Want to see Yosemite’s firefall? Enjoy the snow? Restrictions make it needlessly hard | Opinion
California’s snowpack is deeper than it’s been in decades, which is generally great news all around.
Great news except to central San Joaquin Valley residents wishing to experience all that Sierra snow firsthand. Whether their idea of an enjoyable snow day involves skis, a snowboard, snowshoes or a plastic saucer sled, those opportunities have seldom been so scarce.
While many of the winter restrictions and closures can be attributed to natural disasters (i.e. atmospheric rivers and wildfires), others are due to administrative inflexibility. But regardless of the reason, the main takeaway is plain: Our public lands continue to be less and less publicly accessible.
February used to be a mellow month in Yosemite National Park, perhaps even the mellowest. That all changed a few years ago when Horsetail Falls became a social media sensation. Photographers (both professional and iPhone-wielding amateurs) began showing up en masse to capture the so-called “Firefall” on El Capitan’s east face that glows orange when backlit by the setting sun.
So many people wanted to photograph this phenomenon, which only occurs on February evenings with clear skies, that it caused not only traffic congestion and safety issues in Yosemite Valley, but also negative impacts to natural and cultural resources.
As a result, park officials this year implemented day-use reservations for anyone driving into Yosemite on the Friday-Sunday extended weekends of Feb. 10-12, Feb. 17-19 and Feb. 24-26. Park entry tickets are available 48 hours in advance on recreation.gov (for $2 per vehicle) but are snapped up in a few minutes.
In general, I don’t have an issue with Yosemite reservations. No one wants to spend their day idling in traffic and unable to find a parking space. Still, there’s no reason why visitors who use Highway 41 to access the Badger Pass Ski Area and the cross-country ski and snowshoe trails along Glacier Point Road — with no plans to drive into the Valley — should be subject to those restrictions.
Rather than bar everyone that doesn’t have a permit, why can’t a ranger be stationed at Chinquapin (the turnoff to Badger Pass) to ensure those without entry passes don’t continue past that point?
Park spokesman Scott Gediman told me it’s a valid question, one that boils down to resources.
“Bottom line, it’s a staffing and operational issue,” Gediman said. “We need every single person we have working in the Valley.”
I visited Glacier Point Road on Feb. 4 — the last Saturday before reservations were required. Upon returning from the popular trek to Dewey Point, the parking lot was crammed with skiers, snowboarders and snowshoers. Unless they’re among the fortunate few to acquire day passes, all those folks will be barred from returning between Friday to Sunday until March.
That’s not right.
Restrictions, closures create sledding hazards
By worrying about safety and natural management concerns in Yosemite Valley, park officials are creating extra hazards elsewhere. Last Saturday, for example, the stretch of Highway 41 between the entrance station and Fish Camp was crammed with sledders.
I saw one boy (whose parents won’t win any intelligence awards) nearly get run over after he sledded into the roadway. While shaking my head in disbelief, it occurred to me how many more families will be placed in potential harm’s way now that they can’t get into Yosemite.
Such dangerous conditions also exist along Highway 168 between Shaver and Huntington lakes in the Sierra National Forest.
While downhill skiers and snowboarders head directly for China Peak — so many that weekend visitors are turned away once the resort’s parking lots are full — others are simply looking for a good hill to sled on.
Until 2020, the most popular place for this activity was the Coyote Sno-Park near Tamarack Ridge. Unfortunately the entire facility burned to a crisp in the Creek Fire. Work on its restoration has yet to begin.
Of course, that hasn’t prevented people from driving up 168 to go sledding. They just do it in less safe locations closer to the highway.
For snow seekers, the access at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks isn’t much better. Depending on where they enter, it might even be worse.
There is some good news: The Generals Highway finally reopened Saturday between the Sequoia foothills and Giant Forest, Lodgepole and Wolverton following a month-long closure caused by rock and mudslides. (The same stretch the park service spent millions of our tax dollars “improving” just a few years ago.)
While park officials focused their efforts on one end of the Generals Highway, they seem to have ignored the other.
Visitors who enter Kings Canyon via Highway 180 can’t proceed south past “The Y” intersection. This means no access to Quail Flat (a popular snow play area), Big Meadows or Montecito Sequoia Lodge, which remains closed indefinitely.
I’m sure park officials have their reasons — unstable hillsides torched by the KNP Complex Fire could be one — but as taxpayers we shouldn’t blindly accept any excuses that restrict the enjoyment of our national parks and forests. Not without a thorough explanation.
Public lands need to be publicly accessible. And not just after the robust snowpack (230% of normal in the southern Sierra as of Friday) melts away.
