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The parallel Tenaya Canyon and Little Yosemite Canyon glaciers were, at their largest, 2,000 feet (610 m) deep where they flowed into the Yosemite Valley near the base of Half Dome. They also formed Clouds Rest behind Half Dome as an arête .
Humans may have lived in the Yosemite area as long as 8,000 to 10,000 years ago. [1] Habitation of the Yosemite Valley proper can be traced to about 3,000 years ago, when vegetation and game in the region was similar to that present today; the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada had acorns, deer, and salmon, while the eastern Sierra had pinyon nuts and obsidian. [2]
The great majority of Yosemite Valley's widening, for example, was due to joint-controlled rockfall. In fact, only 10% of its widening and 12% of its excavation are thought to be the result of glaciation. [3] Large, relatively unjointed volumes of granite form domes such as Half Dome and monoliths like the 3,604 ft (1,098 m) high El Capitan.
Now we know the valley and surrounding area as Yosemite National Park – one of America’s most popular national parks, with 3,897,070 million visitors in 2023 – designated in 1890. You have ...
Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove were ceded to California as a state park, and a board of commissioners was established two years later. [55] Galen Clark was appointed by the commission as the Grant's first guardian, but neither Clark nor the commissioners had the authority to evict homesteaders (which included Hutchings). [53]
The Hetch Hetchy Valley began as a V-shaped river canyon cut out by the ancestral Tuolumne River. About one million years ago, the extensive Sherwin glaciation widened, deepened and straightened river valleys along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, including Hetch Hetchy, Yosemite Valley, and Kings Canyon farther to the south. [12]
First, Whitney maintained that Yosemite Valley was created by a cataclysmic sinking of the valley floor. However, John Muir, who was exploring the Yosemite area during the same time, argued that the valley was carved by glacial action. Whitney derided Muir as an "ignoramus" and a "mere sheepherder."
Less crowded than Yosemite Valley, whose roads have been choked with visitors, Hetch Hetchy Valley is a half-forgotten realm filled with granite walls, tall falls and wildflowers.