Tag: Yosemite National Park

Yosemite wildfire closes Mariposa Grove, forces evacuations

A fire is blazing across Yosemite’s Mariposa Grove.

One of America’s most beloved national parks is on fire. On July 7, the Yosemite National Park Facebook page announced the Washburn Fire. Estimated at 60-70 acres, the Yosemite wildfire forced the closure of Mariposa Grove, the park’s largest grove of giant sequoias. The area was evacuated, and Yosemite National Park’s website advises nearby residents to prepare for further evacuations.

According to The Guardian, the closure marks Yosemite’s first major shutdown since 1988. However, additional closures may be on the horizon as temperatures rise. Some park officials have specifically voiced concern for climate change’s disproportionate impact on national parks in the United States.

Fire in the middle of a forest.
Via Yosemite NPS Facebook.

“Every single one of our national parks is suffering from the effects of climate change, from record-breaking wildfires and droughts to rising sea levels and the destruction of cultural resources,” Stephanie Kodish, the climate change program director at the National Parks Conservation Association, wrote in June.

As firefighters work to suppress the Washburn Fire, many worry about what further environmental disasters may lie ahead. With protection measures limited after the Supreme Court decision to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from mandating emission reductions, national parks may need to prepare for additional emergencies.

“The decision, reached on a 6-3 partisan split, will have wide-ranging and deeply harmful consequences for air quality and the health of the climate,” Kodish added.

 

Yosemite ‘snake emergency’ prompts warning to visitors

Fires and smoke aren’t the only hazards visitors to Yosemite need to be concerned about these days, rattlesnakes are another serious threat.

Fires and smoke aren’t the only hazards visitors to Yosemite National Park need to be concerned about these days, rattlesnakes are another serious threat.

Park officials reported a noticeable uptick in rattlesnake bites in the greater Yosemite region this summer, and after two bites in a three-day period recently, they were prompted to issue a warning and advice on how to handle an encounter with a rattlesnake, also listing the dos and don’ts if bitten:

Keep your distance. Rattlesnakes can strike only a distance equal to half their own length.

Watch where you step or reach with your hands. Use extra care when opening and closing food lockers.

Stand still if you think you hear a snake. As soon as you’ve located the snake, move away.

Beware of snakes without a rattle—baby rattlesnakes don’t have rattles and adult rattles can break off.

If bitten, do remain calm and move slowly, and seek medical attention.

If bitten, don’t apply a tourniquet, apply ice to the wound or attempt to suck the venom out of the wound.

Hiking or backpacking with a satellite messenger might be another good piece of advice, as the latest incidents suggest.

A backpacker in the Glen Aulin area used a satellite messenger device on behalf of another backpacker to request a “snake emergency.”

The man in his mid-30s was bitten by a rattlesnake while fishing barefoot in the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne. The victim stepped on a rock, causing it to shift under his weight and suddenly a rattlesnake bit him on the left foot. It was apparently underneath the rock.

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The victim’s wife left to seek help while another backpacker stayed with her husband. She hooked up with the backpacker who had a satellite messenger device and reported the coordinates. A California Highway Patrol helicopter flew in for a rescue, and the victim was eventually transported to a Modesto hospital. He was treated and was expected to be released Friday Sept. 11 or Saturday Sept. 12, more than a week after being bitten.

yosemite rescue helicopter

Two days later, a hiker on steep terrain was with two others when bitten in the knee a few miles up the Chilnualna Falls trail in Wawona.

“We were on the trail, hiking by ankle-high shurbs, when out of the blue—with no rattle, no hiss, no sound whatsoever—a snake struck,” one hiker recalled to park officials.

The Yosemite Emergency Communications Center received a 911 call from one of the hikers. They originally put a tourniquet on the victim’s left leg above the wound, but a park ranger-paramedic told them to remove it immediately.

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“Applying a tourniquet to a limb that has been envenomated blocks blood flow and can lead to tissue damage,” Yosemite Search and Rescue reported. “For the same reason, do not apply ice to a rattlesnake bite.”

A contracted helicopter from Sequoia and Kings Canyon made the rescue. The victim was treated for dehydration, nausea and pain on the way to a hospital in Modesto. The victim was to be released over the weekend.

Photos courtesy of Yosemite National Park and Wikipedia Commons.