Yosemite reopens after 20-day closure
Smoke lingers as visitors return
Hikers and nature lovers returned to Yosemite National Park’s scenic valley Tuesday after a rare 20-day closure because of smoke from wildfires. Some said they didn’t mind the hazy air that obscured scenic vistas; others came prepared with eye drops and face masks.
Park officials also advised visitors to expect limited lodging and food services at Yosemite, one of the busiest national parks in the U.S., as it gets back to full speed following the longest closure in decades.
In Montana, hundreds of people were hastily evacuated from Glacier National Park where a wildfire destroyed at least nine homes and cabins in one of the park’s historic districts.
The hit to national parks comes as wildfires continue to rage across parts of the West. California, like several other states, has faced a longer and more destructive wildfire season because of drought, warmer weather attributed to climate change and homes built deeper into forests.
Yosemite’s closure came at the height of tourist season, costing the park and nearby communities millions of dollars. The park draws more than 600,000 visitors during a typical August, according to the National Park Service.
Undeterred by lingering haze, cars packed with visitors lined Yosemite’s entrance gates.
“It’s smoky, but you can see most of the mountains — just not the tops,” said Dutch tourist Gert Lammers, who entered a gate on the western side of the park near the town of El Portal, driving past fire crews and burned out cars and structures.
“We feel lucky that it’s open today,” said Lammers, 48, who heads back to Holland on Friday after a three-week tour of California with his wife and two children.
Others packed special gear.
“I brought face masks for breathing, and I brought eye drops because the smoke will irritate your eyes,” said Michael Aitken, 57, who has a permit to climb Half Dome later this week.
Standing at the usually scenic Tunnel View, Aitken listed what he could not see.
“Normally, I’d see mountains. On the left side you would see Half Dome from here, and you’d see Glacier Point,” he said. “But you can’t see any of it. You can just see outlines.”
Tens of thousands of visitors from across the globe had to cancel trips to Yosemite, which closed its valley and other areas on July 25 because of smoke from a nearby wildfire that has burned 150 square miles (389 square kilometers) and killed two firefighters since it started July 13. Though the blaze didn’t reach the heart of Yosemite Valley, it burned in remote areas of the park and choked popular areas with smoke.
Some fires still burned on hillsides near the park’s borders, several miles from the scenic valley.
As of Tuesday, all of the park was reopened except a major road from the south, Highway 41, and a popular park attraction known as Glacier Point that is expected to remain closed for at least another week, park officials said.
The fire in Montana’s Glacier National Park, meanwhile, raged through the park’s busiest area, prompting evacuations of an area with hundreds of summer homes, cabins and a lakefront lodge.
The lost buildings include the so-called Big House at Kelly’s Camp, a resort developed early last century serving auto travelers along Glacier’s famous Going-to-the-Sun Road, park officials said Tuesday. Also destroyed were a second cabin at the camp, seven private summer residences and other structures under park ownership.
Firefighters managed to save several historic structures that caught fire. Among them were the Lake McDonald Ranger station and the Wheeler Cabin, built by the family of former Montana U.S. Sen. Burton Wheeler. But the Wheeler boat house, several outbuildings on the property and a boathouse at the nearby Lake McDonald Ranger Station were lost, the park said.
Kristy Pancoast, a visitor to the park, took a photo showing the flames engulfing a cabin Sunday night.