"This breaks my heart," said Elisabeth Barton, a founding member of Echo Adventure Cooperative that guides tourists several days a week along the same trail. "It's that constant battle between safety and exploration."
"I enjoyed digging up my memories, trying to put a word to an emotion. It was a valuable way to continue the efforts of my career, which was to tell the world how important the natural world is."
"The whole place was dark," McEvoy said, noting that the computers at the front desk did not have power and the elevators didn't work. When McEvoy got to his room, he flicked the light switches - the room stayed dark. "I don't know how you put on a tux without light," he said.
"We gathered them up to the best of our ability, trying to save them all, but as they were pretty badly mangled and terribly dirty, it was decided to destroy."
The Glacier Point Road will open at 8 a.m. after being closed for winter, offering visitors breathtaking views of Yosemite Valley and its attractions.
"Popular destinations like Eastern Yosemite Valley may start turning vehicles around early in the morning on numerous days throughout the summer when parking lots fill up," Rose said. "While these impacts have been seen in past years when day-use reservations were not in place, with less staff, we can expect overcrowding to be even more severe."