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VOICE ONE:
This is Phoebe Zimmermann.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember withEXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today, we tell about one of themost famous national parks in the United States. You can find ithigh in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of the western state ofCalifornia. It is one of the most beautiful places in the country.Its name is Yosemite.
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Yosemite National Park is a placeof extremes. It has high mountains. It has valleys formed by ancientice that cut deep into the Earth millions of years ago. Water fromhigh in the mountains falls in many places to the green valley farbelow. There are thirteen beautiful waterfalls in Yosemite Valley.One of these waterfalls, Yosemite Falls, is the fifth highest onEarth.
Up in the mountains are clear lakes, quick-moving small rivers,and huge formations of rock. One huge rock is called Half Dome. Itrises more than two-thousand-seven-hundred meters into the air.
Yosemite has a beautiful slow-moving river and large grassy areaswhere you can see wild animals. More than sixty kinds of animalslive in the park. Deer are very common. You can see them almosteverywhere. They have little fear of humans. You might even see alarge black bear. You can also see two-hundred different kinds ofbirds.
In a place called the Mariposa Grove, visitors can see some ofthe largest, tallest and oldest living things on Earth. These arethe giant Sequoia Trees. One of these trees is called Grizzly Giant.It is more than one-thousand-eight-hundred years old. One tree isalmost ninety-meters tall. Another is more than ten meters around.The huge old trees can make you feel very, very small.
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The story of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the area that isYosemite National Park begins about five-hundred-million years ago.The area then was at the bottom of an ancient sea.
Scientists believe strong earthquakes forced the bottom of thesea to rise above the water. After millions of years, it was pushedup into the air to form land and mountains. At the same time, hotliquid rock from deep in the Earth pushed to the surface. Thisliquid rock slowly cooled. This cooling liquid formed a very hardrock known as granite.
Many centuries of rain caused huge rivers to move violentlythrough this area. Over time, these rivers cut deep into the newmountains. During the great Ice Age, millions of tons of ice cut andshaped the cooled granite to form giant rocks. Millions of yearslater these would become the giant rocks called Half Dome and ElCapitan in Yosemite Park.
VOICE ONE:
Humans have lived in the area of Yosemite for more thanfour-thousand years. The people who first lived there were hunters.Most were members of a tribe of Native Americans called the Miwok.They lived in Yosemite Valley near the river.
During the extremely cold winters, these people would move tolower, warmer areas. They would return when the winter months hadpassed.
The first white Americans may havebeen hunters looking for fur animals. A famous American hunter andexplorer named Joseph Walker passed through the area in theeighteen-thirties. He reported about the huge rock formations andsaid there was no way to reach the valley below.
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Citizens who had formed a military group were the first realmodern explorers of the valley. They were at war with the localIndians and came into the valley. The white soldiers called theIndians Yosemites. The valley was named for the Indian tribe. Soon,reports of its great natural beauty were sent all the way back toWashington, D.C.
In eighteen-sixty-four, a United States senator called forlegislation to give the Yosemite Valley to the state of Californiaas a public park. The legislation said the valley should bepreserved and protected. President Abraham Lincoln signed the billafter Congress approved it.
This event was extremely important in the history of the UnitedStates. It was the first time that a government had approved a lawto preserve and protect land because of its great beauty. The landwas to be kept for the public to enjoy. Yosemite became the firststate park. It was the first real park in the world. Ineighteen-ninety, it became a national park. The National ParkService is responsible for the park today. It is preserved andprotected for all people to enjoy.
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No major roads lead to Yosemite National Park. Visitors mustleave the highways and drive their cars over smaller roads. Yosemiteis about three-hundred-twenty kilometers east of San Francisco.
It is deep in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The roads leading tothe park pass over lower parts of the huge mountains. Then the roadgoes lower and lower into the area of the park called YosemiteValley.
Visitors can stay in different kinds of places in Yosemite Park.Several beautiful old hotels have been built on the property. Someare very costly. Others cost less. Many people bring temporary clothhomes called tents. It costs only a few dollars a day to place atent in the approved areas.
Visitors can walk through many areas in the beautiful valley andthe mountains. These walking paths are called trails. The NationalPark Service has improved more than one-thousand-one-hundredkilometers of trails. It is fun to explore these trails. Some takeonly a few minutes to walk. Others can take several days tocomplete.
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People come from all over the world to climb one of the huge rockformations at Yosemite. The most famous of these is called ElCapitan. People who climb it call it “El Cap.” Climbing El Cap isonly for experts. This activity is called “hard rock climbing.” Itis extremely difficult and can be very dangerous.
A climber must have expert skill and great strength. The climb isstraight up the face of a rock wall. Experts say it can take aboutthree days to climb to the top of El Cap. The climbing is very slow.
Climbers must look for cracks in the rock. They place their handsand feet in the cracks and then work their way up. They also useropes and special equipment. From the bottom of the valley to thetop of El Cap is about one-thousand-one-hundred meters.
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In the summer months, Yosemite Park is filled with visitors.Large buses bring people from San Francisco to spend the day. Theyleave San Francisco very early in the morning and arrive back lateat night. They drive from one place to another to see Yosemite.Other visitors come by car. Some even come by bicycle. Some visitfor just a few hours. Others take several days or weeks to enjoy thepark. Many visitors come to Yosemite again and again. Aboutfour-million people visit the park every year.
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In the winter, heavy snow falls in the Sierra Nevada Mountainsand Yosemite. The snow usually begins to fall in the month ofNovember. Heavy snow forces some of the roads into Yosemite to closeduring the winter months. The National Park Service works hard tokeep most of the roads open.
Drivers must use special care because of ice and snow on theroads. They enjoy a special beauty never seen by the summervisitors. Many winter visitors come to Yosemite to spend their timeskiing at Badger Pass. Badger ski area is the oldest in California.It has a ski school for those who want to learn the exciting sport.
Many visitors come to enjoy the park with its heavy coat of whitesnow. In some areas the snow is many meters deep. Some of the tallmountains keep their snow until the last hot days of summer.
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Whenever visitors come to Yosemite, they experience great naturalbeauty. A visit to the park provides lasting memories of what naturehas produced. Most people who come to Yosemite usually bring acamera. They take many of pictures of the huge rocks, the beautifulYosemite Valley, the waterfalls and the giant trees.
But you do not really need a photograph to remember its greatnatural beauty. Yosemite will leave its image in your memoryforever.
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This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced byMario Ritter. This is Steve Ember.
VOICE ONE:
And this is Phoebe Zimmermann. Join us again next week foranother EXPLORATIONS program in VOA Special English.