Yosemite closed due to snow.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.พ. 2025
- This year has been a record winter season. Record-shattering amounts of snow have fallen in Yosemite Valley and even more so in the high country. This video was shot on February 25th after the park had closed and all visitors and most employees had been evacuated. I was one of the last ones out from Yosemite West, forced to leave through the valley and out 140 through El Portal and Mariposa instead of south on 41 due to that highway being closed.
I set my iPhone on my dashcam brace and recorded driving through the valley capturing something most people will never see. Indeed, in my 38 years in Yosemite, this is the first time I have seen it void of people, so I figured it was worth recording.
The editing is minimal; boring stretches of driving are sped up 300% in an effort not to give you a headache and bore you to death. But here's what Yosemite looks like with no people. Think of this video on the Fourth of July when it's overrun with the human lemmings.
Thanks for telling us that you sped up parts of the video. I was wondering how anyone could be driving at high speed on that icy road.
This is one of the most beautiful but creepy videos at the same time. I don't know if it is because it is closed, the blowing winds, or just how inviting AND scary it looks. I am glad you are safe! Thank you so much for this one of a kind trip!
Thank you for sharing this video
It's beautiful deep in snow
Very tranquil and eerie with no humans around and the stillness such quiet magnificence
🌳This video gave me such a sense of peace and tranquility. The scenery of Yosemite National Park was beautiful and your narration was very soothing. I am a fan now, stay in touch.
Not me, the sped up video left me anxious.
thank you for sharing. I watched snuggled under a blanket with a cup in hand, from the European Atlantic coast where there's a snow dusting once every 12 years ! I went to Yosemite 30 years ago (when crowds were still "manageable") and it has a part of my heart since. Very special.
Thank you! That was a beautiful, peaceful trip through Yosemite!!
That was mesmerizing, and very soothing. Thank you!
I want to thank you for taking this video and sharing it on YT. I have camped and gone to Yosemite twice yearly for many years, but have not been there in winters due to working. We have been for many years, so I really enjoyed and appreciated your video of this epic winter snow.
I remember in summer 1997 going there seeing the high water post signs of the valley flood levels that spring, and how Disappearing Lake had really changed after the floods that caused it to revert back to a river.
Thanks again for sharing your video. ❤
Finally Yosemite can get some peace. ♥️🙏🌍🌎🌏
Yesssssss!!!!! 😁👏👏👏👍😃💖💖🦊🐻🦅🐸🐿🐢🐝🐟🦋🦎🐾🐀🐿🐻
Yeah! Go hug a tree before the crowd comes back. 😂
Beautiful! Felt like I was riding along in an Ansel Adams photo collage. Was there 20 years ago. One of my best vacations. A very special place.
Beautiful. I guess, nobody should be surprised to see snow in the mountains in the Winter. Hope the snow helps with the wildfire and drought conditions!
Beautiful and this equates to full Merced River in spring.
I was ‘stuck’ there winter of 82-83.. some of the best memories of my life and the Nordic skiing….
The 1st time I ever saw Yosemite was in May 1997 after the 100 year flood. The meadow below the Yosemite Talls was like a clear lake reflecting the falls. It was closed to campers then because of all the boulders coming down the Merced River which damaged the campgrounds.
Never seen that much snow in the lower valley. What a treat. Love winter in the park with so few visitors
Are you 4 billion years old ? Yosemite is
This happened to me a few years back. I think it was Winter of 2019. I had arrived super early, while it was still dark, and was out photographing all day and they closed the park while I was out shooting. I was pretty sure something was wrong when I got to that stretch before the chapel and found no cars...at all. Thanks for sharing this! It definitely is an amazing feeling to be in a place that iconic with all of that snow and feel that you have the place all to yourself. :)
This is very hypnotic. Also monochromatic, except for the signs little splashes of color.
Eerily beautiful. Imagine what the falls will look like once the melt occurs this Spring.😳 Infact, today is 3/26 and we're still waiting for Spring to arrive!
That was a great video. Thanks for sharing
I have never seen Yosemite Valley ever look like this, with everything covered with snow and no one there except a few national park service vehicles. All the times I have visited Yosemite Valley and Yosemite National Park it has been warm and sunny and a lot of people and cars to where I have jokingly called it Yosemite Valley City. There have been times when I have seen it rain in Yosemite Valley, but I have never been there during the winter season. My favorite National Park when I want a lot fewer people is Death Valley National Park.
I lived there for about six years in the early 90s, and this is what it looked like in the winter, nobody around. I thought it would've stayed that way. I went back a few years ago in October to visit friends who still lived there. To my surprise, there were people everywhere. I'm glad that it's closed, at least for a while.
Fantastic..a true Winter Wonderland.
Its beautiful serene, I could spend all of my days walking through the creation of our Almighty Gods work and would never need a diamond as this terrain is as gorgeous as the perfect paragon in nature.
Wonderful to see this!
Nicely done.
I went to Yosemite in February of 1991 during a drought. I was the only one in the valley. I went above the tunnel to get the "Ansel Adams" view of the valley. It was then, I realized I had no camera on me. The image is still burned in my head though.
Breathtaking views, thank you so much for sharing such a wonderland. What did it feel like being like the only other human around?
It was surreal. I've been going to Yosemite for 37 years and that was the first time seeing it with no people.
I think all parks should close for a couple months in the winter to let the park recover from the people and let the animals also have their time without people.
Beautifully haunting and the sound of the wind in the background just reinforces the images.
Lol. That was the sound of the vehicle driving sped up. 🤣🤣
glad u were safe i think being closed means there not going to send any rescue if you're currently in Yosemite and blocked the roads for any non residents so be safe but if you wreck plz film it so we can watch it and any gore is well appreciated
Beautiful But dangerous when the rain causes the snow to melt at once.
