Camp Yosemite Jul 26—Aug 07, 2008
Posted by Barry Lyon
Barry Lyon
Barry Lyon's passion for the outdoors and birding has its roots in his childhood where he grew up in southern California. Through his early and teenage years his develo...Related Trips
The first time I laid eyes on Yosemite National Park, I was a 14-year-old kid from Southern California traveling on a family vacation. Looking out at the Yosemite Valley from the park's famed viewpoint below the Wawona tunnel, I stared spellbound at the monumental rock formations and waterfalls that form one of the world's most instantly recognizable landscapes. On the left rose El Capitán, a larger-than-life 5,000-foot block of granite; on the right, Bridalveil Fall gushed over the valley's south rim, quickly culminating in a 900-foot vertical drop; and in the background soared Half Dome, the signature feature that for many is Yosemite. I have returned to Yosemite perhaps half-a-dozen times since that first epochal visit, yet every time I come back I still experience those same evocative feelings of inspiration and wonder I felt as a teenage boy.
The 14 kids in attendance for Camp Yosemite formed a remarkable group. Talented and inquisitive, all of our campers demonstrated an array of skills and interests that marked this group as among the best-rounded we've ever assembled for a summer camp. So when our excited band of young birders arrived in Sacramento for the start of our first-ever California-based camp, the stage was set for something special.
With binoculars unpacked before clothing, and the prospect of life birds nearby, precious little time was lost tallying the camp's first birds. An afternoon walk along the American River in east Sacramento provided an excellent introduction to western birding, with Nuttall's Woodpecker, California Quail, and Western Scrub-Jay easily found. Toward sundown, the surprise discovery of a group of Yellow-billed Magpies on its way to roost was an ideal grand finale to our first day.
With more hiking planned than on any previous VENT youth camp, the thrust of Camp Yosemite was experiencing as much time outdoors in the best way possible: on foot. Over a 10-day period, based out of three major regions of the park, we birded, hiked, and camped our brains out! And with the natural splendor of Yosemite's famous landmarks serving as our personal playground, we experienced the best parts of the park in full. In all, we logged 40 miles on foot, hiking the best trails through all types of terrain from shaded forest to granite outcrops, and to high altitude lakes and meadows.
On the rim south of Yosemite Valley we absorbed the park's grandeur from above. At Glacier Point, the arresting view of Half Dome dominated an otherwise spectacular landscape of polished granite domes, forests of red fir and lodgepole pine, plunging waterfalls, and vast vertical drop-offs. Hiking from the point to the Yosemite Valley offered as epic a journey as is possible in Yosemite—a top-down view of awesome vistas, giant rock walls, and the amazing dual waterfall system of Nevada and Vernal falls. Scores of Steller's Jays and White-headed Woodpeckers made for excellent travel companions while the songs of Olive-sided Flycatchers and Fox Sparrows serenaded us on our long "downhill" journey.
Our shorter hike through the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias brought us to the foot of some of the earth's biggest trees. Some of the largest specimens were over 2,000 years old and over 200 feet tall. Of course, our attempts to behold the distant treetops stretched the limits to how much strain a person's neck can endure! Thankfully we did not have to look so high to note such western specialties as Pacific-Slope Flycatcher, Red-breasted Sapsucker, and MacGillivray's Warbler.
From Sentinel Dome to Taft Point, another unforgettable hike brought us through more towering stands of red and white firs, and sugar, Jeffrey, and lodgepole pines. Throughout our journey, ancient trees, hundreds of years old, formed a living cathedral of red, orange, and white-barked giants. Mountain Quail, Sooty Grouse, Black-backed Woodpecker, and Williamson's Sapsucker were the spoils of our time on the trail, as were the astounding views of Yosemite Valley from Taft Point, three thousand feet straight down.
Since no trip to the park would be complete without visiting the Yosemite Valley, we relocated to Crane Flat, near the park's northwest entrance, for closer access. A 6-mile hike on the Valley's west loop brought us directly under the sheer face of El Capitán, where the North American Wall, famed among rock climbers, was visible. Meandering further along, the gently tumbling water of the Merced River sparkled under the morning sun. An obliging American Dipper rounded out the scene before we moved on to admire the tremendous height of Bridalveil Fall. A morning outing to the Merced grove of giant sequoias was memorable for more of the big trees, but especially for the Northern Pygmy-Owl discovered by Alex and the Hammond's Flycatcher found by Victor.
In moving to the Yosemite high country, we entered a world of storm-battered peaks, treeless granite domes, sapphire lakes, and sublime meadows a patchwork of green and gold. Here, we spent the remainder of the trip, between 8,000 and 10,500 feet. For many, this part of the camp represented a first time visiting the highest life zone, where only the most stubborn of trees hang on before surrendering to the bare rock that crowns Yosemite's highest reaches. A hike to May Lake was a terrific introduction to this part of the park, with ample birds, scenery, and wildflowers.
A full morning around Tioga Pass brought further immersion into the high country, where the rarified air and great birding made for an invigorating morning afield. An afternoon water taxi across Saddlebag Lake into the Hoover Wilderness revealed the majestic beauty of the alpine country. Ragged peaks, crystalline lakes, remnant snowdrifts, and a summer bloom of tundra wildflowers created a setting of incredible beauty. A side-trip into the glacial cirque behind Steelhead Lake was our high country high point. Surrounded by glorious scenery, we studied families of Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches feeding amid glacial moraines and ephemeral summer flowers.
With the arrival of day twelve, we journeyed out of the mountains to the eastern front of the Sierra Nevada. We spent a full day in this Great Basin country birding our way from the ghost town at Bodie to the alkali shores of Mono Lake. Among the highlights around Bodie, we followed to within feet of groups of Greater Sage Grouse and noted multiple Sage Thrashers, Brewer's Sparrows, and Mountain Bluebirds. Mono Lake, as famous as the epicenter of past water wars as for its incredible birdlife, provided as amazing a spectacle as ever. The thousands of phalaropes and other shorebirds clustered along the shoreline, beside emergent tufa towers and clouds of brine flies, formed an utterly bizarre sight.
In retrospect, this trip had it all, or at least nearly so. Despite early concerns over a large new forest fire, we ultimately enjoyed Yosemite to the utmost—intimately and thoroughly, inclusive of the "typical" tourist attractions as well as the less-traveled trails. And that's the way it should be because Yosemite is an American treasure. Its scoured mountaintops, thundering waterfalls, and flower-spangled mountain meadows are testimony to its rightful place as one of America's premier national parks.