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE038
Title: Vernal Fall
Information: Vernal Fall, at 317 feet high is the lower half of the "Giant Stairway," a formation of two tall waterfalls on the Merced River. Every year people are swept over the park's falls because they ignore local warnings. Often people trying to cross Emerald Pool, which lies just above the brink of the fall, underestimate the danger of the slippery rocks and the river's swift current.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE039
Title: Trees in Mariposa Grove
Information: Mature sequoia trees weigh about 200 tons, and the largest, the General Sherman tree in Sequoia National Park weighs about 450 tons. Although this sounds heavy, sequoias are actually relatively light when compared with other trees. Sequoia wood weighs about 18 pounds per cubic foot, roughly one-third that of an oak. This accounts for their wide diameter, which these trees need to support their voluminous upper sections.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE040
Title: Sentinel Dome
Information: Similar to other domes in Yosemite, Sentinel Dome was formed by the expansion, weathering, and cracking of surface rock layers, in a process referred to as exfoliation by load relief. Sentinel Dome once stood beneath an often photographed Jeffrey pine, before the gnarled tree died of old age and drought.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE041
Title: Classic Valley View in Spring
Information: Visible in this photo are some of Yosemite's most prominent landmarks. They include (from left to right) El Capitan, Clouds Rest, Half Dome, Sentinel Rock, and Cathedral Rocks. Sentinel Rock, just center right of Half Dome, was named for its likeness to a watch tower and reaches a height of 3,073 feet.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE042
Title: El Capitan and Fir Trees
Information: Spanish influence caused the tall granite cliff to be called El Capitan (the Chief), but it was once known by the Indian name Tul-tok-a-nu-la, after a local legend about a measuring worm. According to the legend the worm crawled up the face of the rock to rescue two small boys, who were beyond the reach of any other creatures in the valley.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE043
Title: Merced River and Bridalveil Fall, Spring
Information: The general distribution of fish within Yosemite has expanded and new species have been introduced, but others, like the Chinook and steelhead salmon, have entirely disappeared. Their disappearance is due to the elimination of the natural runs along the Merced River as dams on the San Joaquin and its tributaries were built. Six native species remain in the park. They are the Sacramento squawfish, hardhead, California roach, riffle sculpin, Sacramento sucker, and rainbow trout.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE044
Title: Oak Tree in Winter
Information: Certain animals in the Yosemite Valley actually benefit from cold winter conditions. The gopher, for example, is safer to work because it can burrow along the base of a snowpack without danger from its warm weather predators -- hawks, owls, snakes, weasels, badgers, foxes and coyotes. After the snow melts, the gopher's tunnels appear in the form of what are known as "gopher ropes." After a gopher digs a tunnel through the snow, he later fills it in with soil. When the snow melts, this long tube of soil is exposed, resembling a thick piece of rope.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE045
Title: Sunrise over Half Dome
Information: Human activities have brought about considerable change to the wildlife distribution within Yosemite Valley. One change is in the breeding patterns of the animals that once inhabited the area. Animals that no longer breed in Yosemite Valley include the harlequin duck, sharp-shinned hawk, Cooper's hawk, acorn woodpecker, Lincoln's sparrow, fisher, river otter, wolf, and grizzly bear.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE046
Title: Merced River at Dusk
Information: Yosemite is home to a great variety of animal life that range through much of the park. Common animals include mule deer, mountain lions, coyotes, badgers, deer mice, long tailed weasels and California ground squirrels. Many birds migrate from the south or the lowlands and follow the food supply that occurs higher and higher as the winter snowfall begins to melt away.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE047
Title: Half Dome in Fall
Information: Yosemite Valley saw its first automobile in 1900 and the first entrance permit was sold for five dollars in 1913. In that same year a motorized stageline began ferrying visitors up the steep canyon of El Portal. Earlier, in 1907, the Yosemite Valley Railroad was built on the Park's western boundary to shuttle sightseers to and from the stagecoach.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE048
Title: Spring Glow
Information: Generally rockfalls occur in the winter and early spring as water works its way behind the cracks and flakes of Yosemite's cliffs. The water freezes and expands, prying the flakes and cracks loose, causing parts of the cliffs to break away.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE049
Title: Gates of the Valley in Spring
