Camp 4 Parking Lot
I developed a greater fear of rangers than of bears. Saturday night we returned from showering at Curry Village about 9:30. I noticed an AAA tow truck in the parking lot. As we parked I observed the truck dragging a car backwards out of a parking space, the car's locked wheels skidding on the dirt. After I parked, I asked the truck driver what was going on. He said that there was food in the car. I looked in the car. Sure enough, on the back seat was a bag of King's Hawaiian rolls.
Good stuff. I love them. If I were a bear, I would be tempted to go for them. www.kingshawaiian.com/products/products_original12pk_main...
Anyway, I watched as the tow truck operator used some professional tools to break into the car. The alarm rang. The operator quickly silenced the alarm and began repositioning his truck in order to tow the car away. A ranger was off to the side. He told me the car would be removed to a safe location free from the threat of damage by bears.
(I have heard the stories of bears at Yosemite working part-time as auto dismantlers. images.quickblogcast.com/34670-32320/Bear_wrecking_car.jpg I believe them, especially after one experience I had with some raccoons elsewhere, an experience from which my vehicle has never recovered: some raccoon tore the rubber surround from one vent window. But, despite stories, I have yet to find a photo of a windshield removed by a bear.)
The alarm drew the car's owner to the parking lot. He negotiated the release of his vehicle because he had registered, listing his name, auto license plate and campsite, and so the ranger could have located him. Everyone was very reasonable. But the ranger told me that if something looks like food from the outside of a vehicle, it might get towed. I went back to my van and pulled a tarp over an empty cookie tin to hide it from him.
A sign at the camp entry noted over 200 bear incidents this year. What's an incident, you ask. I'm not sure.
By the way, this photo looks up the north side of the valley towards a point called Columbia Rock that provdes a great view as seen in another photo in this set.