Yosemite National Park

Hetch Hetchy Valley & O’Shaughnessy Dam

I spent most of Saturday driving around Yosemite, and unlike my last visit, this time, I was able to visit Hetch Hetchy. This beautiful valley, the twin to Yosemite Valley, was John Muir’s favorite part of this National Park. Its unnecessary destruction for sake of water storage and power generation is, fortunately, now recognized as folly and there’s growing interest in removing San Francisco’s intrusion into what should’ve been a protected area.

Hetch Hetchy Reservervoir and the back of the O'Shaughnessy Dam

The incessant noise created by releasing enough water to keep the Tuolumne River flowing was quite shocking. In what would otherwise be a very peaceful area, there’s this disruptive din.

Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, and Points Between

The government, and thus all Federal lands, may be shut down, but that didn’t stop me from recently driving around Lake Tahoe, Eldorado and Stanislaus National Forests, Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area, and Yosemite National Park.

Upon entering Yosemite, I was presented this by a Park Service employee:

As my photos clearly show, I obeyed the instructions carefully, especially the highlighted one. 😉