Yosemite Daily Report – Yosemite National Park Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Yosemite Daily Report – Yosemite National Park Wednesday, October 9, 2024 Yosemite National Park Zone Forecast Today: Sunny. Highs 59 to 73. Southeast winds up to 10 mph shifting to the west in the afternoon. Tonight: Partly cloudy in the evening then becoming mostly cloudy. Lows 36 to 52. Southeast winds up to 10 mph. Tomorrow: Mostly cloudy. Highs 56 to 70. South winds up to 10 mph shifting to the southwest in the afternoon. Additional Point Forecast Weather Links: Yosemite Valley | Wawona | Tuolumne Meadows | Glacier Point | Big Oak Flat | Hetch Hetchy | El Portal | Mariposa | Badger Pass =======================================================NEW & HAPPENING TODAYMedical Clinic Closed Friday 10/10 and Monday 10/14 The Yosemite Medical Clinic will be closed on Friday (October 10) and Monday (October 14). Regular clinic services will resume on Tuesday (October 15). Please call the clinic with any questions: 209-372-4637. (A. Rose-Wood) _______________________Yosemite Hydroclimate Meeting 10/10-10/11 The Yosemite Hydroclimate Meeting will be held in the Yosemite Auditorium Thursday October 10th from 9am to 4pm, and Friday October 11th from 9am to 12pm. Come learn about science going on in Yosemite! For full agenda or questions, contact Rachel Hallnan: Rachel_Hallnan@nps.gov. (R. Hallnan) _______________________Kudos Huge thank you to Scott, Troy, & Randy in the sign shop for just generally being awesome and being great at their jobs. (S. Oakley)=======================================================RECENT NEWSTree Work with Traffic Delays in Yosemite Valley 10/10 Valley Forestry will be removing hazard trees on South Side Drive around Curry Village and River Straight, Thursday October 10th. Please anticipate traffic delays of 15 minutes or less. Thanks for your patience. (B. See) _______________________Death of Ranger in Voyageurs National Park Law Enforcement Ranger Kevin Grossheim died Sunday, October 6 while responding to a call for help in Voyageurs National Park. Kevin responded to a call for assistance from a distressed civilian vessel on Namakan Lake.In honor of Kevin, Deputy Director for Operations Frank Lands has authorized American flags to be flown at half-staff at all National Park Service areas, excluding the National Mall, from Monday, October 7, 2024, until sunset on Wednesday, October 9, 2024. Mourning bands and ribbons are also authorized to be worn until further notice. (J. Trust) _______________________Brian Dover joins Yosemite EMS EMS welcomes Brian Dover as our new permeant paramedic for our program. Brian brings years of experience as a non-commissioned officer from the U.S. Army both as an Infantry squad leader as well as a combat/flight medic from the prestigious DUSTOFF program. Brian came from Phoenix area where he worked for a fire department as well as National Guard deployment to a sheriff’s department as a flight paramedic conducting EMS and SAR operations. Brian settled in the lower housing with his wife, two children and a dog, “Max”. Please welcome Brian to Yosemite. His call sign is MED-12. (H. Kajitani) _______________________Rental Near Triangle Road 4 bed 2 bath home for rent on 2 private acres in Jerseydale, just 1.6 miles from Triangle road. ~2000 sq ft with family room, mudroom, and meadow / mountain views. Efficient mini-split system, wood burning stove, fireplace, evaporative cooler, heat-pump water heater, washer & dryer, dishwasher, attached garage, ample parking, and EV charger. $3200 monthly includes propane. Prefer to rent furnished. No dogs. Available for 6-month lease starting Nov 1st. Email b.haddon@gmail.com for more information. (B. Haddon) _______________________Public Transportation Needs Assessment Survey Are you a past, present, or wannabe transit commuter? Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System (YARTS) is a year-round public transit agency that provides service to Yosemite National Park, from gateway communities in Merced, Mariposa, Tuolumne, Mono, Madera, and Fresno counties. YARTS is creating a short-range plan to determine how to impro.ve transit services in the Yosemite region. In order to shape the future of public transportation service, YARTS would appreciate your views and values. Please take a survey at the following URL: https://fp.mysocialpinpoint.com/yarts-short-range-transit-plan-srtp (J. Donavan) _______________________Power OutagePlanned Power Outage in El Portal/Rancheria Area – Wednesday, October 9 Has been Cancelled Planned PG&E Power Outage in El Portal, Rancheria Area is rescheduled for Sunday October 13, 2024, from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PMPlanned Power Outage in Hodgdon Meadows – Friday, October 11 PG&E Planned Power Outage in Hodgdon Meadows on Friday, October 11, 2024, 8:30AM to 12:30PM.Planned Power Outage in Hodgdon Meadows – Tuesday, October 15 PG&E Planned Power Outage in Hodgdon Meadows on Tuesday, October 15, 2024, 8:30AM to 2:30PM. (C. Flores) _______________________Chimney Inspection and Cleaning Contractors will be performing inspections and cleaning of the wood burning fireplace appliances in park housing and administrative buildings in October. There will be three crews working to complete the inspections in a timely manner. The fireplaces, fireplace inserts, and wood stoves will be inspected and cleaned, they will be accessing the roofs and the interiors of the buildings. The contractor crews will be escorted by NPS personnel during the project. Thanks for your cooperation during this project. (C. Toepper)The schedule for the districts is as follows: Mather District – October 10th Wawona District – October 11th Valley District – October 15 and 16 El Portal District – October 17 _______________________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)=======================================================ONGOING PROJECTSTioga Road Hydroseeding As part of the Tioga Road Rehabilitation project, contractors will begin hydroseeding Tioga Road from Olmstead Point to Little Blue Slide beginning September 27th to October 12th. As part of this work there will be single lane closures and pilot cars, with delays of up to 15 minutes, between 6AM and 8PM, Monday thru Friday. Some pullouts at Tenaya Lake and Tuolumne Meadows will also be closed to allow workers access. Please be patient and aware of workers on the road, and allow extra time to reach your destination. For questions, contact alisa_simonoff-smith@nps.gov. (A. Simonoff-Smith) _______________________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) _______________________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) _______________________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) _______________________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) _______________________ 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) _______________________ 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)