We drove to the Northwest corner of the park, to view the Hetch Hetchy Valley. John Muir called the Hetch Hetchy Valley “a wonderfully exact counterpart of the great Yosemite Valley”. In the 1880’s the Hetch Hetchy Valley had been looked at as a potential site for a new reservoir. The fight to stop the dam would go on for 30 years. The 1906 earthquake and fires that devastated San Francisco were the deciding factor. The O’Shaughnessy Dam was completed in 1923, with additional height being completed in 1938. Today, the 117-billion-gallon reservoir supplies water to 2.4 million Bay Area residents. It also supplies hydro-electric power generated by two plants located downstream.
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| The O'Shaughnessy Dam from the upper road |
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| It's pretty scary standing on the top of the dam looking down |
The Hetch Hetchy Valley, and the dam built there, are controversy to this day. We have noticed that whenever this topic comes up, everyone has an opinion. Some say the dam should be removed and the Hetch Hetchy Valley should be restored to what it could have been. Others say to leave the dam. Removing it would just create another valley overcrowded with tourists and shops. Still, others say that it is the prime example of why there should be a dam placed in Yosemite Valley. One thing is for sure; the park service does not take the visitors to this area lightly. Before entering the dam area, you go through a park service entrance where they give you a numbered visitor sign to put in the front window of your car. The hours to the dam are limited and there are signs that state the area may be evacuated immediately in times of heightened security.
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| The reservior is not open to any kind of swimming or boating. The lone boat belongs to the National Park Service |
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| Looking down the dam wall |
It wasn’t nearly as crowed as some of the other places we visited so far, but it was worth the drive out to see the history and dam itself.
We also stopped for a few minutes to check out the climbers on El Capitan. Over the past few days, there has been a lot of talk around the park of the first man with cerebral palsy to scale El Capitan. They figure it will take him 4-5 days to complete the climb. When we drove through the area where people stop to view the climbers, the cars were pulled over to the side of the road, in some places two cars deep. There were people all over in the meadow with their binoculars and telescopes to check it out. We never did find those climbers, but we did find several other groups.
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| I am sure that there were a hundred people on the side of the mountian, but we found these two |
Our time in this part of the park is wrapping up. We only have one more day here at the Wawona area. The weather has been ideal and we have slept with our window open every night. The days are pleasant and have encouraged us to get out and see the park.
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