Yosemite Valley is a the North American national park version of a city. There are thousands of people tucked in under the trees and as you explore the different neighbourhoods, you eventually find all the amenities. The Valley is a good jumping off point to wilderness, but don’t expect to find wilderness in the Valley. Today we went on a walk to Mirror Lake and it reminded me of a more tranquil Central Park. Substitute the granite walls for buildings, add a few more people, turn up the city thrum in the background and you can imagine yourself in a wooded urban park. The trails are paved. The people smell like shampoo. The Valley is a convenient place to stay since it really does have a little of everything. It is car camping without the hassle of driving into town for provisions or a laundry run. With a bike, you can leave your tent and pedal to some of the world’s best rock routes within minutes. You practically don’t even have to pedal up hill. We’re bringing our bikes next time. On this trip we are doing the two minute commute to the crags by car. Traffic is not bad in this city.

The campgrounds are on the neglected side. Fire pits are stuck in the ground haphazardly. The toilets have seen better days. There is an overall feel and look of trampled ground, utility and lack of character. The campgrounds are no frills. Sites are tucked among the beautiful trees but they are close together so the camping is noisy if you have loud neighbours. The RVers and tenters are in the same areas so the tenters can’t avoid the sound of generators when the RVers crank up the electric appliances. At night there is the constant threat of bears ravaging your vehicle. It seems that most night, you hear someone chasing a bear out of the campground. Food storage is tightly regulated and excellent metal food lockers are provided, but the bears are still attracted to the campgrounds. In Lake Louise, Alberta, the national park service built an electric fence around the campground to keep the bears out. That might be an idea for Yosemite. It is radical, but I feel that the bears will always be attracted to the campground and a fence might stop some of them from becoming garbage bears. The other option is to get rid of the campgrounds. I don’t think you could make the camping set up any more bear proof than it is right now. A fence would stop all the interaction and would be better for the bears and the people. The rangers could also use the fence to keep the campers in during times of martial law.

Olivia and I came home and there was sign that the bear had been back. I guess he had been dreaming about the pile under the little house all winter. We rectified the mess and that evening, two bears were sniffing around the outhouse. One was slightly cinnamon and scruffy looking, the newcomer, and the other was the perp from last fall, a nice black, sleek bear. I threw rocks at them and chased them down the road. I need a slingshot to give them a whank in the butt. They came back in the evening. They got away with it. However, I caught them at it again in the morning. I didn’t know our pile smelled so good. I had to chase them down the road again. I went into town and bought door knobs to replace the latches, outhouse and house, and a latch bolt to lock the outhouse. I’m expecting them to be opening the door to the house next. They haven’t been back and we have a composting moretoreum on for the moment. Good luck bears, don’t get into too much trouble.