Yosemite: The Rim Fire

Map of fire area

Yosemite National Park; for some a haven for rock climbing, trekking and camping. It is known for its stunning granite landscapes and it's famous "Tunnel View" but for me Yosemite is mostly about two things, Ansel Adams and the Half Dome (which I failed to climb last time I was there).

Covering around 800,000 acres, the park consists of an abundance of vegetation and wildlife, spectacular waterfalls, giant Sequoia trees that date hundreds and thousands of years, and plays host to approx. 3.7m visitors a year. Yosemite was also integral to America's National Park development; it is steeped in both history and beauty.

In August 2013, a fire raged. The "Rim Fire" named after the location it was suspected to have started, burned through 257,314 acres, took 2 months to completely contain, using 3800 firefighters. It destroyed 98 outbuildings and 11 residences. There was approx. a 60 mile dead zone, and 280 square miles of chard, singed, and burnt plantation. The overall cost to area: $127million. And a human hand caused it all.

2014, and not surprisingly the signs of the fire still remain. Fires are not uncommon for this area, however they are usually controlled, used to rejuvenate not too destroy. A hunter with an illegal fire that got out of control caused the “Rim Fire”, his name remains undisclosed, and it has been promised the punishment will be severe. When asked how much trouble he was in, " a lot " was the reply from the spokesman. The Park will, with help, return to life. Some vegetation has already begun to grow from the ashes, slowly.

But for now it's a sad sight, one that is a gigantic reminder of the fragility of the beauty on this planet. And how we should respect and encourage to protect the land that we are lucky to share.

Death Valley: Ghost Town

Death Valley has been on my all time wish list for a while, it is a contrast of differencing landscapes in one very large area, approx. 3,000 sq. miles give or take. We had booked 2 days out of our road trip to visit and had booked a motel in a small town called Bishop, which was about 1hr 30mins drive away, what we didn't expect, maybe naively was that from the park entrance to anywhere of note inside the park was about another hour (and the rest). The park really is so impressive, expansive, fascinating that it really needs a week especially if you want to photograph it properly. Ideally if you are going to do it stay in or nearby one of the parks entrances because if not there is a lot of driving for you ahead. 

But this is not a post about the valley itself, this is about the abandoned town which we stumbled across. Rhyolite Ghost Town was founded in 1905 as one of several mining camps that sprang up after prospecting was discovered nearby. As with many of the old ghost towns around Death Valley prospecting quickly dried up and everyone moved on. Rhyolite contained everything from old banks, a casino and railway but now sits in amongst dust and rubble. There is also another town nearby alas, the off road track was closed and we couldn't get to it. Maybe next time.