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Yosemite Newsletter An Update from the Yosemite Association
No. 43 - November 8, 2004

in this issue
  • Rescues on El Cap Challenge Rangers
  • Eadweard Muybridge - Father of High Tech?
  • When is the Best Time to Cross a Mountain Stream?
  • Kids Will Love This New Bug Book at Bedtime
  • Learn Your Birds with an Audio Bird Song Dictionary

  • Eadweard Muybridge - Father of High Tech?

    During a period of feverish creativity that commenced in 1872, pioneer Yosemite photographer Eadweard Muybridge succeeded for the first time in capturing high-speed motion photographically - the crucial breakthrough that made movies possible.

    In her National Book Critics Circle Award-winning biography entitled River of Shadows, Rebecca Solnit contends that Muybridge was the progenitor of Silicon Valley and Hollywood.

    Whether you agree with her thesis or not, the book "succeeds as a critical essay on Muybridge's art and a reflection on the meaning of space and time." (Publisher's Weekly)


    When is the Best Time to Cross a Mountain Stream?

    A recent issue of Backpacker magazine included the following advice about optimal times for stream crossings: "The best time to cross a stream is in the morning, when the flow is lowest. During the day, snowmelt can dramatically swell a stream. So if it's late in the day, consider camping streamside for the night and crossing in the morning."

    Was this actually good advice? Ph.D. candidate Jessica Lundquist made the topic the subject of her June article in Sierra Nature Notes.

    She concludes that the best time to cross a mountain stream depends on where you are, and points out that timing really is everything.


    Kids Will Love This New Bug Book at Bedtime

    From goodnight stories to goodnight kisses, the simple, cozy text of this appealing new children's book celebrates the special bedtime rituals that are so beloved by both parent and child.

    With its colorful butterflies, cozy caterpillars and dreamy ladybugs -- all in their cutest pajamas -- this is a book that readers will want to snuggle up with again and again.

    Award-winning artist Sylvia Long has teamed up with author and naturalist (and YA author and instructor) Michael Elsohn Ross to create a truly enchanting bedtime book.


    Learn Your Birds with an Audio Bird Song Dictionary

    This handy, palm-sized device allow you to quickly identify bird songs with the press of a button. It utilizes song cards (each featuring ten different bird songs), which are acitvated by the use of buttons on the face of the device.

    The package includes a song player with speaker, a single earbud for private listening, two song cards (twenty bird songs), an IdentiFlyer Guide, and three AAA batteries (already installed).

    The song cards are entitled 'Yard Birds One' and 'Yard Birds Two,' and include familiar birds such as the American robin, the mockingbird, the downy woodpecker, the red-winged blackbird, and the house finch. You can create a library of birdsongs by adding more song cards to your collection.

    The IdentiFlyer is designed for birders from beginner to expert of all ages.


    Rescues on El Cap Challenge Rangers

    Lincoln Else is one of the rangers who rappelled from the top of the snow-capped granite wall on Yosemite Valley's north rim last month and brought seven climbers in from the cold.

    Rescues on El Capitan are not nearly as common as searches for lost hikers. They generally occur with sudden weather changes, often in fall or spring. Even the best climbers in the world are caught flat-footed sometimes.

    It was a pretty gnarly situation," Else said. "Even with the best equipment, it's so hard to stay dry and warm on a wall, compared to camping in a tent."

    The rescue started Oct. 19, when officials decided after two days of heavy snowfall the climbers would need help. The climbers, who had been out for several days, had not signaled for help, but officials worried the storm had become too dangerous. As it turned out, two climbers - a Japanese team - already had died.

    To read more about the early winter rescues....
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