Schattentarn
A True Doomsday Prepper
No that is not the sun, GaRp58, that is the Fire Falls. They have not been in operation since 1969. Back then, Park employees would gather leaves, bush, sawdust, pile it up and set it on fire, pushing it over the side. As a young child I remember another child remarking that this must be happening because Yosemite would not allow fireworks and it was the 4th of July. They only did this during the summer tourist season. It was stopped at the very beginning of the environmental movement.
If you were there in the 1970s, you would be very disappointed now. Now it looks like Disneyland. There are one-way roads, trams, condos, five star restaurants, and concessioniars run the Valley. Family camping really began in the 1950s but never had the economic impact that European and Japanese tourists have, so we Americans lost our National Park. Now it is hard to take your car into Yosemite or make camping reservations anywhere within the park---unless you are staying and paying at the facilities there. Then, your bus, that you boarded when you landed at Fresno-Yosemite Airport, goes right in and you don't even pay a per person fee. Honestly, it is easier for a person living in Switzerland to see Yosemite now than it is for an American. I said "goodby" in 1992.