Information: There are two major forces affecting Yosemite's climate: the Pacific Ocean and the Sierra Nevada mountains. Because of its close proximity to the warming maritime effects of the Pacific to the west and the natural barrier formed by the Sierra mountains to the east, winter days in Yosemite Valley can reach as high as forty or fifty degrees.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE050
Title: Frog Pond near Ahwahnee Hotel
Information: There are more than forty species of frogs, salamanders, turtles, lizards, and snakes within Yosemite National Park. All are harmless, with the exception of the poisonous western rattlesnake. Some species of frogs in Yosemite include the red-legged frog, foothills yellow-legged frog, and the mountain yellow-legged frog.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE051
Title: View from Wawona Tunnel
Information: This panoramic view of Yosemite Valley was taken from the eastern end of the Wawona Tunnel. Here evidence of glacial erosion is clearly marked. Visible in this photo are (left to right) El Capitan, Clouds Rest, Half Dome, Sentinel Rock, Cathedral Rocks, Bridalveil Fall, Leaning Tower and the flat Valley floor. Wawona Tunnel was blasted out of granite to avoid a roadcut that would have seriously defaced the landscape. It measures 0.8 miles in length and is the longest of the four tunnels in the park.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE052
Title: Winter in Yosemite Valley
Information: A distinctive feature in the high country of Yosemite is the area's numerous openings and glades. Meadows are common in glaciated basins where former lakes have filled in with sediments. Plants in the high country or subalpine meadows grow throughout the summer, but remain covered by snow during the rest of the year. Although these meadows appear to be grasslands they are actually made up primarily of sedges. Sedges resemble grasses, but have triangular leaves instead of flat blades.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE053
Title: Foliage
Information: In 1863 after visiting Yosemite, Frederick Law Olmstead, at the time the country's foremost landscape architect (and designer of New York's Central Park), declared the region in jeopardy of being ruined by commercial interests. Through his influence, he was able to convince California Senator John Conness to introduce a Park bill that was to later lead to the creation of Yosemite National Park. The bill deeded the land to the state of California "for public use, resort and recreation," that "shall be inalienable for all time."
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE054
Title: Mariposa Grove
Information: Giant sequoias produce an incredible number of seeds, between 300,000 to 400,000 per year and more than half a billion in an entire lifetime. However, because these trees are so reproductively fragile the vast majority of seeds never find fertile ground, and only one in a million ever gives birth to a new tree.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE055
Title: Dogwood in Springtime
Information: Pacific dogwood is well adapted to covered and darkened conditions. It is able to photosynthesize in only one-third of full sunlight and it rarely grows above thirty feet in height. It is common in elevations between 3,000 and 6,000 feet, in the shade of trees such as western slope pine and sequoias. The white blossoms of this incandescent tree measure up to six inches across. Other plants that grow well in covered and shady conditions in Yosemite include mountain misery, thimbleberry, gooseberry, wild rose, snowberry, greenleaf manzanita, deerbrush, and bracken fern.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE056
Title: Yosemite Falls, Spring
Information: The Sierra Nevada range is home to rocks dating back to the Paleozoic era, some 475 million years ago. They were formed when Yosemite National Park lay close to the western boundary of what is now the North American continent. Deposited initially as marine sediments, these rocks were transformed by heat and pressure into metamorphic rocks such as slate, schist, hornfels and marble.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE057
Title: Spring Foliage
Information: Yosemite National Park was administered for the Interior Department by the U.S. Army Cavalry during its first 26 years. When the National Park Service was established within the Interior it was placed under civilian control, where it has remained to this day.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE058
Title: El Capitan
Information: Standing at 3,000 feet high, El Capitan or "The Chief" is the tallest unbroken cliff in the world and is composed of the strongest granite in Yosemite Valley. The El Capitan granite was the first of Yosemite's granites to form. After solidifying about 108 million years ago the granite hardened and developed a resistance to fracturing and weathering.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE059
Title: Yosemite Valley, El Capitan in Distance