Winters while I worked at Hume Lake were my favorite.
Raccoons are all, “ what happen to the Dorito’s?
Drat!! I wished that it hadn't been so murky for you that day; then we could have seen the handsome suits of snow clothes that the cliffs were sporting.
About the 120, the Big Oak Flat route . . . I wouldn't have been surprised if that were closed ALL THE WAY to the base of the infamous Priest's Grades at the 49 Junction in Moccasin.
About the Ahwhanee Hotel . . . Park Service probably told guests to cut short their stays and evacuate. Then the place was buttoned-up, with nary a guest to be found there, and all employees indefinitely sheltering in place in the Employee Villages. How would they get their groceries, how would they recreate together? Or would they be forced to stay in Mariposa, Oakdale, and-or Oakhurst?
At any rate such GRAND serenity to see it all like this!
Best video ever😊
The National Parks are for all of us! This is where we all can go for peace and solitude!
Best Yosemite video so far.
SO much better without people.
When Yosemite reopened after Covid, it was SO nice without the buses...
Thanks for the trip through the scenic wonderland. If the park was closed, how did you get in? Was the wind sound natural or artificially created?
crazy to see that much snow in the valley knowing in a few months it'll be in the 90's there.
@Phillip Banes Yosemite Valley lies at 4,000 feet elevation and does not get as much snow as you would think. A dumping like this is kinda rare.
I hope that Yosemite doesn't get loved to death, like Lake Tahoe.
Looks like that one area gets a little wind
Oh No! Not the o'l Yose!
It opened up this weekend, 03/18. Announced on 0317.
I have a tripped planned for Yosemite on April 6-10. Do you think the shuttle busses will be operating and will some of the common hikes be accessible (upper yosemite hike, mist trail, vernal falls, nevada falls, etc)?
Nada.
@@doneown503 ?
I’m going up there late April.
Why did you stop to take off the chains?
Because you can't take them off while driving. Chuckle, chuckle... Actually, I had 4 brand-new Firestone Winterforce 2 snow tires on my AWD Highlander. Yosemite Valley is flat. There was no other traffic to worry about. Chains can come apart at any time and destroy your fenders and/or your tires. Plus, knowing I was going down in elevation to El Portal at 3,000 feet the road would be clear. Sure enough...
If it’s closed, how did you get in there? Can you sneak in the park with cross country skis… Thanks.
@@mikesskyranch I got in way before it closed. My condo was in Yosemite West.
What's the problem? There was only four feet of snow. People are taller than that, so their heads would stick up out of the snow. On Florida beaches the sand is tens if not hundreds of feet deep, but we still stay open. We would not let a measly four feet of sand close our beaches.
The greenies will make any excuse to close the park. More and more restrictions all the time. Pretty soon they won’t even let you camp in the park anymore.
I agree. I've seen it when there was this much snow and they didn't close. But now we have a temporary superintendent and she's scared of her shadow after Covid. Yosemite overreacts to everything now.
Nice
You didn’t show the Ahwahnee hotel
You are right! But the Ahwahnee is located kinda off the main roads and I didn't want to push my luck.
if it was closed how did you get in?
I was already"in". Yosemite West lies in Mariposa county, but the only way to access it is through the park. So, they closed 41 south to Oakhurst making the only way out was through the valley.
Looks like something out of The Shining.
*BINGO!!* That's what I was thinking too !!
Valley is now open
This is what the natives and first settlers encountered 100s and 1000s of years ago.....
even sasquatch stayed home
SLOW DOWN! LOL
how were you allowed in?
I was already "in". Yosemite West is only accessible from within the park, so any route out has to be through the park. Plus, YNP closed highway 41 southbound forcing me to go through the valley. So... I took advantage of a situation not of my making.
He's always been the caretaker... 😲
Driving pretty fast
Some of the clips were sped up to facilitate viewing time.
What’s with the fake wind sound effects? Too much fake drama.
This global warming is getting out of hand.
Talk to the Chinese and the Indians.
Why do I keep on thinking ‘The Shinning While watching this? Any dudes chasing his wife in the snow or two twins girls in summer time clothes-wait I just saw a kid ridding a big wheel.
good, keep it closed, the tourists have ruined the park
What’s changed? How has Yosemite been ruined by tourists? All the trees, rocks and rivers are still there.
@@1RCPILOT Notice how you didn’t state “wildlife” as something still in Yosemite?
@@conorsheridan2998 Are you referring to the Spotted Owl, Mule Deer, Bighorn Sheep, Coyotes, Bobcats, Lizards, Snakes, Squirrels, Pygmy Owls, Black Bears, Mountain Bluejay, Porcupines, Possums, Jack Rabbits, Cottontail Rabbits, Red-Tail Hawks, Hummingbirds, and yes even Chip & Dale. They’re all doing just fine! 😊
@@1RCPILOT "Invasive plants are the largest threat to biodiversity within Yosemite. Currently, 275 non-native plant species have been documented within the park" Sounds like no issue whatsoever! Let's more tourists in! Woohoo! Fuck the environment!
what's the make and model of the vehicle you're driving? 4X4, AWD, type of tires? please.
A toyota Highlander AWD w/ 4 brand new Firestone Winterforce 2 snow tires.
@@tar4heel2 thank you
Ur video would be 10x better if u left the captions out..... Theyre really annoying bro!
Many people do not know the various locations by sight. I wanted to orient people to the different landmarks and valley locations so you would not get bored not knowing what you were looking at.
@@tar4heel2 fair enough cool video tho thanx
Spooky!
If it is closed then why are you and others driving the valley highway within? TH-cam videos are imitating and reminding me of politicians promises - a load of crap!
Please read the caption of the video and your questions will be answered.