John Muirの知名度

John Muirは実際のところ、アメリカで有名なのでしょうか?残念ながら知名度ランキングは見当たりません。そこでAmazonのセールスランキングをしらべてみました。
John Muir:
The Wild Muir: Twenty-Two of John Muir’s Greatest Adventures #172,134
Meditations of John Muir: Nature’s Temple #319,046
My First Summer in the Sierra #253,887
The Yosemite #285,395
John Muir: The Eight Wilderness Discovery Books #174,390
The Wilderness World of John Muir #60,446
かなり苦戦のようです。
ちなみにAnsel Adamsは以下のとおりです
The Camera (Ansel Adams Photography, Book 1)  #14,738
The Negative (Ansel Adams Photography, Book 2)  #7,398
Americas Wilderness: The Photographs of Ansel Adams  #23,522
Examples : The Making of 40 Photographs #6,651
今年はLewisとClarkに率いられた探検隊が、初めてアメリカ大陸を横断して太平洋に到達してから200年目に当たります。彼らに関する本は
Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis Thomas Jefferson and the Opening of the American West #5,732
National Geographic Guide to the Lewis & Clark Trail #29,117
Lewis And Clark On The Trail Of Discovery : An Interactive History with Removable Artifacts (Lewis & Clark Expedition) #14,013
で、#1は
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6)でした。

YOSEMITE’S CLIMBING HISTORY

– Wednesday, March 23 – 7:00 PM – West Auditorium
50-60’sヨセミテ・クライミングの黎明期に活躍したクライマーのトム・フロストによるトークイベントが3/23夜にヴァレー・ビジターセンターのWest Auditoriumで行われます。

Tom Frost will present a talk at 7:00 PM in the West Auditorium.? Tom Frost is a major climbing figure from the 50s and 60s, contributed to gear design and climbing philosophy, helped Yvon Chouinard set up Patagonia, is in the Vertical Frontiers movie, is a well known American Alpine Club member, and worked with the Service to nominate Camp 4 to the National Register.? Everyone is welcome. (P. Chattey – 3/18/05)

Fresh Look At Yosemite

10年越し(計画から終了まで)のヨセミテ滝周辺の工事が終わったそうです。
San Jose Mercury Newsの一面記事になっています。
記事では http://www.yosemitefund.org を参考にしています。
工事費用の主な募金者:
$1.7M 入園料、連邦の基金
$1M  Sunset Magazinの(前)出版者Bill Lane
$1M Chevron Texaco(石油会社)
$1M  Mary Bell Floyd Memorial Fund
$500K ヨセミテライセンスプレートからの収益
SJ Mercuryのon-line版
Yosemite makeover
”In an effort to restore natural character, officials at Yosemite National Park have completed a $13.5 million renovation of the visitor areas around the base of Yosemite Falls.”

ハイブリッド・シャトルバス

NPSのDaily Reportによるとヴァレー内のシャトルバスが4月からハイブリッドシステムを搭載した新型車にリプレイスされるらしく、1号車が昨日到着したようです。燃費の大幅な改善と有害物質や騒音の削減ができるということです。
The 1st of 18 new hybrid electric shuttle buses will be arriving in Yosemite Valley today. The remaining 17 will be delivered to the park over the course of the next two months. The new hybrid fleet will replace the existing fleet of 1986 diesel buses currently servicing the in-Valley shuttle route. Hybrid electric propulsion technology, which was built by General Motors Allison Transmission Division, will significantly reduce fuel consumption (by up to 55%), harmful emissions (by up to 90%),? and vehicle noise. The 1st bus will be used to train drivers and mechanics, so it won’t see visitor service until April; however, the good folks who operate and maintain the shuttle system (Delaware North Company) will be happy to show it off to interested park employees. Be on the lookout for the new white and green “Yosemite Shuttle” bus with the battery pack on the roof !? (M. Wichmann – 3/8/05)?????

積雪量

現時点で平年より雪が多そうです。
5月末のTioga Road開通は微妙なところです。
The March 1st snow surveys showed that both the Merced River basin’s snowpack is 146% of average and the Tuolumne River basin’s snowpack is at 153% of average (water content) for this time of year