Information: Yosemite was the first wild land to fall under the protection of Congress. The land was deeded to the state of California in 1864 by President Lincoln in order to preserve the Yosemite Valley as a state park, and in 1890 this portion of the central Sierra was given full national park status. More recently, in 1984 the United Nations gave recognition to the unparalleled beauty of Yosemite by declaring it a World Heritage Site.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE060
Title: Valley Glow
Information: Alien plants take up habitat that would otherwise support native species. This has become a growing problem in Yosemite, and a recent survey showed that eighteen percent of the plant species in the region are now foreign. Some are common and have become naturalized, like Kentucky Bluegrass, but others, like apple trees, cannot be sustained without human intervention. Many alien plants were introduced when livestock grazing and grain production were still permitted.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE061
Title: El Capitan with Fall Foliage
Information: The Sierra Nevada mountain range did not exist 10 million years ago. Through a change in plate activity in the North American continent, the range rose along the faults that define its eastern flank. Most of the range's growth has occurred during the last 2 million years. Along the eastern border, Mount Dana is currently rising one and a half inches every hundred years, an extremely rapid rate of growth.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE062
Title: El Capitan and Trees
Information: Interpretation of the geological history of the Yosemite Valley can sometimes prove a difficult task for scientists and historians. A vast majority of evidence is buried well beneath the Earth's surface, where it can't be seen. Also, many layers of natural record have been eroded by natural forces. As a result, geology is often based as much on extrapolation and conjecture as on hard evidence, and ideas are constantly being updated and revised.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE063
Title: Reflections in the Merced River
Information: Canyons cut by mountain streams, like the Merced River shown here, characteristically carve out a V-shaped cross-section in the canyon floor. It is entirely possible that the Yosemite Valley once resembled canyons of this variety. However, millions of years of glacial activity shaved out the bottom of Yosemite's V, widening it into the traditional U-shape typical of glacial valleys.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE064
Title: Distant Half Dome
Information: It wasn't until 1930 that Yosemite National Park finally saw a complete cessation of timber harvesting. Between World War I and 1930 more than a half billion board feet of timber, mostly sugar pines, had been logged. In the end, John D. Rockefeller and the U.S. Government split the cost of buying out the Yosemite Lumber Company.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE065
Title: Winter Scene
Information: Yosemite National Park is just one of more than four hundred parks managed by the National Park Service. The park encompasses an area approximately the size of Rhode Island (748,542 acres), and it is bisected by only one highway, the Tioga Pass road.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE066
Title: Dawn Over Merced River
Information: Despite the large number of streams and lakes within Yosemite, and a sizable bird population, there is not very much habitat suitable for ducks and geese. There are, however, several species that can be spotted from time to time. These include the rare Harlequin Duck, Wood Duck and Mallard Duck. The Mallard is one of the most common ducks in North America and is distinguished by its green head, white collar, chestnut breast and white underbelly.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE067
Title: Tenaya Canyon
Information: Tenaya Canyon was originally known as Py-wi-ack, meaning "lake of the shining rocks" because of the dazzling lustre of the glacial ground peaks at Tenaya Lake, its source. Tenaya Canyon is home to the rare Harlequin Duck, a once populous breed now virtually extinct. Sightings are very uncommon and should be reported immediately to park rangers.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE068
Title: Mariposa Sequoias
Information: Mariposa sequoias grow at a rate of 1-2 feet per year in a fierce competition with other trees for precious sunlight. Only when they reach the 200 foot mark, after nearly 150 years, are sequoias assured of longevity.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE069
Title: Vernal and Nevada Falls from Glacier Point
Information: Known as the Giant Stairway, the two waterfalls link the head of Yosemite Valley with Little Yosemite Valley. Vernal Fall (317 feet high) and Nevada Fall (594 feet high), the lower and upper falls respectively, stand directly in the path of the Merced River, forcing its water to tumble over the sheer cliffs of Yosemite Valley.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE070
Title: Merced River, Morning
Information: The Merced River, which descends more than 11,000 feet on its journey from the High Sierra to the sea, originally had a much longer name. In 1806, after traveling more than forty miles through waterless country in the San Joaquin Valley, Spanish explorer Gabriel Moraga came upon the Merced and named it "El Rio de Nuestra Senora de la Merced" or "The River of Our Lady of Mercy."
