Yosemite: One of the Most Famous National Parks in the US
Yosemite National Park is a place of extremes. Transcript of radio broadcast: 06 January 2009
VOICE ONE:
This is Phoebe Zimmermann.
VOICE TWO:
Half Dome in Yosemite National Park
And
this is Steve Ember with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today, we tell
about one of the most famous national parks in the United States. You can find it high in the Sierra Nevada
Mountains of the western state of California.
It is one of the most beautiful places in the country. Its name is Yosemite.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Yosemite
National Park is a place of extremes. It
has high mountains. It has valleys
formed by ancient ice that cut deep into the Earth millions of years ago. Water from high in the mountains falls in
many places to the green valley far below. There are thirteen beautiful
waterfalls in Yosemite Valley. One of
these waterfalls, Yosemite Falls, is the fifth highest on Earth.
Up in the mountains are clear lakes, quick-moving small
rivers, and huge formations of rock. One
huge rock is called Half Dome. It rises
more than two thousand seven hundred meters into the air.
Yosemite has a beautiful slow-moving river and large
grassy areas where you can see wild animals.
More than sixty kinds of animals live in the park. Deer are very
common. You can see them almost
everywhere. They have little fear of
humans. You might even see a large black
bear. You can also see two hundred
different kinds of birds.
In
a place called the Mariposa Grove, visitors can see some of the largest,
tallest and oldest living things on Earth.
These are the giant Sequoia Trees.
One of these trees is called Grizzly Giant. It is more than one thousand eight hundred
years old. One tree is almost ninety
meters tall. Another is more than ten
meters around. The huge old trees can
make you feel very, very small.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
The story of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and
the area that is Yosemite 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 the sea to rise above the
water. After millions of years, it was
pushed up into the air to form land and mountains. At the same time, hot liquid rock from deep
in the Earth pushed to the surface. This
liquid rock slowly cooled. This cooling
liquid formed a very hard rock known as granite.
Many
centuries of rain caused huge rivers to move violently through this area. Over time, these rivers cut deep into the
new mountains. During the great Ice Age,
millions of tons of ice cut and shaped the cooled granite to form giant
rocks. Millions of years later these
would become the giant rocks called Half Dome and El Capitan in Yosemite Park.
VOICE ONE:
Humans have lived in the area of Yosemite for more than
four thousand years. The first people
who 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 to lower, warmer
areas. They would return when the winter
months had passed.
The
first white Americans may have been hunters looking for fur animals. A famous American hunter and explorer named
Joseph Walker passed through the area in the eighteen thirties. He reported about the huge rock formations
and said there was no way to reach the valley below.
VOICE TWO:
Yosemite Valley
Citizens who had formed a military group were the first
real modern explorers of the valley.
They were at war with the local Indians and came into the valley. The
white soldiers called the Indians Yosemites.
The valley was named for the Indian tribe. Soon, reports of its great natural beauty
were sent all the way back to Washington, D.C.
In eighteen sixty-four, a United States senator called
for legislation to give the Yosemite Valley to the state of California as a
public park. The legislation said the
valley should be preserved and protected.
President Abraham Lincoln signed the bill after Congress approved
it.
This event was extremely important in the history of
the United States. It was the first time
that a government had approved a law to preserve and protect land because of
its great beauty. The land was to be kept
for the public to enjoy. Yosemite became
the first state park. It was the first
real park in the world. In eighteen
ninety, it became a national park. The
National Park Service is responsible for the park today. It is preserved and protected for all people
to enjoy.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
No
major roads lead to Yosemite National Park.
Visitors must leave the highways and drive their cars over smaller
roads. Yosemite is about three hundred
twenty kilometers east of San Francisco.
It
is deep in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
The roads leading to the park pass over lower parts of the huge
mountains. Then the road goes lower and
lower into the area of the park called Yosemite Valley.
Visitors
can stay in different kinds of places in Yosemite Park. Several beautiful old hotels have been built
on the property. Some are very
costly. Others cost less. Many people bring temporary cloth homes
called tents. It costs only a few
dollars a day to place a tent in the
approved areas.
Visitors
can walk through many areas in the beautiful valley and the mountains. These walking paths are called trails. The National Park Service has improved more
than one thousand one hundred kilometers of trails. It is fun to explore these trails. Some take only a few minutes to walk. Others can take several days to complete.
VOICE TWO:
El Capitan
People
come from all over the world to climb one of the huge rock formations at
Yosemite. The most famous of these is
called El Capitan. People who climb it
call it "El Cap." Climbing El Cap is
only for experts. This activity is
called "hard rock climbing." It is
extremely difficult and can be very dangerous.
A
climber must have expert skill and great strength. The climb is straight up the face of a rock
wall. Experts say it can take about
three 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 hands and feet in the cracks and then work their way up. They also use ropes and special equipment. From the bottom of the valley to the top of
El Cap is about one thousand one hundred meters.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
In the summer months, Yosemite Park is filled with
visitors. Large buses bring people from
San Francisco to spend the day.
They leave San
Francisco very early in the morning and arrive back late at night. They drive from one place to another to see
Yosemite. Other visitors come by car.
Some even come
by bicycle. Some visit for just a few
hours. Others take several days or weeks
to enjoy the park. Many visitors come
to Yosemite again and again. About four
million people visit the park every year.
VOICE TWO:
In
the winter, heavy snow falls in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and Yosemite. The snow usually begins to fall in the month
of November. Heavy snow forces some of
the roads into Yosemite to close during the winter months. The National Park Service works hard to keep
most of the roads open.
Drivers
must use special care because of ice and snow on the roads. They enjoy a
special beauty never seen by the summer visitors. Many winter visitors come to Yosemite to
spend their time skiing 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 winter snow. In some areas the snow is many meters
deep. Some of the tall mountains keep
their snow until the last hot days of summer.
VOICE ONE:
Whenever
visitors come to Yosemite, they experience great natural beauty. A visit to the park provides lasting
memories of what nature has produced.
Most people who come to Yosemite usually bring a camera. They take many of pictures of the huge rocks,
the beautiful Yosemite Valley, the waterfalls and the giant trees.
But
you do not really need a photograph to remember its great natural beauty. Yosemite will leave its image in your memory
forever.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
This
program was written by Paul Thompson. It
was produced by Mario Ritter. Our studio
engineer was David Bodington. This is
Steve Ember.
VOICE ONE:
And
this is Phoebe Zimmermann. Join us again
next week for another EXPLORATIONS program in VOA Special English.