Fall is in the air with cold nights and crisp cool days. The low last night was 29 degrees and it will be in the 60's today depending on what side of Yosemite Valley you are at. The south side is mostly in the shade now and does not get much above 40 degrees while if you are over on the north side in the sun it could be in 70's.

The fall colors are still hanging in there but are on their way out.

Today's photo is of Yosemite Falls at 9am and you can tell how cold it was last night by all the frozen ice hanging on the wall. As the sun warms it up the ice peels off and loud crashes can be heard.

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Bureaucrats hijack Yosemite bike race
Published online on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009
By Bill McEwen / The Fresno Bee
http://www.fresnobee.com/columnists/mcewen/story/1685902.html

Movie director Ken Burns and PBS teamed up recently to peddle the six-episode idea that America's national parks belong to all of us.

While this populist sentiment is appealing, it is a bald-faced lie. The national parks -- and Yosemite, in particular -- primarily are the insular reserves of government bureaucrats and environmentalists.

They are the ones who make the rules, many of which aim to ensure that fewer and fewer of us enjoy the parks we allegedly own.

Case in point: The Interior Department's behind-closed-doors decision not to allow the Tour of California bicycle race to begin a stage in Yosemite.

Yosemite is less park than political island. Think of it as America's version of the Vatican -- the difference being that they actually start bike races at St. Peter's Square.

Reasons for the denial cited by a park spokeswoman were so laughable they might've been poached from a Jay Leno monologue. My bad. Leno isn't nearly as funny as the gang at the parks service.

If you haven't had the time yet it is very well worth your time to take a trip over to the east side of Yosemite on the Hwy 120, Tioga Pass Road. The fall colors are vibrant all along the road and especially in the Tioga Pass, Lee Vining Canyon area. Every bush and tree is showing colors of yellow, red and orange.

Here is a grove of aspens at the bottom of Lee Vining Canyon. The other photos are looking back west up at the crest of the Sierra Nevada towards Yosemite from the bottom of Lee Vining Canyon and the last photo is a shot of Ellery Bowl at the top of Lee Vining Canyon.

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Family of Yosemite racoons inspire series of children's books
By DEBBIE CROFT
Sun-Star Correspondent

Who could have known that a family of raccoons residing under a porch in Yosemite would launch a series of books--written and published with artwork all done by the same person--and get children excited about not only reading, but about the world around them?

When Steve Riley and his brother lived in Curry Village while working in Yosemite, they discovered a raccoon family underneath their porch. Every night around 11 p.m. the two of them would sit outside to watch the furry critters.

There were three babies--all very small and very cute.

"One of them had a cut in his left ear, so we could tell him from the others," Steve said. "I sketched him with shorts and tennis shoes, and the story was born."

Ty Cooney is the main character in the National Wonders Series, which so far includes two books: "Little Ty Cooney and the Big Yosemite Race" and "Little Ty Cooney and the Big Yellowstone Mystery."

From the inside jacket of the one book, it says:

The Amgen Tour of California won't be returning to some portions of the Central Valley.

KMPH and KMPH.com
http://www.kmph.com/Global/story.asp?S=11353582

Yosemite National Park Officials confirm they've turned down an application by race organizers, which would have allowed the tour to go through the historic park.

The original proposal by Amgen tour officials included a route on 140, thru Yosemite Valley out through Highway 41, down through Oakhurst before making their way into Coarsegold and then onto the valley floor.

When that proposal was struck down, Amgen officials attempted to compromise with a shorter, 40 mile ride through the park.

However, according to park spokesman, Scott Gediman, the impact even with the shorter route would have been too great on visitors.

Gediman says that in order to have staffed the route and ensured the roadway was safe, organizers would have had to close down roads, which just wasn't an option.

The timing of the race also deterred park officials, with it being so close to Memorial Day Weekend.

Yosemite National Park regularly receives around 4 million visitors per year.

The sky can not get any more blue than it was today after yesterdays short rain storm. The air is crisp with temps in the 70's and no crowds. The fall colors are in full swing and should be around for another couple of weeks.

Today's photo brings you down to the Merced River in Yosemite Valley early this morning.

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The Half Dome Cables have been taken down for the season. The cables are taken down each fall and will be put up in the spring of 2010. Visitors are strongly advised against attempting to summit Half Dome without the cables in place as the rock under the cables is extremely slippery and may be wet and/or icy even in seemingly dry conditions.

Higher Cathedral Spire is the largest "free-standing pinnacle" in Northern America.

Cathedral Rocks and Cathedral Spires in Yosemite Valley are a prominent collection of cliffs, buttresses and pinnacles located on the south side of the valley near its entrance. There are three main summits to Cathedral Rocks dubbed Higher, Middle, and Lower Cathedral Rocks. Adjacent to Higher Cathedral Rock are the Higher and Lower Cathedral Spires, the most impressive spires in all of Yosemite NP. Higher Cathedral Rock is the highpoint of this group.

These photos were taken just south of the summit Higher Cathedral Rock and show climbers on Higher Spire.

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Public input sought on new Merced River plan
Published online on Friday, Oct. 16, 2009
By Mark Grossi / The Fresno Bee

http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/1676726.html

Out of the limelight, Yosemite National Park officials are drafting a plan to keep development and future crowds from making a mess of the pristine Tuolumne River -- the park's "other" major stream.

The Tuolumne has none of the legal problems or public controversy of the better-known Merced River in Yosemite Valley, where millions each year view the iconic panorama of Half Dome, El Capitan and Yosemite Falls.

Since the 1990s, the Merced has been at the center of activist lawsuits. The lawsuits have changed National Park Service policy nationally and forced a complete rewrite of the Merced River protection plan.
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New plan for Merced River in Yosemite
New plan for Merced River in Yosemite

Ending a decade of litigation over development plans for Yosemite Valley, federal officials gave up on Wednesday, agreeing to start from scratch.

Under an agreement filed in U.S. District Court in Fresno, the National Park Service will write a new plan for managing the Merced River and for making improvements in the valley, one of the world's most high-profile tourist destinations.