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE071
Title: Spring View
Information: According to the National Park Service register, 247 different species of birds have been recorded within Yosemite. Not all of these species are native to the park, or even make their home there. Some species merely pass through Yosemite on their way to breeding grounds elsewhere, while others breed in the park but leave the area during the cold winter months. Only very few birds live year-round within Yosemite. They include the mountain chickadee, northern flicker, golden-crowned kinglet, red-breasted nuthatch, brown creeper, canyon wren, American dipper, dark-eyed junco, northern goshawk, black backed woodpecker, spotted owl, and great gray owl.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE072
Title: Gates of the Valley in Winter
Information: In a region known for its heavy snowfall, (the Spanish name Sierra Nevada means snowy mountain range), Yosemite Valley receives relatively little. Generally snow depth at 4,000 feet never exceeds more than two feet, and the annual snowfall totals about 35 to 40 inches in the valley. The greatest snowfall occurs from 6,000 to 8,000 feet. Above this elevation, annual precipitation actually drops off slightly.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE073
Title: Dogwood in Bloom, Spring
Information: While Dogwood is present in Yosemite year round, it really begins to emerge during the spring. It grows in the shade of tall coniferous trees, and in the summer its flowers form clusters of red-orange fruits called drupes, which remain balanced on the tips of the tree's branches.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE074
Title: Winter Snow
Information: The ever present flood of visitors is generally perceived as the greatest threat to Yosemite's ecosystem. However, the majority of threats are those that remain largely unseen and beyond the control of local authorities; pollution, upper atmospheric ozone depletion, the hint of global warming, and an ever increasing habitat loss in the lower elevations. The latter is of particular concern to Yosemite's bird community because these animals tend to migrate to lower elevations during the cold seasons. It is estimated that each person added to the California population causes enough natural habitat depletion to destroy up to one ton of animals, plants and micro-organisms.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE075
Title: Yosemite High Country Wilderness
Information: The types of vegetation found in higher elevations include forests dominated by Jeffrey pine, sugar pine, white fir, red fir, and sequoia. The Jeffrey pine tolerates cold temperatures well, has a scaly yellow-red bark and needles in bundles of three. It has large pinecones, five to eight inches long, with prickles at both ends and scales that turn inward. Some of the bird life common to this region includes western tanagers, hermit warblers, warbling vireos, pileated woodpeckers, and golden-crowned kinglets.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE076
Title: Dawn in Yosemite Valley
Information: When Congress passed the Forest Reserve Act in 1891 a new means of protecting forests was created. This new act allowed the president to remove certain forested lands from the dangers of private ownership. President Benjamin Harrison put this act to use in 1893 when he set aside the four-million acre Sierra Forest Reserve that spanned from Yosemite south to the Karn River drainage. This action guaranteed that the majority of the land in south central Sierra Nevada would remain under public ownership.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE077
Title: Close up of Bridalveil Fall
Information: In the time since glaciers carved out the steep face of Bridalveil Fall, spray has billowed against the Fall's cliff, wetting the area near the base. This moisture has penetrated the granite, expanding it until layers of rock have broken loose and fallen away, leaving a growing recess at the waterfall's bottom.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE078
Title: High Country Wilderness
Information: Yosemite's high country is known for its countless numbers of openings and glades. Common flowers of this elevation include the California coneflower, shooting star, mountain pride, camas lily, rein orchid, mountain bluebell, pink monkeyflower, larkspur, fireweed, Sierra forget-me-not, wild iris, mules-ears, mountain pennyroyal, elephant head, and meadow rue. Shrubs include red osier dogwood, serviceberry, pine mat manzanita, Sierra currant, dogbane, and bitter cherry.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE079
Title: Mountains and Trees
Information: Yosemite National Park is open to visitors year round, but most people tend to come in the late spring and early summer. Although the waterfalls begin to dwindle during autumn, it is generally considered the least crowded and best time of the year to visit.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE080
