Daily Report – Yosemite National Park Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Daily Report – Yosemite National Park
Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Yosemite National Park Zone Forecast
Today: Rain likely in the morning, then rain showers likely and slight chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs 46 to 60. Southwest winds up to 10 mph with gusts to around 30 mph. Chance of precipitation 70 percent.
Tonight: Colder. Mostly cloudy with chance of rain showers, snow and slight chance of thunderstorms in the evening, then mostly clear after midnight. Lows 23 to 39. Southeast winds up to 5 mph. Gusts up to 20 mph after midnight. Chance of precipitation 50 percent.
Tomorrow: Sunny. Chance of snow in the afternoon. Highs 40 to 54. South winds up to 10 mph shifting to the southwest in the afternoon. Gusts up to 35 mph. Chance of snow 50 percent.

NEW & HAPPENING TODAY

Operational Changes for Wawona Visitor Center
The Wawona Visitor Center will operate from 9-12 and 1-4 Thursday-Monday from the Mariposa Grove Depot/Parking Area until further notice. (J. Connors)
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Big Oak Flat Information Station
The Big Oak Information Station is closed for the season (for Interpretation and Wilderness) as of October 16th. Yosemite Conservancy will still be operating the bookstore inside the Big Oak Flat Information Station 5 days/week (9am-5pm), closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays, until November 12 and reopening in February 2025. (S. Montroy)
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Chimney Cleaning and Inspections
A contractor will be continuing to perform cleaning and inspection of chimneys this week. The crews will need the chimneys and fireplaces to be cold in order to clean and run a camera down (or up) the flue to perform the work. Thanks for your cooperation with this inspection and cleaning! (C. Toepper)

Yosemite Valley – Tuesday (10/15) and Wednesday (10/16)
El Portal – Thursday (10/17)
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Campground Closures
Many thanks to all who helped make camping possible this season—you are greatly appreciated! (E. Bissmeyer)
Porcupine Flat and Crane Flat campgrounds are now closed for the season.
Lower Pines will close on Sunday, October 20.
Camp 4 will reduce to the East side (sites 37-61) on Monday, October 28 and return to first come, first served.
Hodgdon Meadow and Wawona will return to first come, first served on Monday, October 28.
North Pines & Backpacker Camp will close on Wednesday, October 30.
Upper Pines will reduce to the front two loops (sites 1-94) on Sunday, November 3 and remain on reservation through the winter.
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Womxn’s ERG Art Night
Registration Needed! Join the Womxn’s ERG for a laid-back art night at the El Portal Community Hall on Thursday, October 24th, from 6pm-8pm! You will learn the basics of block printing. With guidance from Yosemite Conservancy instructor, Lora Spielman-Dell Isola, you’ll walk away with an understanding of simple block printing techniques and your very own Yosemite masterpiece! Supplies are included and no cost to attend! Reach out to Clarice Henry if you have questions. If the class is full, please email us at art@yosemite.org with your name and phone number to be added to the waitlist!

Limited capacity, register at: https://go.theflybook.com/book/752/EntityConfig/31063 (C. Henry)

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RECENT NEWS

CORRECTION: PG&E Advanced Notice of Potential Power Outage
Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) event due to predicted weather patterns in the Wawona District from 0200 Friday, October 18th to 1400 Sunday, October 20th. This is not a planned outage but a notice of a potential outage. (M. Trumm)
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Reservation Season Ended
Yosemite National Park is ending the 2024 reservation season ended on October 13. A reservation will not be required to drive into Yosemite for the remainder of 2024. (E. Weeks)
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Join us for the last Coffee with a Ranger for 2024!
The final Coffee with a Ranger event for the year will be held October 17 at 10:00 at the Curry Pavilion Poolside Room. Join us to ask your burning questions about law enforcement and first responder work in Yosemite National Park. We are happy to enjoy coffee provided by Yosemite Hospitality. BYOD (bring your own donut) (B. Vollmer)
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Job Announcement: Executive Director of YNP Child Care Center

We are seeking a passionate and dedicated Executive Director for the El Portal childcare center. The Executive Director will oversee daily operations, lead a passionate team, and ensure our program meets the highest standards of quality and care. Applications will be accepted until November 4. See full job description at http://ynpccc.weebly.com/careers. Interested parties should send a cover letter, resume, copies of relevant transcripts and two letters of reference to ynpcccboard@gmail.com. (K.Coit)

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Charlie Fullam Obituary
Charlie Fullam, a long-time protection ranger, passed away peacefully at his home in Groveland recently. Charlie started his career in Yosemite as an emergency dispatcher, then became a protection ranger and paramedic in Yosemite Valley. For most of his career, he was stationed at Lake Eleanor and was a ranger in the Crane Flat subdistrict when he retired. He dedicated himself to protecting the land, critters, and helping tens of thousands of visitors have a safe and enjoyable visit to Yosemite. For this dedication to the park, he was recognized by his peers with the Barry Hance award, among many other service awards.

