Yosemite Lodging

Yosemite Lodging

There are many people who like to get cheap accommodation in the region of Yosemite. Some may want to see the culture, the history, the tourist attractions the landscapes and the scenery of the national park. Some may want to get cheap or luxury accommodation in the region of Yosemite. Some may want lodging that has good views of area, good prices and good facilities. Some may want lodging that has access to culture and to entertainment.

Yosemite National Park is a national park located in the eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California, United States. Yosemite has been visited by over 3.5 million people in a year, many of whom only spend time in the seven square miles of Yosemite Valley. Designated a World Heritage Site in 1984, Yosemite is internationally recognized for its spectacular granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, Giant Sequoia groves, and biological diversity. Almost 95% of the park is designated wilderness. Although not the first designated national park, Yosemite was a focal point in the development of the national park idea, largely owing to the work of people like John Muir and Galen Clark.

Yosemite is one of the largest and least fragmented habitat blocks in the Sierra Nevada, and the park supports a diversity of plants and animals. The park has an elevation range from 2,000 to 13,114 feet (600 to 4,000 m) and contains five major vegetation zones: chaparral/oak woodland, lower montane, upper montane, subalpine, and alpine.

The geology of the Yosemite area is characterized by granitic rocks and remnants of older rock. About 10 million years ago, the Sierra Nevada was uplifted and then tilted to form its relatively gentle western slopes and the more dramatic eastern slopes. The uplift increased the steepness of stream and river beds, resulting in formation of deep, narrow canyons. About 1 million years ago, snow and ice accumulated, forming glaciers at the higher alpine meadows that moved down the river valleys. Ice thickness in Yosemite Valley may have reached 4,000 feet (1200 m) during the early glacial episode. The downslope movement of the ice masses cut and sculpted the U-shaped valley that attracts so many visitors to its scenic vistas today.

Yosemite National Park is located in the central Sierra Nevada of California. It takes approximately 3.5 hours to drive to the park from San Francisco and approximately 6 hours from Los Angeles. Yosemite is surrounded by wilderness areas: the Ansel Adams Wilderness to the southeast, the Hoover Wilderness to the northeast, and the Emigrant Wilderness to the north.

The Cathedral Lakes are two lakes located near Cathedral Peak in California. They are at elevations between 9,000 feet and 10,000 feet above sea level. The lakes are beside the John Muir Trail and are a round trip hike of 7 miles from the trailhead in Yosemite National Park's Tuolumne Meadows.

The Tuolumne River is one of the major rivers draining the western slope Sierra Nevada mountains of California. It is the slightly larger northern neighbor of the Merced River; both originate in Yosemite National Park. Through successive ice ages, glaciers carved valleys for both the Merced River and the Tuolumne River through what is now Yosemite National Park.

Merced River is in California. Its headwaters are in the southern half of Yosemite National Park. The river flows into Yosemite Valley. Much of the water is stored behind the New Exchequer dam in Lake McClure, and diverted by the Merced Irrigation District at the Crocker-Huffman diversion dam. The remainder of the water flows southwest through foothills, and then across the San Joaquin Valley to join the San Joaquin River.

Almost all of the landforms in the Yosemite area are cut from the granitic rock of the Sierra Nevada Batholith (a batholith is a large mass of intrusive igneous rock that formed deep below the surface). About 5% of the park (mostly in its eastern margin near Mount Dana) are from metamorphosed volcanic and sedimentary rocks. These rocks are called roof pendants because they were once the roof of the underlying granitic rock.

Erosion acting upon different types of uplift-created joint and fracture systems is responsible for creating the valleys, canyons, domes, and other features we see today. These joints and fracture systems do not move, and are therefore not faults. Spacing between joints is controlled by the amount of silica in the granite and granodiorite rocks; more silica tends to create a more resistant rock, resulting in larger spaces between joints and fractures.