Title: Merced Reflections
Information: In the late 1850s tourists, homesteaders and entrepreneurs (along with their animals) began to flock to the Yosemite Valley in record numbers. All this newly introduced life inadvertently brought in unwanted alien plants, insects and associated diseases. In the first 30 years since the park was set aside in 1864, the lush native grasses and flowering plants of the valley had decreased to only one-fourth of their original number.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE081
Title: Wawona View
Information: Visible in this photo are El Capitan and Half Dome. Along the old Wawona Road there were six stage stations between Wawona and Yosemite Valley: Four Mile, Eight Mile, Eleven Mile, Chinquapin, Grouse Creek, and Fort Monroe. The Wawona Tunnel was built to replace a portion of the old road that climbed high across the shoulder of the hill above Turtleback Dome. It was completed in 1933.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE082
Title: Yosemite Falls and Yosemite Peak
Information: Falling from a height of nearly 2,425 feet, Yosemite Falls stands as one of the ten highest waterfalls in the world. It is broken into upper (1,430 feet), middle (675 feet), and lower (320 feet) segments, and was formed one to two million years ago when glaciers carving through the V-shaped canyon left Yosemite Creek hanging high above the valley floor.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE083
Title: El Capitan in Winter
Information: Yosemite National Park is made up of three major features -- High Sierra wildlands, groves of giant sequoias and Yosemite Valley -- encompassing 1,189 square miles of the central Sierra Nevada mountain range. Elevations within the park range from 2,000 feet in the west to over 13,000 feet on the eastern mountain border.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE084
Title: Yosemite Granite
Information: Granite is a specific kind of rock, but the term is generally applied to all exposed granitic rocks in the Sierra Nevada. The type of granite formed is dependent on the relative proportions of three different minerals -- quartz, potassium feldspar, and plagioclase. The most common forms of granite found in Yosemite include granodiorite, quartz monzonite, quartz monzodiorite and quartz diorite.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE085
Title: Majestic Clouds over the Valley
Information: Glaciers leave behind all sorts of interesting evidence of their former presence. Embedded debris within the glacier will often scratch the surface bedrock below leaving behind long grooves known as glacial striations. These striations reveal the direction the glacier was originally traveling in and this in turn allows scientists to determine their origin. John Muir referred to these as "tracks of glaciers." Other evidence left behind are half-moon shaped gouges called chatter marks, and glacial polish. Glacial polish is occurs when the glacier actually grinds the underlying rock until it is as smooth and slick as glass.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE086
Title: Tenaya Lake
Information: Tenaya Lake, located at an elevation of 8,149 feet above sea level, is one of the largest natural lakes in the Park, measuring a mile in length and a half mile in width. It was formed in a basin carved by the Tenaya Branch of the Tuolumne Glacier and is surrounded by glistening polished rocks. The original Indian name for Tenaya Lake "Py-wi-ack" means literally "Lake of the Shining Rocks." It was renamed in honor of Chief Tenaya of the Yosemite Indians.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE087
Title: Close-up Bridalveil Fall
Information: Bridalveil Fall was named by early settlers for the diaphanous, veil like aspect it assumed in the summer months when its flow was greatly diminished. However, the Miwok Indians, the original inhabitants of Yosemite Valley, named it Pohono, or the "fall of the puffing winds", because at low volume the water is dispersed by gusts of wind.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE088
Title: Snow and Rocks in Merced River
Information: With an ever increasing number of visitors streaming into Yosemite, a plan was formulated in the 1980s designed to protect the natural integrity of the park. This plan, the General Management Plan, has remained largely unimplemented. However, certain aspects of the plan were adopted during the late 80s; this included the construction of miles of bike paths, upgraded sewage treatment, removal of the asphalt parking lot in front of the Visitors Center, and the reintroduction of bighorn sheep to the Park.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE089
Title: Grizzly Giant, Mariposa Grove
Information: Sequoia trees are relatively rare and can be found only in seventy-five groves within a 200-mile belt of western Sierra Nevada. Yosemite is home to three of the groves, the Tuolumne, Merced and Mariposa. The Grizzly Giant (shown here) is the largest tree in Yosemite and the fifth largest sequoia in the world. It measures 30.7 feet in diameter at its base and estimates place its age at about 2,700 years.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE090
