Yosemite CLOSED!
Major parts of Yosemite National park are currently CLOSED due to smoke and the threat of nearby wildfire. As of noon yesterday Yosemite Valley, along with a few other parts of the park, were closed to visitors, and civilians in the area were evacuated. Link: Yosemite closure update at NPS.gov. Here's a webcam photo from this afternoon of the view of Yosemite Falls:
How bad is that smoke? Well, on a normal day the scene would look like this:
That's a picture of Yosemite Falls from our visit in May of last year.
Note, Yosemite itself is not on fire. Currently. The smoke is coming from the Ferguson Fire several miles away. It's filling Yosemite Valley and other parts of the western side of the park, making the air dangerous to breathe. And making roads to/from the park dangerous to travel and downing electrical lines.
Note also, this is not the same fire that clouded our travels through Yosemite and the Mammoth Lakes area a few weeks ago. Though the impact there was very noticeable it was way less severe than this. I'm glad we visited when we did because now is absolutely not the time to be planning to see Yosemite!
How bad is that smoke? Well, on a normal day the scene would look like this:
That's a picture of Yosemite Falls from our visit in May of last year.
Note, Yosemite itself is not on fire. Currently. The smoke is coming from the Ferguson Fire several miles away. It's filling Yosemite Valley and other parts of the western side of the park, making the air dangerous to breathe. And making roads to/from the park dangerous to travel and downing electrical lines.
Note also, this is not the same fire that clouded our travels through Yosemite and the Mammoth Lakes area a few weeks ago. Though the impact there was very noticeable it was way less severe than this. I'm glad we visited when we did because now is absolutely not the time to be planning to see Yosemite!