00:00:47
While many people think
of Yosemite Valley
00:00:49
as a great place to look
at evidence of glaciers,
00:00:52
as you come up into the
High Country of Yosemite,
00:00:54
Olmstead Point,
Tuolumne Meadows,
00:00:56
you find even better evidence
for the recent passage of ice.
00:01:05
But to see the living
glaciers still at work
00:01:09
at the crest
of the Sierra,
00:01:10
there is nothing that compares
to seeing this in action.
00:01:15
Here is a
field of ice
00:01:16
formed from millions and
millions of snowflakes
00:01:18
slowly working on the
mountainside, sliding downhill,
00:01:22
just like they have
00:01:23
off and on for tens and
hundreds of thousands of years.
00:01:30
Well, in the Sierra Nevada,
00:01:31
you really only get glaciers
at the very highest elevations,
00:01:35
near the highest
peaks and the range,
00:01:37
they are usually tucked
up into seracs
00:01:38
that mostly face
North or Northeast.
00:01:41
So they're generally pretty
remote places, hard to get to.
00:01:46
So I'm standing here on the
summit of Mount Maclure
00:01:48
and looking out over
the Lyell Glacier.
00:01:51
That's Mount Lyell
right there;
00:01:52
the highest point of
Yosemite National Park,
00:01:54
just over 13,100 feet,
00:01:57
and beneath it is
the Lyell Glacier,
00:01:58
which is the largest
glacier in the Park.
00:02:01
It's the second largest glacier
in all the Sierra Nevada
00:02:04
and the largest glacier
on the Western slope
00:02:06
of the mountain range.
00:02:08
And there are no trees
at this elevation.
00:02:10
There is not much soil.
00:02:12
There aren't many plants.
00:02:13
It's a fairly
barren landscape,
00:02:16
intense solar energy,
intense ultraviolet.
00:02:20
So not a friendly place,
00:02:22
unless you really
like this alpine zone
00:02:24
and you want to
see a glacier.
00:02:28
There are some elements
of danger here.
00:02:30
This is a really
dynamic place.
00:02:32
The ice is moving,
00:02:34
the rocks are moving,
00:02:36
and to explore it,
you have to be careful.
00:02:39
The moraines are
fairly unstable,
00:02:40
so there are a lot
of loose rocks there.
00:02:42
You can tip a rock over onto
yourself if you are not careful.
00:02:48
For the most part, the Lyell
Glacier is sort of big and open
00:02:51
and easy to get around on, but
it's still steep and slippery.
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