CLEANING YOUR DEN? You can do it in ten minutes or less, according to clutter-focused web sites. You start by gathering electronics, then magazines or newspapers, and then you fold the throw blanket, right after plumping the couch pillows. Cleaning Yosemite National Park? There's a bit more to it, beyond super-speedy pillow-plumping, to be honest. And as the national park spans well over a thousand square miles, you probably won't wrap up your tidy-up in a few quick minutes. But there are ways to tend to certain quarters and corners of the national park with care, especially those places that seem to need the care the most. Take Yosemite Valley, which gets loved upon, like, a lot, over the busy months of summertime. Translation? Trash and litter and random bits of paper have a predictable way of getting left behind after the warm-weather visitors leave. And each September, a band of can-do volunteers bands together to help de-litter some of the most loved parts of the iconic valley in one give-back, full-of-heart push. It's the...
ANNUAL YOSEMITE FACELIFT, and while the name suggests that El Capitan or Half Dome might be getting a cosmetic brush-up, the "facelift" bit is all about removing what doesn't belong in Yosemite Valley at the end of the high season. The 2019 event breaks out the collect-all-the-detritus bags from Sept. 24-30, though note that you can register from Sept. 25-29 "near the Valley Visitor Center" (more can be found here). Plenty of climbers and hikers regularly participate in this awesome event, though anyone who digs the Big Y is welcome to sign up and pitch in. The group behind it? Yosemite Climbing Association. As for what volunteers gather over the course of a week, or just under a week? The National Park Service reported in 2018 that some 6,790 pounds of trash were collected in 2017 by 1,700+ Facelift volunteers, which, of course, is not inconsiderable. Where was that trash found? Pick-up locations included "... heavily visited areas and along park roadways."
THANK YOU, volunteers, for Facelifting one of the planet's most perfect places each and every fall for the last 16 years. And thanks to everyone, all year long, who makes an effort to pick up a little litter while working in the park or passing through for a day. Yosemite, it may be accurately said, is rather larger than our own personal dens and bedrooms and kitchens, but that doesn't mean we can't keep it looking its best, much like we try to do with our own homes. Because it is, after all, part of our larger home, a shared space we can all steward with our small but essential efforts.
