usbackroads destination--Hetch Hetchy the Tuolumne Yosemite.
The common perception is that there is only ONE Yosemite Valley. That is not true. As John Muir said "Yosemite is so wonderful that we are apt to regard it as an exceptional creation, the only valley of its kind in the world; but Nature is not so poor to have only one of anything".
Just twenty miles from Yosemite Valley is its identical twin. Hetch Hetchy. John Muir preferred to call it the Tuolumne Yosemite. It was at one time complete with a river flowing along the floor of the valley, but here it is the Tuolumne River rather than the Merced. Waterfalls grace this valley just like Yosemite. Wapama Falls booms its song across the landscape in spring. There are other falls just as spectacular and special as any in Yosemite Valley.
For more information on Hetch Hetchy is probably best to go to the source. In John Muir's book the Yosemite he devotes one whole chapter to Hetch Hetchy or the Tuolumne Yosemite as it should be called. You can find the book at used bookstores, Amazon, or the Gudenburg Project where it is available as free e-book download.
Why have you never heard about the Tuolumne Yosemite (Hetch Hetchy)?? Well, it seems back in the early 20th century the City of San Francisco looking for a cheap area to develop a reservoir for power and water. What is cheaper than using Federal land inside a National Park? So the city used its political influence to dam the Tuolumne River and flood the Tuolumne Yosemite. Yes, for cheap water and power the City of San Francisco dammed one of natures most spectacular valleys. It broke John's Muir heart and led to his early death.
If you look at a map of Yosemite National Park you will see a large lake just 20 miles north of Yosemite Valley. Very few people go there now to see a bathtub rim reservoir even though the waterfalls still thunder and fall into a lake rather than down to the valley floor. I talked to a Park Service Archaeologist that hiked down through the reservoir and that there is little sediment and the entire valley could be restored in a few short years.
There is an organization dedicated to restoring one of natures wonders: Restore Hetch Hetchy. Be sure to click on the photo archives to see what we have lost and what we can restore and enjoy once again.
In 1986, President Ronald Reagan proposed to provide power and water from other Federal water projects and undam the Tuolumne Yosemite (Hetch Hetchy). I jumped for joy. I had hiked the trails that rim the reservoir and did the entire hike through the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne that stops just short of its most spectacular feature the Tuolumne Yosemite that is buried under a 175 feet of water. Surely, no one with oppose this sensible proposal.
With President Reagan in support surely the environmental movement and the city of San Francisco would be willing to support the restoration of one of natures most spectacular landscapes. Editorials in the Los Angeles Times, Sacramento Bee, and the Wenatchee World have discussed the need for the restoration of the valley. Unfortunately, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Diane Feinstein have refused to consider removing the dam. Though they have supported removal of the Snake River dams in Washington and the draining of Lake Powell in Utah they have been irresponsible in defending the continued flooding of the Tuolumne Yosemite. President Bush and Governor Swartzenager have supported studies regarding removal of the dam.
Unfortunately, it will it take significant public pressure on the City of San Francisco to get them to show SOME environmental awareness and redress a wrong in this nation's history.
Take the drive to the Tuolumne Yosemite (Hetch Hetchy) and see what the City of San Francisco has destroyed and marvel at why it continues to defend its inexcusable behavior. It is a scenic drive. Well, worth the time. Then write the President, your Senator and anybody that will listen on why we need to restore this special place inside of Yosemite National Park. Hike the trails and listen to the thunder of the waterfalls and dream about what can be once again.
There.....I can get off my soapbox now. Yosemite Valley is hardly a usbackroads spot, except maybe during a winter storm. The Tuolumne Yosemite can be that special spot where Americans can reconnect with what made Yosemite Valley so special a hundred years ago.