Title: Merced River in Winter
Information: A subtribe of the Miwok Indians were the first inhabitants of Yosemite and made their homes along the lower elevations of the major river valleys, such as the Merced and Tuolumne. They spoke a dialect of the Penutian language, which was the most common language among the tribes of California. Occasionally Monos, a Shoshonean speaking tribe from the eastern Sierra would visit the Valley to trade with the Miwoks.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE091
Title: Leidig Meadow
Information: Leidig Meadow is named for George F. Leidig, an early resident who ran a hotel near the base of Sentinel Rock. Leidig Meadow affords visitors spectacular views of North Dome, Royal Arches, Washington Column, Clouds Rest, and Half Dome. As late as 1924 this and other meadows in the Valley were still being used for grazing dairy cattle and other livestock.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE092
Title: Golden Light on Valley
Information: Three major influences have shaped the present appearance of the Sierra Nevada -- jointing, water erosion, and glaciation. Joints are cracks in bedrock that are created by uplift induced stress fractures. Joints create the ledges and handholds used by climbers when scaling the sheer faces of Yosemite's imposing cliffs.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE093
Title: Early Morning Mountain View
Information: Concentrated overuse in the Yosemite Valley has degraded natural processes within the park's ecosystem and has caused significant changes in the park's vegetation. For example, 90 percent of the black oak woodlands in the valley have been forced out of existence. The loss of black oak, an essential food source for many different animals, has placed a serious strain on the park's wildlife population.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE094
Title: Classic View of Yosemite
Information: John Muir, the famous naturalist and one of the original founders of the Sierra Club in 1890, called the forests of the Sierra mountains the "grandest and most beautiful in the world." The forests house an amazing diversity of flora, with 18 different species of conifers, 1500 species of plants and countless other varieties of trees and wildlife.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE095
Title: Fall Foliage in Yosemite Valley
Information: For the past 13,000 years, since the disappearance of glaciers from the Sierra Nevada, the landscape of Yosemite has changed very little. For example, the towering face of El Capitan has weathered back only one-quarter of an inch in all that time.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE096
Title: Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls
Information: During the winter months when the air is especially frigid, an enormous mound of frozen spray called the Ice Cone builds up at the bottom of Upper Yosemite Fall. It can occasionally reach a height of over 300 feet.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE097
Title: El Capitan
Information: Autumn is generally considered the most favorable time of the year to visit Yosemite; the crowds are few and the weather is hospitable. The days are still warm and sunny, and while the nights are cool they are seldom freezing, except at the highest elevations.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE098
Title: Yosemite Falls, Spring
Information: Used generically, the word "yosemite" can mean a type of valley similar in appearance and geologic origin to Yosemite Valley. Other mountain chains contain other yosemites -- the Rocky Mountains, Alps, Himalayas, Andes, and even the sea level fjords of the north. It is assumed that Antarctica has its own yosemites that remain buried deep beneath its massive coating of ice.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE099
Title: Yosemite Falls and Cook's Meadow
Information: Valley meadows were grazed by commercial livestock until the early 1930s. Certain Valley meadows were even plowed and used to plant wheat and hay, and others were cultivated for different purposes. As a result of this activity, the National Park Service estimates that Yosemite Valley meadows have reduced in volume by a total of 59 percent. There were 820 acres of natural meadow in 1868, compared to 339 acres today.
Photographer: John Forte
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File: YE100
Title: Night Sky, Yosemite
Information: In the most recent glacial period, the Tioga Glaciation, ice fields up to four thousand feet thick blanketed the majority of the Sierran crest. Only the tallest peaks remained uncovered, like Mount Dana and Mount Conness. The pre-existing river valleys were filled with tributary glaciers, and the largest glacier flowed down the Tuolumne River canyon for nearly sixty miles.
