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Mariposa County, Calif.--From the tiniest butterfly to Yosemite National
Park's massive Half Dome, Mariposa County lives life large. Unparalleled
grandeur is the backdrop for a vacation guaranteed to surpass your
expectations! Be sure to visit the tallest waterfalls in North America
(Yosemite Falls, 2,425 ft.; Sentinel Fall, 2,000 ft. and Ribbon Fall, 1,612
ft.)
Mariposa County's Yosemite National Park Waterfalls in Yosemite Valley,
Calif.
You'll Strike it Rich on a Mariposa County Vacation
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By: Debbie Stock
In ghost towns, forests, and mountains that whisper the history
of thousands of years, Mariposa County's famed Yosemite National Park is a
worthy moniker associated with a county whose name in Spanish means
"butterfly". One of California's counties that vacationers might
otherwise overlook features the striking Half Dome monolith, a natural rock
formation immortalized by Ansel Adams in dramatic black & white photographs.
The famous photographer who invented the zone system is remembered for his
contributions to preservation and promotion of the region, including the
annual
Bracebridge Dinner that he helped shape. With a love of culture and an
eye toward nature, he artfully captured the essence of
striking mountain formations carved by glaciers, and became one of the best
promoters of Yosemite, selling his photographs of the park to collectors
around the globe. While the Ansel Adams Gallery inside the park sells his
prints at affordable prices, his original collection has been valued at $250
million, and a single photo sold in 2006 for over $600,000!
The beloved Yosemite that Adams so fiercely
fought to preserve is today focused on conservation. "With kids
facing urban challenges such as weight and health problems, the
real story here is that the park offers them opportunities to
become involved and engaged in healthy living," said Kenny Karst,
public relations director for Delaware North Corporation (DNC),
the park's official concessionaire. DNC developed and
implemented GreenPath, the company's proprietary and
award-winning environmental stewardship program which began in
the early 1990s with its Yosemite National Park operations,
including luxury hotels
Ahwahnee and Tenaya.
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It takes a
huge effort to protect Yosemite's fragile ecosystem, according to U.S.
Department of Interior National Park Service's Ranger Kari Cobb, who
meets and greets some of the three million annual travelers who visit
Yosemite Valley. Paved paths designed to keep tourists from trampling the
pristine meadows, and a policy that prohibits removing anything from the
park (including pine cones,) help minimize and mitigate damage caused by
millions of cars, campers, tour buses and people.
Who wouldn't want to protect and preserve this
paradise? Mariposa's butterflies gracefully meander in meadows,
part of a magical, surreal scene framed by cascading
waterfalls that come to life in the spring, spilling melted
snowpack into the Merced River. A fantastic place to stay along
the river, Yosemite View Lodge in El Portal, sits on the western
edge of the national park less than 8 miles from the heart of
it all....read more> |
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Video of Scott Gediman, park ranger, at Yosemite Lower Falls
