Astronomy at Yosemite

I just spent the weekend at Yosemite hiking during the day and doing astronomy during the night.

Yosemite National Park is truly one of the most beautiful places on Earth and I found this to be true both in the daylight and at night.

I did not do this alone.  I traveled with friends and shared the sky with many, many people that were truly from around the world.

I'm a member of the Sonoma County Astronomical Society and every year we get to stay at Bridalveil Creek campgrounds for the weekend while hosting an astronomy program at Glacier Point each evening.  Different clubs do this for most of the summer.  This past weekend was our turn.

I arrived at Glacier Point right at dusk to quickly setup my telescope and hear John’s introduction to our program.  There were roughly ten telescopes already setup above the theater seating and below on the stage.  John gave a wonderful talk describing the reasons we are all fascinated with star watching.  I sensed a genuine interest growing with the guests.  The view behind him was fading into the darkness but magnificent nevertheless. The Glacier Point amphitheater has an amazing backdrop of Half Dome and the waterfalls, Nevada and Vernal, as well as the valley below.

During the observing, a woman seated on the outside edge the amphitheater, shouted that a bear was right next to her, grabbing her backpack.  All eyes moved down but because most of us did not have bright flashlights, we didn’t know exactly where to look.  My telescope was just above her and I noticed large body leaping over the rock boundary of the theater and into the trees.  She let out another scream, somewhat of despair when she realized the bear had stolen her backpack and that the pack contained her car keys!

Rangers appeared immediately with a shotgun loaded with rubber pellets and a radio receiver.  We surmised the pellets where similar to paintball BBs and, after talking to the rangers later, that the radio was to help track the bear that had a radio transmitter for identification.  They shortly found the abandoned pack and the bear.  A distinctive bang was heard when the bear was shot, partly to mark it and partly to scare it from approaching people in the future.  I hope it works!

The moon rose in the east, just right of Half Dome on schedule in the 10 o’clock hour, followed immediately by Jupiter.  As most visitors had departed shortly after the arrival of the bear, it was just a handful of non-astronomers who remained to watch the sight.  It’s amazing to see it come over a clear horizon line.  The mountains of Yosemite make for a wonderful view.  I was looking through Keith’s new 12 inch reflector at the sky glow when I noticed the first glimmer.  I was followed by everyone else watching naked eye.  With a clear landmark, it’s fun to watch how quickly the moon moves in the sky.  It’s hard to notice once it’s above the horizon, but when it’s low one can certainly notice the speed of the movement.

Yosemite is a world class destination for travelers and this evening was no exception.  During the two nights of observing I talked to people from India, Germany, France, England, Canada and Singapore.  Lucky for me, they all spoke English, a sharp contrast to when I have visited three of those countries.  I didn’t get back to camp until well after midnight and then needed to setup my tent, safely store my food, etc.  I was dead tired!

Saturday I woke eagerly looking forward to my planned hike.  I wanted to hike from the valley floor up to Nevada Falls, a hike I’ve done several times previously.  It was a warm day and, after a bit of socializing with my friends in camp, I started out for my hike at the warmest part of the day.

The first part of the trip is a paved walkway crowded with people.  The pavement ends at a cute little bridge over the Merced River.  From this spot there’s a great view of Vernal Falls.  This is the final destination for many hikers.

The next part of the trip is up the Mist Trail adjacent to the falls where the mist keeps the stone stairway wet all year round.  It ends near the top of Vernal Falls.  This path was more crowded than I have ever seen it.  Many hikers who had the smarts to hike earlier in the day were on their way down passing us going up on the narrow path.  There were many moments I had to stop and wait for a big crowd to pass.  It’s a steep trail and I didn’t mind the rest.

The top of Vernal Falls has a guard rail stopping people from getting near the water.  Many who have gone into the water never live to tell about it.  Just last month three people went over the falls.  This time I did not see anyone swimming in Emerald Pond which is just upstream from the falls.  I suspect the photos of the recently lost and yet unfound stapled to the warning signs caused even the most foolish to heed the warnings.

I wondered up passed Emerald Pond to a smaller unnamed waterfall, taking pictures and being awed by the beauty.  There’s a small bridge that traverses the water above this fall.  I crossed the bridge and started what I knew would be the steepest part of my journey.

Although I had refilled my water bottle at the first bridge, it wasn’t long before I was down to less than an inch remaining in my water bottle.  Seeing how I knew there is no known safe water further up, I decided to backtrack back down to the second bridge and take the trail up to John Muir Trail.  This is an alternate route back down to the first bridge and safe drinking water.

When I say it is the way down to the lower bridge, I actually mean it’s a steep climb up from the river to the trail before it descends back down to the bridge.  I was oh-so-close to my destination, but it wasn't meant to be on this trip. 

I was completely out of water before I arrived and very thirsty.  I filled and drank more than half of my 1000mL bottle before refilling it again for the remainder of the trip back down to the car.  See the GPS track that I recorded with my iPhone.  The battery ran out before I returned to my car, but it’s fun to see the track on a topo-map.  Enjoy!

Here's some info from the GPS track:

I was beat from the hike but knew another night of observing was ahead of me.  From my experience at RFO and China Camp doing public astronomy nights, I knew that I would be energized by the visitors again the second night.  I was not mistaken.

Another large crowd appeared before sunset and we were able to share the night sky again.  This night there was not bear, but other wildlife was present.

The viewing was better the second night because of the later arrival of the waning moon.  It was lead this night by Jupiter.  It was a surprise to most us that not only was it later, as we expected but that it moved about 2-3 degrees further north from where it came up the night before.

As is often the case when I observe with others, I am the last to depart.  This night, when I finished packing my telescope, there were only two people left at Glacier Point.  Two 20-something French women had arrived late for the star gazing but still wanted a show.  I think Keith had given them a tour of the constellations before he left and I also chatted with them before I left.  They planned to sleep at Glacier Point and were wondering if the bear would be a problem overnight.  Without food or anything smelling sweet, they would be safe.

I arrived back at camp to find I was not alone in feeling energized by the visitors.  There were several of my astronomy friends still up and standing around a campfire chatting about whatever comes up in the middle of the night.  Laughter was the constant of the wondering conversation.

I finally hit the sack about 1:30am, finally feeling the exhaustion that my day had brought.  The drive home on Sunday was long but felt warmed with memories of another wonderful visit to Yosemite National Park.

The small, unnamed waterfall above Emerald Pond.