Pillars and columns, such as Washington Column and Lost Arrow, are created by cross joints. Erosion acting on master joints is responsible for creating valleys and later canyons. The single most erosive force over the last few million years has been large alpine glaciers, which have turned the previously V-shaped river-cut valleys into U-shaped glacial-cut canyons (such as Yosemite Valley and Hetch Hetchy Valley). Exfoliation (caused by the tendency of crystals in plutonic rocks to expand at the surface) acting on granitic rock with widely spaced joints is responsible for creating domes such as Half Dome and North Dome and inset arches like Royal Arches.

The Sierra Nevada Batholith is a large batholith which forms the core of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California, USA, exposed at the surface as granite.

Yosemite Valley represents only one percent of the park area, but this is where most visitors arrive and stay. El Capitan, a prominent granite cliff that looms over the valley, is one of the most popular rock climbing destinations in the world because of its diverse range of climbing routes in addition to its year-round accessibility.

The known history of the Yosemite area started with Ahwahnechee and Paiute peoples who inhabited the central Sierra Nevada region of California that now includes Yosemite National Park. At the time when the first non-indigenous people entered the area, a band of Native Americans called the Ahwahnechee[1] lived in Yosemite Valley. The California Gold Rush in the mid-19th century greatly increased the number of non-indigenous people in the area. Conflict ensued as part of the Mariposa Wars, and the Mariposa Battalion entered Yosemite Valley in 1851 while in pursuit of the Ahwaneechees led by Chief Tenaya. Accounts from this battalion were the first confirmed cases of Caucasians entering the valley.

The Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove were ceded to California as a state park, in 1864, with Galen Clark as its first guardian. Access to the park by tourists improved in the early years of the park and conditions in the Valley were made more hospitable. Naturalist John Muir and others soon became alarmed about over-exploitation of the area, and helped push through the creation of Yosemite National Park in 1890. It would not be until 1906 that the Valley and Grove would be added.

Jurisdiction of the park was first under the United States Army's 4th Cavalry Regiment, and was transferred to the National Park Service in 1916. Many improvements to the park made through this entire time induced dramatic increases in visitation. Controversies did arise along the way; the most notable was the failed fight to save Hetch Hetchy Valley from becoming a reservoir and hydroelectric power plant. Since then, about 94% of the park has been set aside in a highly protected wilderness area, and other protected areas were added adjacent to the park. The once-famous Yosemite Firefall, created by red hot embers being pushed off of a cliff near Glacier Point at night, has been discontinued.

Displaced Native Americans from the coast of California moved to the Sierra Nevada in the early to mid-19th century. They brought their experiences with Spanish food, technology, and clothing as they joined tribes in the mountains. Together they raided ranchos on the coast and drove herds of horses to the Sierra, where horse meat became a major new food source.

Wawona was an Indian encampment in what is now the southwestern part of the park. Settler Galen Clark discovered the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoia in Wawona in 1857. Simple lodgings were built, as were roads to the area. In 1879, the Wawona Hotel was built to serve tourists visiting the Grove. As tourism increased, so did the number of trails and hotels.

Yosemite Valley is a world-famous scenic location in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. It is the centerpiece of Yosemite National Park, attracting visitors from all parts of the globe.

The Valley is the point of entry into the park for the majority of visitors, and a bustling hub of activity during "tourist season", with an array of visitor facilities clustered in the middle. There are both hiking trail loops that stay within the valley and trailheads that lead to higher elevations — all of which afford glimpses of the park's many scenic wonders. Yosemite Valley is located on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains, 150 miles due east of San Francisco. It stretches for 7 miles in a roughly east-west direction, with an average width of about 1 mile. More than half a dozen creeks tumble from hanging valleys at the top of granite cliffs that can rise 3000-4000 feet above the valley floor, which itself is 4000 ft above sea level. These streams combine into the Merced River, which flows out from the western end of the valley, down the rest of its canyon to the San Joaquin Valley. The flat floor of Yosemite Valley holds both forest and large open meadows, which provide breathtaking views of the surrounding crests and waterfalls.

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