Yosemite VI: Wapama Falls at Hetch Hetchy

Our final Yosemite destination last weekend was Hetch Hetchy, my second visit to this remarkable and controversial valley at the northern end of Yosemite National Park. The valley is beautiful despite the reduction in its dimensions and grandeur by the controversial decision to build a dam and flood the valley a century ago. I cannot help but feel some sadness over that outcome, one that John Muir vigorously opposed in his last days. Only he and others of that era saw the valley before it was drown to satiate San Francisco’s thirst for water. I can only hope that the valley will be restored someday, with the water supply and hydroelectric energy the dam provides being provided elsewhere, though that presently doesn’t seem politically or legally likely.

Farther up the valley, beyond the reach of the dam lies an area of the park known as the “Grand Rapids of the Tuolumne River”, a backpacking destination that I hope I can visit someday. Backcountry wilderness trails crisscross the area to the north and south of Hetch Hetchy.

Crossing over the dam and through a tunnel blast into rock, a trail starts at the northern end of the reservoir heading along the west rim of the valley. The vegetation along the slopes is as much chaparral and shrub as forest, with manzanita, bay laurels, and oaks in abundance. At the four km point from the parking lot one reaches Wapama Falls which crashes down a steep granite face at the northern end of the valley. There are some pools near the base of the falls before it descends a bit further to reach the reservoir. Though not many plants are in bloom at this season in Yosemite, the rocky wetland gardens where the trail crosses the falls had a population of small attractive bright yellow flowers of the monkey flower genus Mimulus.

Wapama Falls on the north side of the Hetch Hetchy valley in the spring of 2011 (left) and fall of 2017 (right).

Flowers of Mimulus floribundus near
pools at the base of Wapama Falls.

Hetch Hetchy has been described as a companion valley to the much more famous and visited Yosemite Valley to the south. John Muir described it thus: “…it is a wonderfully exact counterpart of the great Yosemite, not only in its crystal river and sublime rocks and waterfalls, but in the gardens, groves, and meadows of its flowery, park-like floor”.

Views of the Hetch Hetchy Valley today from the north rim of the valley. At right
in center of photo is Kolana Rock.

Presently it is hard to gauge the original dimensions of the valley, but historical photos of the valley show its former glory. About 100 meters of water cover the valley floor currently. Taber’s historical photo from 1908 shows meadows (some perhaps actively grazed), wetlands, and a meandering Tuolumne River on the valley floor. Another photo taken a few years later farther up stream depicts the beautiful canyon and its forested and rocky slopes.

The Hetch Hetchy Valley in 1908 before dam construction. Wapama Falls can be seen at
center right in. Photo by Isaiah Taber, published in the Sierra Club Bulletin. Source.

Historical photo of the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River by F. Matthes of the USGS
in about 1914. The photo faces west towards the valley with Kolana Rock at center. Source.

Crossing over the dam to the north side of the reservoir, none of the information placards I viewed that are placed to inform the public show any such historical photos of what Hetch Hetchy looked like before its burial, something I note with some cynicism. With its swelling population and capricious annual precipitation, a reliable water supply is critical for California. However, there are alternatives to a dam at Hetch Hetchy, but like so many issues in conservation, the choice comes down to priorities and values. At a minimum we can strive to ensure that another decision like Hetch Hetchy is never made again in our most cherished national landscapes.

References

Wenk E. 2015. Wildflowers of the High Sierra and John Muir Trail. Wilderness Press, Birmingham, AL.

Worster D. 2008. A Passion for Nature. The Life of John Muir. Oxford University Press, New York, NY.

The O'Shaughnessy Dam as seen from the southwest
on the drive towards Hetch Hetchy Valley.