Yosemite - Daily Report - Yosemite National Park Wednesday, July 31, 2024

Daily Report – Yosemite National Park
Wednesday, July 31, 2024

Yosemite National Park Zone Forecast
Today: Sunny. Haze in the late morning and afternoon. Areas of smoke late in the afternoon. Highs 68 to 80. Southeast winds up to 10 mph shifting to the southwest in the afternoon.
Tonight: Mostly clear. Haze and areas of smoke. Lows 43 to 59. Southwest winds up to 10 mph shifting to the east after midnight.
Tomorrow: Sunny, haze. Highs 70 to 84. Southeast winds up to 10 mph shifting to the southwest in the afternoon.

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NEW & HAPPENING TODAY
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Traffic Delays on Big Oak Flat Road (Ongoing)
Road crew will be working on the Big oak flat road from Crane flat to the Big oak flat entrance station.
Please drive slowly and watch out for crews and equipment in the work zone, expect up to 15-minute traffic delays. (B. Brantley)
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RECENT NEWS

Hodgdon Campground Test Well Deepening
A Contractor will be deepening the test well and testing for water production/quality 7/29-7/31. The test well was initially drilled in August 2023 at the Hodgdon Campground amphitheater. It is being drilled 100′-200′ deeper to determine if it will be a viable water source for the new Hodgdon Water Distribution system. Contact Moshe Calm with any questions/concerns.

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Move Vehicles from ESC for August 3rd Event
There will be a private ceremony at the museum village on Saturday, August 3rd. Please move all vehicles from the ESC/gas pump parking lot to facilitate parking for the event by 8:00 am the morning of Saturday, August 3rd. (J. Micon)
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El Portal Child Care Center is Hiring!
Do you love working with children? Are you passionate about early childhood education and working with a great team? El Portal Child Care Center is currently hiring for the following position: Full-Time Teacher
Ideal applicants will have experience working with young children, be flexible and able to “go with the flow”, be dedicated and reliable!
Interested applicants should send a cover letter and resume to Heather Webster at director@ynpccc.org. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Compensation is commensurate with experience. Housing may be available. Located within 10 minutes of the Yosemite gate. I look forward to hearing from you! (H.Webster)
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YLPSI Symposium 8/7
Join the Yosemite Leadership Program Summer Interns as they present their summer projects and journeys in the Valley Auditorium on Aug 7th from 9am-12pm. Auditorium opens at 8:30am with refreshments available. Please come a little early to get to know them! These 10 undergraduate students have finished their 12-week internships hosted by the Yosemite Education and Community Engagement Office and UC Merced with the help of Yosemite Conservancy. They worked all throughout the park with various NPS and YC work groups. All are welcome! UPDATED LINK: Please RSVP Here (M. Gutierrez)
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Annual Fire System Inspections
It’s time again for the annual fire system inspections. Contractors will be escorted through residences and administrative buildings to inspect and test the fire alarm and fire suppression systems.
Here is the general schedule:

August 5th – 9th – El Portal locations
August 12th – 16th – El Portal and Valley locations
August 19th – 23rd – Valley, Wawona, and Mather locations

If you are a resident in government housing, you will be notified by the housing office of the dates that the inspections will take place, additionally the district supervisors may also place notifications for your information. We would like to keep to the scheduled dates as much as possible. Please reach out the COR – Carrie Toepper, if there are any questions or concerns (carrie_toepper@nps.gov or 209-379-1089).

The contractors will need approximately 15-20 minutes in each housing location to physically identify any sprinkler heads and test any systems.

