Awesome video!!!
Yosemite is unreal. I have been there several times, and it is amazing every time.
Have you been to any other national parks? Because I gotta say, Yosemite wouldn't even be in my top three national parks
in California alone. If I were to visit more Californian national parks, I imagine it would come dead last as it's certainly dead last of all the many, many national parks I've seen across the country. My visit left me profoundly sad and disgusted. The only redeeming feature of Yosemite in my mind is that it attracts all the horrible masses so the rest of the parks remain actually somewhat beautiful and clean.
There was a moment, I remember, standing in a parking lot, seeing trash and people everywhere. There was a single, sad-looking deer, that only I had apparently noticed. Very nearby were several large buses, all running, spewing out their pollution even though they weren't moving or going to move any time soon. The air was thick with it. The whole valley, I remember, was filled with smog. Hundreds of tourists were milling about, getting on and off busses, yelling at each other, taking pictures of each other, not even seeing the wildlife around them. It really disturbed me, and really changed my entire view of our national parks system. What disturbed me the most was how the deer seemed so resigned to all of it, like she didn't know anything better. She had become used to the insanity around her, the crowds and the noise and the trash. I cannot imagine what it's like to actually work in that park as a ranger, and see sights like that every day. If it wasn't for my visits to Sequoia and Kings Canyon that same trip to CA, to remind me that not every park is like Yosemite, I'm not sure I would want to visit another national park again.
My asthma, which was normally under very good control, made it impossible for me to stay in Yosemite for very long. I was having trouble breathing after just a couple hours, in a national park, in a place where living things are supposed to be protected and celebrated. I can only imagine what that sort of environment was was doing to the wildlife that has to live there.
So yeah, for what it's worth, if the next OS X is really called Yosemite, I hope Yosemite gets more attention, because it needs it. Something has gone very, very wrong in that valley. There's a delicate balance between letting people in to see nature and gain an appreciation for it, and protecting that nature from harm. Yosemite is out of balance. It's a stain on an otherwise wonderful parks system. It's an abomination.
If you've only ever been to Yosemite, or maybe just a few of the most popular parks, you really owe it to yourself to see some of the others. It will change your view of Yosemite forever.
