5 CHAPTER ONE A SEA OF PEAKS The early morning sun gleams off a landscape dusted with snow A skier inhales the crisp air She drives her ski poles into the powdery snow The rugged rock formation known as Half Dome towers in the distance Dark green pine trees rush past as she picks up speed Her skis carve out tracks in the fresh snow A cold wind nips at her cheeks She leans forward in her skis and plunges down the Skiing is one of Yosemite's main winter tourist attractions
steep slopes of Yosemite National Park Yosemite attracts many visitors in winter The Yosemite Ski Snowboard Area offers plenty of opportunities for downhill and cross-country skiing Millions of people also visit the park throughout the rest of the year Rock climbers come for the challenge of scaling Yosemite’s cliffs Nature enthusiasts explore the park’s groves of giant sequoia trees Yosemite offers something for everyone 6 Trailblazer Clare Marie Hodges Clare Marie Hodges became a Yosemite park ranger in 1918 She was the first female park ranger of the National Park Service NPS The NPS was having a hard time finding men to work as park rangers Many were fighting in World War I 1914 1918 Hodges had been a teacher in the Yosemite Valley School She knew the park needed rangers and she knew she was well qualified She approached Yosemite superintendent Washington B Lewis with her idea She expected him to laugh at her Instead he agreed Hodges’s example paved the way for future female park rangers
snow depth inches 72 48-72 24-48 6-24 0 1-6 0 Nevada Pacific Ocean California Snow Depth in the Sierra Nevada The map above shows annual snow depth in the Sierra Nevada Which parts receive the most snow How can you tell Yosemite is located in California along the Sierra Nevada mountain range Spanning 748,036 acres 302,719 ha it is roughly the size of Rhode Island More than 4 million people visited the park in 2015 This makes Yosemite one of the top ten most-visited US national parks 7
