Friday, July 30, 2010

The Deepest Canyon in Yosemite National Park: It's not named Yosemite!

Contrary to what many people might think, the Merced River is not the biggest river in Yosemite, and Yosemite Valley is not the deepest canyon in the national park. The honor of the deepest canyon and biggest river belongs to the Tuolumne. It is not a surprise that the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River is not well known. It is a roadless, and sometimes trackless wilderness that is seldom seen by park visitors. A drive to Hetch Hetchy reservoir gives only a hint of the huge canyon upstream, which in some places is 2,000 deeper than Yosemite Valley. The canyon of the Tuolumne also hosted the longest glaciers that ever existed in the Sierra Nevada.

I've only been able to visit the fringes of the deepest parts of the Tuolumne, but here, courtesy of Leor Pantilat, via the Yosemite Blog, is a beautiful video of a run down the canyon.

Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne HD from Leor Pantilat on Vimeo.

2 comments:

  1. This reminds me of the time, 20 years ago, our son said "let's day hike to whaterwheel falls". I don't think I could do it today. Thanks for sharing this.

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  2. I don't know whether to be miserable because I'm stuck in my office in the middle of Kansas or thankful that I have the internet and your blog to remind me that there's so much more to life.

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