GLACIER POINT ENJOYED BY THOUSANDS. The Glacier Point Hotel, which was constructed some three years ago, has been more largely patronized this year than ever before, having been filled to capacity during much of the season. This hotel is necessarily closed in the middle of the winter on account of its inaccessibility, but plans are being considered by us for the possible construction of a shaft from the level of the valley floor to Glacier Point, which would make this spot far more accessible in winter than it is at the present time even in summer. It would have the added advantage of opening up the splendid slopes of the Sentinel Dome behind the hotel for winter sports and could be made one of the most unique winter resorts of the world. CAMP CURRY PLANS ENLARGEMENT. At Camp Curry, which is operated under the management of Mrs. D. A. Curry and her son, Foster Curry, improvements begun last year were brought to completion. The new bungalow unit of the camp has been especially popular. Before the opening of next season a number of the central buildings of the establishment will be rebuilt or enlarged, and other steps will be taken to extend the facilities of the camp to meet the demands of its ever-increasing patronage. NEW TRANSPORTATION ROUTES. A very interesting service performed by the Yosemite National Park Co. during the past summer was the providing of a combined automobile and rail trip to the Hetch Hetchy Valley. Although this was a new venture it was patronized to a considerable extent and gave many visitors the opportunity of seeing the famous Hetch Hetchy Valley and the extensive work which the city of San Francisco is doing at that point in connection with the development of its water supply. While visiting the park during the summer Mr. Harry Chandler, editor of the Los Angeles Times, conceived a plan to establish a most unique trip from Southern California to the Yosemite and Lake Tahoe. His idea was that two parties of about equal size should be started simultaneously from Los Angeles several times a week, one for Yosemite National Park and the other for Lake Tahoe; and from these points they should proceed in opposite directions by way of the Tioga Road to Lake Tahoe and Yosemite, respectively, using the same motor equipment and thus affording an opportunity for both groups to see both scenic areas by rail and automobile. The trip, of course, could have been made from many California points, but the plan was to initiate the tours in Los Angeles this year. Mr. Chandler, however, was unable to make arrangements with the railroad authorities for proper excursion rates. If this plan can be perfected next season it will make available in California a most interesting and thrilling combined automobile and railroad trip; one that in a few years will have a nation-wide reputation for varied scenery and recreation possibilities. MUCH TRAVEL BETWEEN YOSEMITE AND LAKE TAHOE. Meanwhile private motorists in great numbers have obtained a full measure of enjoyment by driving their cars over the Tioga Road and between Yosemite National Park and Lake Tahoe. In California this trip is already regarded as second to no other mountain tour. Mr. Chandler's plan would extend to people who are touring the country by train the opportunity to make this extraordinary trip through providing a method of sustaining a regular automobile line with reasonable rates for transportation service between Yosemite Valley and Lake Tahoe. EL CAMINO SIERRA AND THE TIOGA ROAD. Another extremely interesting feature of this season's travel to Yosemite is the general use of the road running north and south along the east base of the Sierra Nevada Range-El Camino Sierra. The road connecting Lake Tahoe and the Tioga Road is part of this route, and, of course, there was unusual travel over this section. But scores of cars came from the East and from Southern California over the lower portion of the highway, traversing Owens Valley and running the entire gamut of the Sierra as they rise sheer 8,000 to 11,000 feet above the automobile road. This and the Tahoe travel naturally made Tioga Pass one of the most important gateways to the park, and the Tioga Road became more popular as a motor thoroughfare than ever before. As automobile tours from the Eastern States increase, this gateway will grow more and more useful, and the time is not far distant when it will admit an enormous number of visitors to the park. Mr. George Horace Lorimer, editor of Saturday Evening Post, on visiting the Yosemite this past summer for the first time remarked, after his trip over the Tioga Road and up the El Camino Sierra to Lake Tahoe, that he considered it the most beautiful and varied run in America. ALL-YEAR-ROUND ROAD PROJECTED. Last winter while in the West investigating conditions in several parks with a view to developing winter sports, I induced a group of San Francisco business men, including several members of the Sierra Club, to accompany me to Yosemite Valley. The trip was made between Christmas and New Year's. A recent fall of snow had made the valley a winter fairyland more beautiful than any words can describe. Every member of the party was entranced by the spectacle, and while each enjoyed every moment of the days spent amid these sublime surroundings there was no one who failed to attempt the conception of a plan to make the valley more accessible in the winter season. At length it was suggested by Mr. Rudolph Spreckels that a drive be conducted in the State to raise a million dollars which, with certain State and Federal funds that were available, would build a road from Mariposa to El Portal on a low grade and below the line of heavy snows, and pave the highway the entire distance between Merced and the park boundary, thus joining the State highway system with the splendid new road that the Govern ment is building from El Portal to Yosemite Valley. Such a road would make possible a trip by automobile from most California points to the valley at any time of the year and under almost any weather conditions. Plans for this campaign were immediately developed, and the Yosemite Valley Highway Association with State-wide membership was organized, but investigation disclosed the fact that war-service drives and other public requests for voluntary contributions of money had so taxed the people that the prospects of success of a road-improvement campaign of this kind were not at all bright. Accordingly, authority was granted, with your approval, for the sale of certificates which would be exchangeable at the park gates for automobile season permits, these certificates to be sold at the uniform price of $5. The campaign is now in progress with every prospect of success. Meanwhile the State highway commission has let contracts for the construction of certain portions of the project, and it is hoped that the new road will be completed for summer travel in 1921, and for winter use late the same year or in the early months of 1922. PAVED ROAD PROGRAM FOR YOSEMITE. The completion of this paved road to the gates of the park will, of course, make it necessary for the Government to pave the new El Portal Highway and the road system of the valley floor. This paving ought to be done while the State's approach road is building, because the volume of travel that will enter the park the first season after the new highway is open will completely ruin our present graveled roads. Accordingly, I am submitting to you this month an estimate calling for an appropriation of $75,000 to begin the paving of the El Portal Road toward the valley. This fine highway, 20 feet in width, with a protective parapet of granite along the river, has already met with much praise from the tourists who have traveled over it, but its true value will not be appreciated until the State highway that will tie up with it has been completed from Merced to the park boundary. It must be remembered that at the present time it is impossible for the motorists to reach the valley by existing automobile roads until May because of snow conditions on the high level, but the new road will obviate all this, and there will be no difficulty on the part of the Park Service in keeping the roads in the valley open in ordinary winters, as the fall is light on the valley floor. THE YOSEMite valleY-NEVADA FALLS-TENAYA ROAD. In my outline of the year's activities of the engineering division, I mentioned the survey of a highway to connect Yosemite Valley with Tenaya Lake by way of Nevada Falls, Little Yosemite, Forsyth Pass, and the upper portion of Tenaya Canyon. This road is an essential project of the immediate future, and must be built to give quick access to the high Sierra section of the park and afford a means of relieving traffic congestion on the floor of Yosemite Valley. It will cost approximately a half million dollars, and it will take several years to complete the project. The route has been made especially complex and costly due to our successful effort to run a |