2005 09 -- Yosemite Part III

Yosemite Part 3

During the summer when I worked at Yosemite, several incidents come to mind which were memorable. The first was my first encounter with the dangers of motorcycle riding. One of my buddy’s friends had a motorcycle and loved to ride down the winding roads leading from Yosemite Valley. It was a beautiful ride on a two lane road with steep canyons and rugged granite boulders. On one such ride, my friend’s friend noticed something not quite right with his front wheel. So he stopped and adjusted the problem. A few minutes later, the adjustment failed, he lost control and flipped over a granite guard rail—flying with the motorcycle down the steep ravine. Fortunately, someone came along right after the incident, provided first aid and got medical assistance. Also fortunately, there was no concussion. However, they had to amputate his foot which was crushed under the bike as he landed.

Lessons taught! Motorcycles are not toys. Don’t fix a motorcycle half way.
Lesson learned? Later that summer I rode on the back of a motor scooter several times. No helmet in those days.

***
The steep granite walls of Yosemite Valley provided a dramatic backdrop for a “Firefall”. Starting at about four o’clock each afternoon, a fire was lit at Glacier point using bark and other pine logs. The idea was to let the fire burn nicely down into coals which after dark could be shoved off the cliff with shovels and special broad rakes. From Camp Curry below, the effect was quite dramatic. When the sky was sufficiently dark, tradition involved shouting from above and below.

Above: “Hello Camp Curry!”
Below: “Hello Glacier Point!”
Above: “Are you ready?”
Below: “Let the Fire Fall!”

The coals were flung out over the edge and everyone below would “ooh and aah” in delight at the red embers cascading exactly like a glowing waterfall down the face of glacier point. The whole affair lasted about four or five minutes, but was always a special treat for those in the valley. Several concerns caused the firefall to be discontinued. It used a large amount of wood in a dwindling supply. Preparation was extensive. Uncontrolled fire was a possibility. Smoke was settling in the valley. And perhaps the major overriding factor was that the firefall was certainly not a natural phenomenon. As a result the practice was discontinued shortly after my summer in the Valley.

Lesson taught! Sometimes even nice ideas have to be discontinued.
Lesson learned? The Boy Scouts at Union Lake continued their own firefalls for another decade.

***
Even though I had negotiated working seven days a week stocking groceries in Yosemite Park & Curry Company’s Village Store, one week, I decided to revert to the more normal six days with one day off. In addition, I had earned another eight hours of vacation time, so I could string two days together for a backpacking trip. Mother and dad came up from Berkeley and together we hiked up the Grand Canyon of Tuolumne. That is the valley just north of Yosemite. Due to the prehistoric glacial action, most Sierra valleys run East/West. Like Yosemite, the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne is special for it’s glacial polish on the granite faces, rugged elevation changes and running water coursing through the canyon from several directions joining in the middle.

Our plan was carefully laid out. We had our backpacks, drinking cups (giardia was not a problem back then), camping stove, sufficient light weight food, sleeping bags and flashlights. Naturally, being younger, I had no problem with the hike and strolled along easily while my parents took a more leisurely pace. We got a nice early start and made good progress up the canyon. The whole journey was to take three days, but I only had two days off. So after the first night, I walked with my parents during the morning. It was then that we encountered a rattlesnake. It was sunning itself on a nice open granite place but as we approached, it startled us with it’s rattle. We had met rattlesnakes before and knowing of their poisonous bite, gave them due respect. Nevertheless, they are a curiosity, so we watched from a healthy distance as this one slithered away into a crevice.

Shortly after lunch I parted from my parents to continue the climb up the canyon alone so I would get to work the following evening on time. That’s when my day got more and more interesting. I saw another rattlesnake! It is one thing to encounter danger in a group and yet another to encounter it alone. It’s hard to describe the feeling I had when I saw that second snake. The surprise, the fear, the jump back and the pounding heart. The thought that there might be a companion snake. Little did I know what was yet in store for me. That afternoon I saw two more rattlesnakes. By the time the shadows lengthened into dusk, I imagined a rattlesnake under every rock, behind every branch and taking a drink at every stream. When I bedded down in my sleeping bag alone in a rustic campground, I imagined rattlesnakes crawling into my bag to keep warm. What would I do if one actually did that? Stay completely still until it left? Try to grab it and fling it aside? And if it did bite me, would I be able to apply a tourniquet? Would I run for help or stay still to not allow the poison to circulate? Four rattlesnakes in one day is enough for a lifetime!

Lesson taught! Hiking alone is not a good idea.
Lesson learned? I have since hiked alone and even enjoyed it.

***
My rattlesnake dream night passed uneventfully, though somewhat restlessly. I packed my gear and hiked up to the road to catch a ride back down into Yosemite Valley. It was the first time I had hitchhiked, so I didn’t know exactly what to expect. I stuck out my thumb and pretty soon a Volkswagen camper van stopped for me. This was the late 1960’s. The VW was painted psychedelic and the occupants were definitely of hippie quality. They wore the tie-dye shirts. The interior of the van smelled a bit of marijuana and in fact I was offered some. I declined. For them, the ride must have been pleasantly peaceful. For me, it was a nail-biter.

