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YOSEMITE NATURE NOTES 



Exfoliating granite of Turtleback 

 Dome west of Wawona Tunnel 



YV COULTERVILLE ROAD. The de- 

 m scending scar along the wooded 

 ^ slope opposite is the old Coulter- 

 ville Road, first wagon road into Yo- 

 semite Valley. This toll road, built with 

 private capital, reached the valley floor 

 June 17, 1874, one month before its 

 competitor the old Big Oak Flat Road. 

 The latter is located along the wooded 

 heights somewhat above the present Big 

 Oak Flat Road. The Coulterville Road is 

 narrow with an 18'^ grade in the last 

 1000 feet as compared to a 6% maxi- 

 mum on modern mountain roads. It 

 still receives limited use today. 



W RAVAGES OF FOREST FIRES. 



w. Across the canyon you can see the 

 ^ results of forest fires. One fire, 

 which occurred in 1941, was started 

 when electrical transmission wires were 

 blown down on dry underbrush. The 

 area is now being reseeded through the 

 action of the prevailing winds blowing 

 from the southwest. A five-year study 

 has shown remarkable recovery of 

 growth without the help of man. At a 

 greater distance and across the canyon 

 you can see dead trees from a Septem- 

 ber 195 3 fire when a series of dry light- 

 ning storms started different fires. 



MERCED ROAD Paralleling the 



Merced River below is the Merced Road, 

 called the 'All-Year Highway," leading 



in the town <>t Merced in the San Joa- 



iinin Valley some 80 miles distant. 



TREE ZONES — Between the tunnel 

 and Chinquapin you pass through zones 

 where the ponderosa pine and oak trees 

 give way to the sugar pine, Jeffrey pine 

 and lodgepole pine. Of special interest 

 is the sugar pine, a tall shaft frequently 

 clear for a hundred feet or more, its 

 arms flung wide. At certain seasons long 

 cones hang from the end of its branches. 

 The Pacific dogwood adds beauty 

 to this forest drive, especially in spring 

 when it is white with blossoms and in 

 autumn when the foliage turns red or 

 pink. (More can be learned about trees 

 in "Cone-bearing Trees of Yosemite" 

 and "Broadleaved Trees of Yosemite," 

 available at museums and gift shops.) 



W CHINQUAPIN. Chinquapin, 6,03 9 

 O feet in elevation, receives its name 

 from a flowering shrub common in the 

 area. This shrub grows in the Sierra at 

 an elevation from 3,000 to 8,000 feet. 

 It is from 1 to 8 feet tall and has a 

 smooth brown bark with a yellow un- 

 derside on the leaves. Related to the 

 now almost extinct American chestnut, 

 it bears burr-like fruit which may 

 sometimes be seen. Chinquapin, the 

 place, has been an important road and 

 trail junction since the 18 5 0's. Across 

 the highway from the service station is 

 the District Ranger's headquarters. 



yy HENNESS RIDGE. A fire lookout 

 — operates on a point on this ridge 

 * during the fire danger period. 



Visitors are welcome. 



LOGGING RAILROAD — About a 

 half-mile along the Henness Ridge road 

 are the remains of an old railroad bed 

 constructed and used by the Yosemite 

 Lumber Company between 1912 and 

 1924 before private lands within the 

 park were acquired. Running from El 

 Portal up to an area called Empire 



