“Parkitecture” 68(2):3-5 by Charles Palmer - Yosemite Online

A Message from the President
Cover: This 1929
granite stairway
at Mirror Lake
was designed to
flow around the
existing landscape
features.
PHOTO COURTESY OF
CHARLES PALMER
One of the benefits of lousy winter weather in Yosemite is that it encourages us locals to
explore the rest of California. When you tire of days upon end of snow and rain and gray
skies, other regions of the state develop new allure. Wishfully you come to believe that if you
leave the park to find better weather, it will help change the climate back in Yosemite.
This winter has been particularly brutal (especially March, which we usually consider
a spring month), but the wonderful natural areas that I’ve been able to visit this year have
more than compensated. In December, for example, I visited my son at the Golden Gate Raptor
Observatory at Marin Headlands, where he was working as an intern. San Francisco and the
Golden Gate Bridge, not to mention the hundreds of hawks that passed overhead, were brilliant in
the sunlight, and things stayed mercifully dry.
A February trip to Cambria, at the south end of the Big Sur coast, was another great getaway.
Things were windy, but clear, and thousands of elephant seals lolled on the beaches north of town.
Long walks on the beach, uninterrupted by snow or rain, proved very consoling. And a birding
excursion to the Panoche Valley (in San Benito County) at the end of the month introduced me to
an entire new section of the state. The area is rich with birdlife, particularly raptors (we saw fifteen
different species), and a stop at Mercey Hot Springs was highlighted by glimpses of long-eared,
great-horned, and barn owls in a stand of tamarisk trees.
California is a remarkable state, as my winter experiences proved, but even my travels elsewhere
in hopes of altering the weather pattern in Yosemite were futile. You could have predicted that it
would rain for our Spring Forum on March 25, and it did. In fact, it poured. Our members were
undaunted, gallantly hiking, birding, poling, and recreating in all-day-long showers. The event was
unquestionably successful, and we thank our presenters, sponsors, and attendees for making it so.
As usual, The Ansel Adams Gallery, which hosted our reception on Friday night, the National Park
Service, DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite, and Redwood Creek Wines contributed generously to
the weekend, and we are very appreciative.
What’s coming up for spring? Let’s hope it’s not more rain. We have a variety of events, initiatives,
and programs scheduled, foremost among them our Yosemite Birding Festival from May
5-7. We’ll be opening up the Yosemite Art Center again for more free art classes, moving back into
soggy visitor centers and stores that have been closed for the winter, and welcoming our first crop
of dedicated YA volunteers for the season. Important in our mind is that you’ll be receiving a mailing
from us requesting a spring donation so that we can continue to make all this possible. We
hope you’ll respond with a generous gift.
As I watch the rain fall outside my office window here in El Portal, I encourage you to read YA’s
annual report included in this issue to see what your support has helped us
accomplish. Then you can make plans to visit Yosemite (is there an Outdoor
Adventure in your future?) and think lots of sunny thoughts. I can’t change the
weather, but maybe all of you collectively can!
Steven P. Medley, President
2
YOSEMITE ASSOCIATION, SPRING 2006