Yosemite Geography

Yosemite is one of the top ten most visited national parks which was established on October 1, 1890, making it the third national park in the United States. Since then over four million visitors come to the Yosemite Valley annually according to national geographic. Yosemite is sought to be a place for the people because it caters for many different types like hikers, photographers, adventurers and much more.
Yosemite went through two geological stages, first off metamorphic rocks went through deformation and deposition which led to the formation of granitic rocks. Next over a long span of time the uplift, erosion, and glaciation of the rocks formed the landscape we see today. It all started when large amounts of sand and mud eroded from ancient

Some park broachers even mention that some park features and or activities are only available in certain seasons. During the winter, Yosemite is cold and wet. Around seventy percent of the year’s precipitation falls between November and March, as snow. In autumn, the snow is usually light and melts quickly but around November the floor is cold enough for the snow to accumulate. At higher elevations around Yosemite, snow fall can occur earlier. Summer is quite different. Summers tend to be warm and dry in Yosemite. Yosemite receives less than five percent of its annual precipitation in summer. During the daytime, Yosemite can get up to 100 degrees. Around nightfall, it does get cooler. Although skies are clear in Yosemite, thunderstorms do happen in summer afternoons. Thunderstorms usually form at higher elevations, and can be rough. They can bring lightning, thunder, and hail. Even if this does occur throughout the day, it tends to clear up by

Deciding on my favorite part of the trip was part so I had to choose my top two. My first would have to be arriving to Yosemite falls and the story of the 2006 landslide that hit the road. My favorite part of arriving to Yosemite falls was the fact that we had to work for it. The incline was not my favorite part and it was quite hot. At one instance I asked myself if it was really worth it but alas when we got to Yosemite falls I realized it really was. The way the falls fell and the sound of the falls was just something that could only be described as magical. In my other favorite moment, was the story of the landslide. I wouldn’t say that that was great but the bridges were pretty interesting since they were made as “temporary “solution. This landslide called the “Ferguson landslide” “slide of about 800,000 m3 buried California state highway 140, one of many routes into heavily-visited Yosemite National Park.” (Verlag, 2008). Due to this temporary bridges were built which allows one-way traffic around the side and into the park. The slide resulted from the erosion dynamics of the river valley. Throughout the trip we also saw dirt mounds around the trees as well as lichens. Lichens are a slow growing plants that branch on trees. One thing that I found fascinating was while passing by two people I overheard a man telling a woman that Yosemite falls stops flowing in late August.