Tourism overload

Some of you may know by now that Yosemite is pretty crazy, often times a little too crazy for my own good, or any ones for that matter. The visitor levels right now feel as though they have multiplied by 100 over the last week or so. Perhaps because it's memorial day weekend, beautiful out right now with all the waterfalls, or the economic crisis has forced folks to travel to closer locations. I don't know, what I do know is that it can be intense. This last week a women fell off a cliff into this very raging river that is pictured, a certain kind of mood swept over everyone here.
It all happened during a very crazy time; there were two days this week that seemed exceptionally off. Not only did this women end her short lived life in a long standing river, but to top it all off I had two injuries on my tram tours where both people needed medical attention. Fortunately the first injury was pretty minor and we hadn’t even left yet to where someone else could help her out and take her to the medical center. The second injury was all up to me at first. A woman fell off the tram while trying to get off and she fell flat on her back hitting her head pretty hard. Fortunately I have had medical training and I knew exactly what to do. I kept her attention and got all the pertinent information needed so when the EMT showed up I could tell them everything they needed. Yay wilderness first responder, it's already paying for itself! Now this was just all with in the first 40 minuets of the tour, I dealt with two accidents and still trying to make sure the rest of the group was enjoying themselves. After the second accident I was ready to throw in the towel, but we kept going, I started back where I left off before the accident and I hope everyone enjoyed them selves as best they could considering the situation. What a whirl wind of a tour, good thing it was my last for the day.

I head up to Glacier Point this weekend, it will be a slower, a less intense lifestyle; something I can work with for a longer period of time. (Picture by my friend Karen K.)

Life, the way it sould be.

I have been living here in Yosemite for almost a month now and it feels good to be back. On my drive in I got the nostalgic feeling I got when I arrived to Yosemite for the first time. The feeling of exploration, not knowing what was around the next bend of the road. Now that I am here and the crowds are moving in as quick as the water I still love being where I am.

Since I have been here there have been a few fun and exciting things happen. First and foremost Glacier Point road has opened and I will be moving up there Memorial Day weekend!

If you don’t already know, there is a 12 hour documentary that is being done on the national parks; it’s called something like “National Parks, Americas Great Idea”. This is a film done my Ken Burns, a very famous director of documentaries. He has done one on Jazz and Baseball. Of course Yosemite is in the film and a man I work with Shelton Johnson is a star in the movie (He is a star where ever he is). Anyway, Ken Burns was here finishing up the film and he gave a 90 min. preview to the film to only about 100 people, me being one of those. We got to see mostly Yosemite clips, for obvious reasons, but it was awesome. The cinematography was beautiful and breathe taking. Makes me what to visit many other parks, perhaps work there? The film will be released sometime in September on a PBS station near you. I’m sure the film will be shown in sections, which are separated out in chapters; Yosemite is shown in every chapter.
It was a great experience and listening to him talk was a great way to understand his passion and obsession for the National Parks.

Besides that I have been filling my time with hiking and work. I can leave from my front door, walk to the shuttle bus and hitch a ride to a trail head. Biking has been a breeze and I walk all over the place, often times walking for up to a couple hours at a time.