This is Lady Sierra at her finest!!

People in Yosemite: A TimeLapse Study from Steven M. Bumgardner on Vimeo.

My favorite part of the video is the climbers. They look like insects crawling all over the rock. To learn more about the video click on the links above.

To give an example of how over shot Yosemite Valley is, and how many of those images are taken from the same places in the valley, I had to go through 50 pages of photos, with each page containing 50-60 photos, to find these 17 unique images. Is that nuts or what?

If you’d like to check out this gallery, here’s the link: Flickr Gallery, Uniquely Yosemite
I think my favorite shot is #13, it is so hilarious.

One of my images has been included in a gallery so far. It was one of the back lit rose images. Here’s the link to that: Flickr Gallery, Flower Macros
I consider it quite a compliment to be included in that gallery of macro images.

Current Situation: Yesterday firefighters completed fireline near the Tamarack Flat Campground Road. Smoke conditions in Yosemite Valley, foothill communities and other areas of the park are improving significantly. Today firefighters will continue restoring trails and fireline to their natural condition, mopping up hot spots, and removing hazard trees in order to open the roads as soon as possible.

Although road closures will remain in place through the Labor Day weekend, Yosemite Valley is open and accessible from Highway 140 via El Portal and Highway 41 from Wawona. In addition, visitors on the east side of the park can still access Tuolumne Meadows, Olmsted Point, and White Wolf via Highway 395 from Lee Vining. Hodgdon Meadow Campground remains open to visitors.

Special Announcements: The evacuation order for the community of Foresta will be lifted at 10:00 AM Friday, September 4, 2009. Residents and property owners with proof of residency or ownership will be allowed unrestricted access to private property and unburned areas in the immediate vicinity of Foresta.

If you are attending the Strawberry Festival at Camp Mather this weekend, please use the Evergreen Road. The Cherry Oil Road is closed through Monday due to traffic accessing fire camp at Drew Meadow.

The fire is now 85% contained and has burned 7354 acres.

At 7:30 PM on Monday, August 31, the evacuation of Old El Portal and Yosemite View Lodge was lifted. Residents are cautioned that the Big Meadow Fire remains only 55% contained and fire behavior could dictate additional evacuations in the future, so they should remain vigilant with irreplaceable documents and possessions ready to move. The evacuation of the Foresta community remains in place while firefighters continue to mop up hot spots and cut down hazardous dead and burned trees along access roads.

The fire is now at 4909 acres.

Unfortunately the same can’t be said for all the other fires burning in California. There are currently 11 fire burning out of control in the state with over 100,000 people evacuated from their homes. Sadly 2 firefighters on the Station Fire lost their lives on Sunday when their truck slid down an 800 foot hill side. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of these two men.

Once again I must thank all firefighters for the work they do. These are truly amazing men and women who risk their lives everyday and deserve all the thanks we can give them.

The fire is 16% percent contained with 900 personnel working the lines.

The state of emergency orders all state agencies to release personnel to help fight the fire.

Yosemite News and Lodging Info is reporting that officials are very concerned that the fire will move down into the Merced River Canyon and threaten the town of El Portal. There is also concern for the Crane Flat area. Crane Flat Campground has been evacuated.

I’m not sure of the size of the fire. I’ve read everything from 1200 to 3000 acres.

Here are the road closings in the area of the fire:

• The Big Oak Flat Road is closed from Highway 140 to Crane Flat and the Foresta road into the community of Foresta. There is no estimated time for the road to re-open.
• Tioga Road (Highway 120) from Big Oak Flat entrance station is open to Crane Flat, on to Tuolumne Meadows, and Highway 395.

The west facing webcam on Turtleback Dome has had some amazing views of the fire. Including this one from last night.

I’ll keep you guys updated as I get more info. If anyone else has any information, please comment on it.

The first news story out of Yosemite today is the evacuation of the Ahwahnee Hotel after a rockfall inthe Royal Arches area. 300 guest had to evacuated from the hotel. Large rocks tumbled into the valet parking lot damaging a few cars. No injuries have been reported. Park geologist are monitoring the area and will be evaluating the risk of bigger rockfalls. The hotel will be closed until Friday afternoon.

On top of that, a prescribed burn that was taking place at Big Meadow in Foresta appears to have gone out of control. MyYosemite.com is reporting that the fire is now burning up the hill from Foresta heading towards Hwy 120 and Crane Flat. Hwy 120 from Crane Flat into Yosemite Valley has been closed.In a news briefing at 4:00 PDT, officials reported that the fire had crossed Hwy 120 in a number of places and that fire crews were using the road as a fire break.

Yosemite Nature Notes 6: Maps