By Glynn Wilson –
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. – Wildfire smoke from the Dome Fire wafted into the High Sierras this week, hovering over the granite monoliths in Yosemite and obscuring some views.
Burning north of Wawona Dome in Mariposa County, the fire grew from 300 acres Wednesday morning to 1,177 that night, according to fire officials, closing one of Yosemite’s favorite waterfall hikes, Chilnualna Falls Trail.
The fire was first spotted Tuesday morning about a quarter mile north of Chilnualna Falls, and burned through about 100 acres that first day. Then it moved on over steep terrain and the afternoon winds pushed it up to burn another 200 acres the next day.
Sources say it could have been slowed and stopped if fire officials had jumped on it with aerial spraying, but for some reason there was a delay. The first real progress came late Thursday, as Cal Fire reported 10 percent containment with acreage holding at 1,177. An interagency management team took command, officials say, and three more hotshot crews were flown in, doubling the number of firefighters in a day from 187 to 386.
Chilnualna Falls Trail is closed from the top of the falls to Buena Vista and Crescent lakes. Park officials say both lakes can still be reached from the east. Wilderness hiking and camping permit holders should check the closure map.
The closure order runs through at least September 23 and may be extended, officials said.
Smoke is visible from Wawona Road, Highway 41 for anyone coming up from Oakhurst, and air quality in the park has shifted from good to unhealthy. Park officials say there is no immediate threat to infrastructure or developed areas, though that assessment came before the big jump.
Wawona itself remains open, and the rest of the park is operating normally.
While the smoke was visible from all over Yosemite Valley Wednesday and Thursday, it remained high in the air and the wind seemed to carry it away from park visitors and campers on the valley floor.
It was a lovely couple of days in the park, with high temperatures holding in the 60s in the daytime and lows in the 40s overnight. Perfect for a campfire, especially with free firewood from a woman in the campsite next door from San Diego. A woman lawyer from Lake Tahoe was camped on the other side in a nice Airstream with Starlink.
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