I Used to Call it “YOZE-mite”

Posted on May 19, 2009
Filed Under Adventures | 1 Comment

Posted by Sierra
We were recently in Yosemite National Park in California. We did the typical national park-y things we do: I did the Junior Ranger Program (which, I admit, I am getting a little old for), we hiked, and we did a few ranger walks.

Vernal Falls at YosemiteI’ll start by talking about the hikes we did. The first was the Mirror Lake and Tenaya Canyon hike. Mirror Lake was formed when a rockslide dammed the river. In the early morning and at sunset it’s reflective, giving it its name. The hike was partially closed due to a recent rockslide, from March. We hiked until we reached the blocked-off portion. We could see all the jumbled-up granite from the rockslide.

The other hike we did was the Nevada and Vernal Falls hike. It involved a lot of steep climbing. The best part (in my opinion) was the Mist Trail, which had stone steps and was very misty. We got SOAKED!! We saw first Vernal Fall and then Nevada Fall. They were both pretty magnificent.

We did not see a single bear while we were in Yosemite. We did, however, see bear traps. These are long, silver cylinders with a food bag at the back. When the bear bites the bag, the door swings shut, and the bear settles down and falls asleep. Occasionally a squirrel gets stuck in there.

And now for everyone’s favorite part: the funny stories. We heard these on the various ranger walks we did. The first is about a ranger—we’ll call him Ranger “Frank.” He was setting a bear trap one day, and he left his radio outside. He accidentally triggered the door and was stuck in there for several hours.

The second story is about a ranger’s nephew. She said he calls Yosemite “‘Se-mi-tee,” and thinks “Yosemite” means “Your ‘Semite,” so he calls it “My ‘Semite.” Isn’t that adorable, folks?

So that’s Yosemite. Your ‘Semite, my ‘Semite, everybody’s ‘Semite.

Comments

One Response to “I Used to Call it “YOZE-mite””

  1. Bryce on June 14th, 2009 4:48 am

    I got to do the Mirror Lake Trail and the Vernal Falls Trail too! We had ponchos on the mist trail though.:D

Leave a Reply