74 



YOSEMITE NATURE NOTES 



Scene in Old Village c. 1903 



tained by the National Park Service for 

 visitors who have their own camping 

 equipment. 



w CAMP 14. Continuing westward 

 * you see Camp 14 on your right. Be- 

 25 yond and across the Merced River 

 are Camps 1 5 and 7. In the summer 

 months interesting outdoor campfire 

 programs are given by National Park 

 Service ranger-naturalists nightly at 

 Camps 7 and 14, (except Sunday when 

 evening church services are conducted). 

 Before approaching the Camp Curry 

 intersection you will see an apple orchard 

 on your left. It was planted in the 

 1860's by James Lamon (pronounced 

 le-mon), one of the first homesteaders in 

 the valley. This relic of pioneer days is 

 now used as a parking area for Camp 

 Curry. In winter part of the parking 

 area is flooded and frozen over for a 

 skating rink. 



y CAMP CURRY. Camp Curry, one 

 m g of the most popular valley accom- 

 ^® modations, was founded by Mr. and 

 Mrs. David Curry in 1899. A grocery 



store, gift shop, cafeteria, dining room, 

 swimming pool, bicycle rental stand, 

 dance pavilion, garage and service sta- 

 tion, and sleeping accommodations are 

 located here. Camp Curry is open from 

 approximately May 15 to September 15. 



GLACIER POINT. Directly above Camp 

 Curry is the Overhanging Rock at Gla- 

 cier Point, 3,2 54 feet up from the valley 

 floor. There are three trails to Glacier 

 Point, 1 Vi miles, 5 miles and 11 miles in 

 length. By road it is 32 miles. In the 

 spring Staircase Falls can be seen cas- 

 cading from one ledge to another on the 

 cliff above. 



Across the valley the great granite 

 arcs are the exposed edges of rock shells 

 known as the ROYAL ARCHES. Streak- 

 ing down over the Royal Arches to the 

 left are ROYAL ARCHES CASCADES, 

 a striking 1000-foot springtime water- 

 fall. Above the Royal Arches is 

 NORTH DOME, 3,571 feet high. To 

 the right of the arches WASHING- 

 TON COLUMN rises like a tall sky- 

 scraper 1,912 feet above the valley. Less 

 spectacular than some other rock forms, 

 the Washington Column is still nearly 

 four times as high as the Washington 

 Monument. 