Lesson taught! Hitchhiking does have its risks.
Lesson learned? I’ve never hitchhiked again.

***
Two musical activities enhanced my Yosemite experience. The first was an employee chorus. We rehearsed in the non-denominational chapel in the valley. Employees with any talent and interest in singing rehearsed several times a week and got pretty good. Our leader was an encouraging employee of the Yosemite Park & Curry Company. I recall about fifteen chorus members. Our repertoire was from musicals. The most memorable performance was before the firefall at the Camp Curry campfire in which we sang “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever” and “I am I, Don Quixote”, from the Man of La Mancha. At least once, we performed at the Sunday service in the Chapel.

The other musical activity was my viola playing. After waking up at about 2 p.m., I’d have something to eat, then all afternoon was “free”. I brought a viola for the summer since it was a less valuable instrument than my violin and I didn’t want to risk the violin being stolen from our unsecured tent cabins. Subsequently I learned that violas are actually more at risk of being stolen due to the fact that more people want to get rid of them! So after lunch, I’d go down to the Merced riverbank, set up a portable music stand and work on the Bach unaccompanied cello suites transcribed for the viola. I learned them all during that summer, and even memorized the G major Sonata. It turns out that the memorization was pretty effective, as thirty five years later at the Berkeley Breakfast Club I performed the Sonata from memory with neither rehearsal nor music.

Lesson taught! Music and mountains go nicely together.
Lesson learned? Practiced skills can last a long time.

***
During a spring break from Cal, several of my fraternity buddies and I took a trip to Yosemite. One of the brothers, Steve Howard, was on the Daily Cal newspaper staff and had access to a great 4 x 4 Graphlex Camera. 4 x 4 stands for the size of the film—four inches by four inches. That allows for a very sharp image with a slow speed film. Steve was inspired by Ansel Adams and wanted to take some of the most gorgeous black and white Yosemite photographs ever taken. The camera was both a single lens reflex as well as a leaf shutter camera. In order to take a picture, you stood behind a hood and looked at the upside down image on a ground glass plate slid into the back of the camera. Then when you were all set, you slid out the glass plate and slid in the undeveloped film which was covered with a black slide. Removing the slide exposed the film to the inside of the camera box and when the shutter clicked open, the image was exposed onto the film. Then you slid the covering plate back over the film to keep subsequent light from spoiling the exposure. Film was a bit expensive, so we only took about fifteen shots, but each one was carefully set up, the exposure taken carefully and dials set on the camera, and double checked before we actually clicked the shutter. I was present when Steve did each photo and took a special interest in the whole process of about ten to fifteen minutes per shot. As a result of that interest, Steve invited me into the darkroom back in Berkeley when he was ready to develop the images.

The Daily Cal darkroom was in the basement of Eshleman Hall. So we went down there and Steve showed me how the film was processed. First you turn off the lights in the room so it’s pitch black. Then you open the film cartridges and remove each 4 by 4 sheet of film and insert it into a special holder designed to hold twenty films. Then you place the holder in the developer bath. This part of the process needs to be carefully timed. Since it’s pitch black in the room, a special timer with a lightly glowing face is put where it won’t affect the processing. We set the timer and gently shook the film back and forth in the liquid to make sure the developer covered all parts of the film equally.

The next step is to “fix” the developer. The timer is set again, the film is taken out of the developer solution and put into a fixing bath. As with the developer, we were most careful to gently shake the film to be sure that all parts got the right amount of fixer. Steve then said, “Okay, turn on the lights”. I did. And there before us were the most gorgeous pictures ever taken of Yosemite. As we looked at the negatives, and held them up to the light, they unexplainably started to fade. It only took about ten seconds and the images actually disappeared before our eyes. Neither of us could understand what was happening at the moment. Then Steve exclaimed, “Oh no, I developed them twice and didn’t fix them”. In the dark, he had put them back in the developer bath instead of in the tray next to it which held the fixing solution. It was too late. The images were all gone. Every single one of them! At that moment we felt that the whole trip was wasted.

Lesson taught! If you work in the dark, have a plan.
Lesson learned? Fix what you develop.

***
On that same trip, my fraternity buddies and I wanted to climb the closed trail to the base of Yosemite Falls. Of course closed trails to 19 and 20 year olds present a challenge rather than an obstacle. Our attitude was, we’re young and healthy, whatever made the authorities close the trail must have been for old folks. So off we went. It was spectacular. We got almost right under the falls. Since it was Spring, the melting snow and ice was creating an enormous flow of water. Being right underneath the fantastic cascade gave us a sense of awe and the power of nature. Then it happened. When ice thaws off the face of the granite, it comes crashing down with enormous velocity. Icicles become spears hurtling off the cliff in random fashion. When four such spears staked their claim in a literal rectangle around me I exclaimed, “Whoa, that was close, let’s get out of here”. We got the message as to why the trail was closed and ran for cover.

Lesson taught! Authorities sometimes have reasons for their actions.
Lesson learned? Think beyond your impulses.

©Frank Bliss 2005 All rights reserved.20050901