Yosemite Reservations

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HETCH HETCHY: YOSEMITE’S FLOODED TREASURE
Thomas Atkins
29 May 2008
Sierra Mountain Times
With the waterfalls reaching their celebrated climax in May and June, visitors are flocking to Yosemite Valley, cramming between the granite walls like sardines to witness the spectacular performance – while less than 25 miles away, a similar valley seems to go unnoticed. Although smaller and more compact, Hetch Hetchy Valley, located in the northeast corner of the park, was often referred to as Yosemite’s twin, and many believed it rivaled the magnificent Yosemite Valley. However, the beauty competition between the two valleys came to a bitter end in the early 1920s when the Tuolumne River was dammed and the Hetch Hetchy Valley was flooded, drowning out the competition and making Yosemite Valley the preferred choice for a sightseeing destination. Over 80 years later this still rings true, and the majority of cars traveling along Highway 120 seem to ignore the exit to Hetch Hetchy, and continue to the overcrowded Yosemite Valley. I must admit that until a few years ago, I too was ignorant of the treasures Hetch Hetchy withheld and was not easily swayed from my familiar destination. Keeping my car on the road well traveled, I would spend most of my adventures within the confines of Yosemite Valley’s granite chambers, sharing the views with thousands of other sardines. However, after my first trip to Hetch Hetchy, this all changed, as I found myself falling in love with Yosemite’s flooded treasure.

During my first visit to Hetch Hetchy I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I could tell by the road leading into the valley, it was going to be an adventure. Chiseled through solid granite, the road twisted and turned, slowly spiraling down into the rocky depths of the Tuolumne River canyon. After catching glimpses of my destination from breathtaking viewpoints along the way I was eager to reach the end of the road. Twenty minutes later I found myself in a nearly empty parking lot a few hundred yards from the infamous dam and reservoir. Passing only a few Forest Service huts, I was impressed at the valley’s lack of services and facilities, and was pleasantly satisfied with its humble offering of spectacular scenery and peace and quiet. Without dozens of buildings and tour buses I found it to be a much more wild and rugged valley than Yosemite…exactly what I was searching for! I was truly impressed at the raw beauty that surrounded me and couldn’t believe that I had bypassed this magnificent canyon for so long!
Standing on the massive dam I was in awe as I soaked in the stunning panorama of the valley. Kolana Rock stood tall and proud like a sentry over the southern edge of the valley while Tueeulala and Wapama Falls splashed into the sky-blue reservoir as they spilled over the northern wall. For awhile the captivating beauty made me forget the mound of man-made concrete I was standing on, but as I stared into the 400-foot deep reservoir I couldn’t help but wonder what it would’ve looked like without the ominous wall and what it must have been like to first discover this valuable valley.
Historians believe that the first white man to discover this astonishing Sierra secret was either Nate or Joe Screech, who stumbled upon it during a bear hunting expedition in the late 1840s. Yet of course the valley was no secret to the Paiute and Ahwahneechee Indians who for centuries made yearly visits to this ancient canyon to gather acorns. The Indians however did wish to keep it a secret to outsiders and when one of the brothers asked the Indian chief who claimed the land in the area about this wondrous valley, the wise chief acted ignorant and told the brother that he had never seen such a valley. But the chief also added that if the brother could find a valley like the one he had described, it would be his. To the chief’s dismay, in 1850 Nate Screech managed to descend into this ‘unknown’ valley where he found the chief – and true to his word the chief left the valley to Screech as promised. Over time Joe Screech blazed the first trail into the valley from Big Oak Flat, some 38 miles away, allowing sheepherders and cattleman to graze their stock in the fertile valley meadows on the banks of the meandering Tuolumne River. Because there were few oak trees in the higher elevations, Indians continued to harvest acorns and seeds in the valley, and the name of Hetch Hetchy was created by Screech’s English version of the Indian word ‘hatchatchie,” meaning a variety of grass with edible seeds.
In 1870 John Muir made his first exploration of the valley now named Hetch Hetchy, calling it “A grand landscape garden, one of Nature’s rarest and most precious mountain temples.” However, during this time this ‘temple’ was being eyed by San Francisco engineers who were prowling the Sierra for reliable sources of drinking water to meet the needs of a rapidly expanding population. After studying 14 possible Sierra water sources, they chose Hetch Hetchy’s Tuolumne River in 1901, resulting in one of the stormiest conservation fights in history. The next 12 years, Muir, the Sierra Club and other preservationists battled to keep the valley from being dammed and flooded…which never should have been able to happen in the first place considering Yosemite was already protected and designated a national park in 1890. Nevertheless, due to the Raker Act passed by President Woodrow Wilson (who had never seen the valley), water rights on the Tuolumne River were granted to the city in 1913.
To Muir and most preservationists it didn’t make sense to tame an untouched wilderness to supply water to a growing city 150 miles away, or to violate a public domain supposedly protected by federal law, and to Muir, “this was the single most tragic of all man’s abuses of nature, one that meant the destruction of a wild valley as dear as Yosemite itself. Damming Hetch Hetchy was like damming a cathedral or church, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man.” Yet sadly, Muir’s beloved valley was defiled and by 1923 the waters of the mighty Tuolumne River were held captive behind O’Shaughnessy Dam.
The dam, named after the chief engineer, was built between 1919 and 1923 and was part of the largest project ever attempted in the West at that time. Despite the controversy, there is no denying that the Hetch Hetchy Water Project was an engineering masterpiece.
Spanning nearly 20 years the project brought Sierra water by gravity flow to San Francisco through an extraordinary vast and complex system of reservoirs, canals, dams, flumes, tunnels, pipes and aqueducts. Even a railroad was created to services its mind-boggling construction needs and huge workers camps. The dam alone required almost four years, 24 hours a day in all seasons to pour concrete hauled in by the Hetch Hetchy Railroad. The original project cost up until 1934 when water first reached San Francisco was $100 million! Yet to insure more water capacity, the dam was raised another 85 feet between 1935 and 1938, bringing it to its present height.
Today, this monstrous dam is 364-feet high and spans 910 feet from canyon wall to canyon wall creating an 8-mile long reservoir which imprisons 306,000 acre-feet of water (or 117 billion gallons!) - insuring a supply of 400 million gallons of water per day for drinking, power and irrigation. Water from the dam provides 85 percent of San Francisco’s total water needs and serves 2.4 million Californians in San Francisco, San Mateo, and Alameda Counties, as well as some communities in the San Joaquin Valley. It also generates electricity for San Francisco. Because Hetch Hetchy is a municipal water supply and its water is not filtered, swimming and boating are prohibited. However, fishing is allowed as long as it is done from the shore.
For fishing enthusiasts and hikers, the best place to get started is at the far end of the dam where a path leads through a 500-foot lighted tunnel. Starting at an elevation of 3,800 feet, the trail stays relatively level as it meanders above the reservoir. On a hot spring day the most popular hike is the 2.5-mile hike to the base of 1400-foot Wapama falls where one can enjoy its cooling mist. Those interested in a longer, more strenuous trek can continue across the bridges at the base of Wapama Falls and follow the trail for another four miles to reach Rancheria Falls. Bring plenty of water and a picnic and take advantage of these impressive waterfall hikes while runoff is at its peak!
For those who have never witnessed this wild and magnificent valley, be sure to take a detour the next time you are heading to Yosemite Valley…you won’t be disappointed. Dammed it may be, but Hetch Hetchy is not nearly as damned as many believe – it is still a spectacular place!