Yosemite is pretty much the Mecca, Jerusalem, and Shangri-La of rock climbing. The sheer
glacier scoured rock faces here, along with the laid-back California vibe, and the gorgeous surroundings have made it
the place all rock climbers must go at least once in their lives. That’s part of the problem. You see, there is a
tremor in the force. It seems the climbers who call Yosemite their own are getting aggravated by the aggressive
tactics, uptight attitudes and rampant greed of the Valley’s law enforcement rangers and vested commercial interests
are engineering its death.
This article in the LA Times spells out the problem. But the long and short of it is that climbers are feeling
harassed. Visitors to the world-famous Camp 4 re saying that rangers come up to them and incessantly query them about
why they are there, what they are doing. The rangers say, we’re just doing our jobs, and that new pressures due to
over-visitation require more zealous efforts to protect and care for the park. It all sounds typically
Californian, a precious public resource being loved to death. And so it goes.