Thanks in advance for your cooperation and assistance with this annual requirement. (C. Toepper)
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Vegetation Removal and Construction Hodgdon Meadow Campground
PG&E contractors from Arborworks will be conducting vegetation removal and maintenance work in and near Hodgdon Meadow Campground starting Monday, July 29. This should take less than a week to complete. There may be some traffic control. The tree crews are coordinating with the campground staff for work within the campground. (A. Kunz)
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Trail Blasting Operations, Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne
Trail Crew is planning to perform blasting operations in the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River week of August 5. There will be intermittent trail closures throughout the week in that area. Questions or comments, contact Greg Torres at 209-742-8811. (G. Torres)
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Exploration Center Closed August 6th and 7th for Tree Work
The Exploration Center and Yosemite Conservancy bookstore will be closed on August 6th and 7th for NPS tree work. (O. Laizer)
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Wawona Trivia Kudos
Please help me to share a huge kudos and thanks to Ayla Petelle and Juliana McGaugh for their time and efforts to bring employee Wellness activities to Wawona. The run club and trivia nights they are hosting in Wawona exemplify community building and facilitating a psychologically safe culture. The park is fortunate to have a grassroots team take initiative to create a fun and safe environment for the park Wawona community. (J. Gonzalez)
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ONGOING PROJECTS

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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Traffic Closure
Traffic will be diverted on Thursday, August 1, and Friday, August 2, and the exit to Village Drive on the North Side Drive traffic circle will be closed (the exit that services the Ahwahnee and village store). Traffic will be detoured through the day-use parking lot and back onto Village Drive by the garage. Detours will only occur for approximately 15 minutes at a time. Oversized vehicles like buses and delivery trucks will be directed to use the admin road northwest of the day-use parking area.

This will be for the backfilling portion of the project, so the diversion will be limited to just a few minutes to deposit material at the work site. (C. Layman)
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Ackerson Meadow Restoration Project
Earth-moving for final phase of the Ackerson Meadow Restoration Project on Evergreen Road, is set to begin. Equipment mobilization will start on July 29th and with more substantial project actions to begin on August 5th. 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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PG&E Contractor Work in El Portal and Wawona
Between the days of July 1 and August 2, PG&E contractors from Arborworks will be conducting vegetation removal and maintenance work in the Wawona and El Portal residential areas. For maps of the locations, please contact Alan Kunz (alan_kunz@nps.gov) or Natasha Lekach (natasha_lekach@nps.gov). Some traffic control may be necessary. (N. Lekach)
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Valley Mall Tree Removal
Valley Forestry will be working in the Valley Mall area removing trees for a construction project through the end of the month. There will be temporary closures of certain walking paths during the operation. Forestry staff will be on site to direct pedestrians around the work zone. (B. See)
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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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Expect delays: North Side Drive between El Capitan Woodlot to Pohono Bridge
Hazardous fuel reduction is taking place on Northside Drive from El Capitan Woodlot to Pohono Bridge. This work is being conducted in preparation of prescribed fire and provide a safer place for fire fighters to work if a wildfire burns up the Merced River Canyon. The 2018 Ferguson Fire reached Cascades Falls and crossed both Wawona and Glacier Point Roads in a single run. Roads are our primary location to stop wildfires and implement prescribed fire. Personnel will be removing small trees and dead and down material. Wood will be transported to Ackerson Meadow where it will be mixed with fill as part of a massive gully restoration project will the aim of restoring one of the largest mid-elevation meadows in the Sierra Nevada. Mixing the wood with the soil sequesters the carbon and increases the water holding capacity of the soil creating a wetter, more productive meadow.

Please watch for workers and drive slowly through the work zone. Traffic holds are 15 minutes while workers remove woody material. Delays may be expected Mon-Fri, 06:00-16:00. Thank you for your support and understanding. (G. Dickman)
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Caltrans Announces Improvement Project on State Route 140: Cathey’s Valley to Mariposa
On Monday, April 29, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) will begin a maintenance project to improve State Route 140 (SR-140) between Cathey’s Valley and the town of Mariposa. Work will include pavement preservation with hot-mix asphalt, and removal and installation of guardrails, culverts, dikes, shoulder backing, signage, and corner curb ramps at seven intersections. Crews will work night shifts for approximately 170 working days, Sunday through Thursday, with alternating lane closures on eastbound and westbound SR-140. Project completion is expected in December 2024. The contractor’s work schedule is subject to change due to traffic incidents, weather, availability of equipment and materials, and construction-related issues. Please drive carefully and watch for laborers and equipment in roadways. (J. Donovan)
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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 Steve Dunakoskie, YOSE SPPM Project Manager, for more information. (S. Dunakoskie)

Yosemite – Daily Report – Yosemite National Park Wednesday, July 31, 2024