Andy Irwin hikes to Vogelsang High Sierra Camp in 2018. Budget cuts to the National Park Service could jeopardize the operation of Volgelsang and Yosemite’s other wilderness camps.

For generations, Bay Area residents have had access during the summer months to five highly popular High Sierra Camps in Yosemite National Park. These camps have a special purpose: to encourage visitors to comfortably step beyond the conveniences of roadways and buildings and into the natural charms of wilderness.

The first director of the National Park Service, Stephen T. Mather, sensed this need long ago. He admired the bold hikers who hoisted supplies onto their backs and trekked into nature’s wild sanctuaries. But he understood that a vast majority in our modern society has no experience with backpacking adventures. Mather encouraged the development of High Sierra Camps in Yosemite to allow visitors “a chance to experience wilderness.”

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Retired Park Ranger Dick Ewart agrees. “Thousands of people have enjoyed these unique primitive lodges,” he told me in an email. “During my 41 years as a ranger, I’ve witnessed a diverse group of people seek out and enjoy the camps and just fall in love with and learn to cherish nature. What a valuable and glorious result.”

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