Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park is thought of by most visitors to be an extremely serene place. One can find a quiet space of his own in Yosemite National Park’s, many scenic spots surrounding places like El Capitan, Half-Dome, Glacier Point, Yosemite Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, and Inspiration Point (Tunnel View), and hear nothing more than the wind passing through the Giant S equoia Redwood trees that are so prevalent there and see nothing moving except for the sublime flights of birds, or the occasional wildlife on the ground. But it has not always been a place of such tranquility over the eons of its formation, and even now there are occasional reminders that it is still a wild place that will forever be in motion.
Glacier Point is an example of the sort of movement that is prevalent in many of the Yosemite National Park cliff faces scattered around Yosemite Valley. As is evidenced by the rubble piled up at its bottom, the cliff face has been prone to exhibit occasional sloughing off of massive portions of its granite face, wreaking havoc with everything in the path of its gravitational pull down below. Rarely has that meant the lives of visitors to Yosemite National Park, though in 1999 a rock climber on the face of Glacier Point was killed by falling rock face debris. Another climber was killed in 1996 by falling rock as well, and just this year, in October, falling rock debris showered the Yosemite Village’s Curry Village and though there were no injuries, the event caused the Yosemite National Park to permanently close 233 visitor cabins and assorted other buildings totaling nearly 300, at the popular Curry Village at the north end of Yosemite Valley.
It is now being debated that some of these previously considered natural occurrences may in fact be caused by man’s presence in the park, in particular, the 1999 rock fall at Glacier Point. Natural rock movement and breaks can be triggered by shifting tectonic plates, earthquakes, erosion, or water freezing and expanding, but it is now being discussed that the rock fall at Glacier Point could have been triggered by the waste water runoff from the public restroom facilities that are situated above. Independent examiners have concluded that joints in the rock faces which transport water and can put pressure on rock and force separation may have been linked to not only Glacier Point’s bathroom wastewater system, but also that of Happy Isles, with both resulting in large rock falls, in 1999, and 1996 respectively. Another rock fall may similarly be linked to a different restroom facility’s water supply running into the surrounding ground’s leech field.
While no consensus has been reached until further scientific geological studies can be performed, there is skepticism by some Yosemite National Park rangers and officials, government agencies and other geologists, given the proportions of water in those areas which occurs naturally, compared to the amount there resulting from man’s presence. Additionally, the Curry Village’s recent rock fall which is just one of many over the history of Yosemite Valley has no such restroom facilities or water leech field associated with it, yet it continues to add new rock below to the area known as the talus slope.