Read the full obituary at https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/uniondemocrat/name/charles-fullam-obituary?id=56486377. (J. Trust)
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Chinese Laundry Closed for Season
As of 10/13/24, the Chinese Laundry building is closed for the season and is scheduled to reopen in May 2025. (J. Connors)
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Happy Isles Art & Nature Center Seasonal Closure
This is the last week that Happy Isles Art & Nature Center will be open for the 2024 season! All art programs will conclude after October 18, 2024, and the building will be closed until April 2025. Reminder that all park employees are welcome to join classes free of charge (as space avails); please email art@yosemite.org for details! (L. Spielman-Dell Isola)
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Professional and Personal Development Workshop
“What Am I doing With My Life?” Professional and Personal Development Workshop
5 Week Workshop- Expanded and Back by Popular Demand! (Virtual on Zoom)

This workshop started as a successful two-part series. This time we’ve expanded it into a 5-week workshop. This professional and personal development workshop will be made relevant to any position you are currently in whether you are working towards a promotion, making a lateral move, career change, finishing your season, or are deepening skill sets in your own long-term field. It will give you the opportunity to set goals, learn about yourself, expand your knowledge of personal needs and values and give you actionable next steps for what you want. Feeling burnt out from the season? We’ll address this post-season burn out as well and offer opportunities and conversation to make goals most helpful to you; be it rest and recuperation for the winter, or pro-active action and change for next year.

This series is open to ALL park partners, employees, residents, EP residents, seasonals, etc. (Leaving for the season? Seasonals are welcome to join this workshop even after their season ends if they can zoom in and attend.)

Provided by Jenni Buczko, LPCC, MA with Mariposa County Behavioral Health and Jamie Gonzales NPS Wellness Coordinator. This program has been approved to happen on work time with permission of one’s supervisor. Maybe invite your supervisor! RSVP: Jenni.Buczko@gmail.com

Thursdays 10am-12pm* (Except 11:30-1:30 on November 14)
November: 7, 14*, 21
December: 5, 12
No class the Week of Thanksgiving (J. Buczko)

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ONGOING PROJECTS

Forestry on Tioga Road: Traffic Delays Mon-Thu
Beginning August 26th, Mather Forestry will be working along the Tioga Road between White Wolf and Olmsted Point. Work will take place Mondays through Thursdays, 7:30am to 4:30pm. Expect traffic delays. The work will last several weeks. (J. Brown)
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El Capitan Removal Action
An environmental cleanup contractor will be implementing the El Capitan NTCRA 7/29-11/8. The El Capitan site includes 13 Decision-Units (DUs) to be excavated for removal of buried waste. This former waste disposal area was used up until the 1930’s, with waste mainly coming from Yosemite Valley hotel/campground operations in the early part of the 20th century. The DUs are located in various depressions along the Merced River and slaughterhouse meadow. Upon a satisfactory confirmation testing of these locations, the contractor will be restoring the DUs to a natural grade.

Impacts: The Valley Loop trail will be barricaded at the west end of the project site and at the entrance to the project site south of the El Capitan picnic area. A trail detour is available to hikers by walking north of the project site. The contractor will also be periodically closing the left-hand lane of Northside Drive for approximately 2500 feet west of and in front of the El Capitan picnic area in order to stage trucks for off hauling of waste/soil from the site. Please contact Moshe Calm with any questions/concerns. (C. Moshe)
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Ackerson Meadow Restoration Project
Earth-moving for final phase of the Ackerson Meadow Restoration Project on Evergreen Road has begun. Operations are planned through October 31. Please watch for trucks on roads in the area.

The goal is to eliminate excess soil erosion, slow water loss, and reverse loss of water-loving plants and animals, especially rare/endangered species. To do this, the project team will completely fill the century-old human-caused erosion gully that is >3 miles long, and up to 14’ deep by 100’ wide. Phase 1 of the project was a huge success protecting and rewetting 78 acres of vital wetland habitat, by completing earth-moving of nearly 60,000cy of material between Aug 14 and Nov 9, 2023, and planting over 127,000 wetland container plants on the restored surface this spring. Though smaller in extent, Phase 2 requires the placement of nearly 100,000cy of combined mineral soil and woodchips. More than 290,000 container plants will be installed in May 2025 to complete the restoration project. The project is a partnership of American Rivers, Stanislaus National Forest, Yosemite Conservancy, and Yosemite National Park. Learn more at: https://go.nps.gov/ackerson, or https://youtu.be/3u9TpTTcArk. For questions, contact tim_kuhn@nps.gov. (T. Kuhn)
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Mist Trail Repair July 1st – October 31st, 2024
The Lower Mist Trail – from the John Muir Trail (JMT) junction (just uphill from the Vernal Fall Footbridge) to the top of Vernal Fall – will be closed M-TH between 7:00am and 3:30pm from 7/1/24 – 10/31/24 (subject to change).
The trail will remain open Fridays, weekends and holidays. It is expected to be open overnight, however there may be certain days when trail crew is not able to make it safe to open overnight. In that case, the gates will remain closed, and signs will be posted at the two closure gates that the trail is closed.
Hikers and backpackers headed to Half Dome and points beyond from the trailhead at Happy Isles may hike uphill on the Mist Trail if they reach the Mist Trail/JMT junction by 7:00am, Monday through Thursday. Otherwise, they must hike the JMT. (W. Weaver)
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Historic Preservation Crew – Post Office
The Yosemite Historic Preservation Crew is performing stabilization work on the Yosemite Valley Post Office. The project will repair damaged and broken windows, repair cracks in the masonry, and perform preservation carpentry on log elements. There will be no impact on Post Office operations. Please direct all questions to Kevin Brothers (kevin_brothers@nps.gov). (K. Brothers)
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Wawona Hotel Roof Replacement Project
The Wawona re-roofing project is underway and the Contractor, Southwest Property Management, continues to work at the hotel phasing demolition and reroofing in sections progressively. Without unforeseen discoveries, the completion should occur in the fall of this year. Contact Brett Graves, YOSE D&E Project Manager, for more information. (M. Vantzelfden)