If Yosemite’s iconic Half Dome is on your “bucket list,” there’s still a chance to get a permit this year. Although the majority of permits were distributed via lottery in March (300 per day), approximately 50 will be available on a daily basis throughout the summer.

To apply through the daily lottery, go to www.recreation.gov or call (877) 444-6777 two nights before the day you hope to make the hike. For instance, if you hope to hike on a Friday, you would enter the lottery on Wednesday anytime between midnight and 1 p.m. Because this is a lottery — not first come, first serve — you have an equal chance with all other applicants as long as your application is submitted by the deadline. The application fee is $4.50 (Internet) or $6.50 (phone). Up to six people can apply on one application.

You will be able to find out whether your application was selected by checking the website late on the night of the day you applied or by phone the next morning. If your application is selected, you will be charged a $5/person fee for each hiker. In order to avoid some of the fraud that occurred last year, permits can only be used if the hiking group includes the trip leader or alternate trip leader specified on the application. They cannot be transferred.

Via Merced Sun Star

The cause: a rare annular solar eclipse — a ring of sunlight as the new moon, passing between Earth and the sun, blocks most, but not all, of the sun’s disc.

This is not the kind of total eclipse of which you usually see pictures — the moon blocking the sun completely, creating a few moments of near-night in the middle of the day, with only the sun’s ethereal corona visible around the moon’s edges. The sky will darken a bit, but there will still be a blindingly bright ring (an “annulus” in Latin) of sun, and it’s dangerous to look directly at it.

Still, there will be a striking sight to see, if you look at a heavily-filtered image projected onto a screen through binoculars or a small telescope, or protect your eyes with No. 14 arcwelders glass (not something found at most hardware stores).

The ring will be visible Sunday afternoon in a strip that begins on the California-Oregon coast and stretches southeastward across Reno, Nev., the Grand Canyon, and Albuquerque, N.M., and ends at sunset near Lubbock, Texas. In the map we’ve provided, the best viewing is in the yellow band; outside it, people will see a partial eclipse.

The moon’s shadow moves quickly — about 1,200 mph. Some times when the moon’s disc will be most centered over the sun’s are as follows:

Eureka, Calif.: 6:28 p.m. PDT
Reno, Nev.: 6:31 p.m. PDT
Grand Canyon, Ariz.: 6:35 p.m. MST
Albuquerque: 7:36 p.m. MDT (note time zone change)
Lubbock: 8:36 p.m. CDT (another time zone change)

Why an annular eclipse instead of a total one? Because the moon, constant in size as it may appear to us, does not move in a perfect circle around Earth. Its orbit is slightly elliptical. On average, it’s about 239,000 miles away, but at its closest it comes within about 225,000 miles of us. At its farthest — as it will be Sunday — it’s a little more than 250,000 miles away. It’s just enough of a difference so that the moon will only cover 88 percent of the sun.

(You may recall the “super moon” of two weeks ago; that night the full moon coincided with the low point of the moon’s orbit, making it look a little more vivid than usual.)

The Interior Department points out that a number of national parks — Redwoods and Lassen in California, Zion in Utah, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Arizona, Petroglyph National Monument in New Mexico — will all be in the zone from which the ring will be visible. More information from the National Park Service here.

San Francisco, Sacramento, Yosemite, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and Denver will all see a partial eclipse — the sun dwindling to a crescent. Even some distant cities, including Chicago, Dallas and Buffalo, will see a fair portion of the sun blocked by the passing moon.

But if you’re in the eclipse path, you really just need a place with a good clear view westward. (Check our weather page for a local forecast, though most of the eclipse zone can expect clear skies, at the moment.) You may want to go to a local observatory or planetarium, where viewing parties are likely.

And if you don’t feel like investing in welder’s glasses, you may be happy — seriously — with a piece of paper, or leafy trees around you. Prick a small hole in the paper and it will act as a tiny lens, projecting a miniscule image of the sun onto the pavement. Likewise, take advantage of the natural pinholes in many leaves. As the eclipse approaches maximum, look down, not up. If you’re lucky, you’ll see hundreds of little eclipse images dancing on the ground beneath your feet.

The laws of orbital mechanics make solar and lunar eclipses fairly common, actually — just not necessarily visible from where you live. If you’re underwhelmed by Sunday’s annular eclipse, there will be a total eclipse on Nov. 13 — but it will only be visible from Australia and the South Pacific.

Via ABC News

Due to a light snow pack this past winter (approximately 50 percent of normal), the Tioga Road was able to be cleared of snow early into the summer season.

Snow and icy conditions may still exist on hiking trails at the higher elevations, rangers caution. Visitors are urged to be prepared for snowy conditions and possible treacherous stream crossings while hiking the backcountry.

Vault toilets are available in several locations along the road. However, due to damage sustained to two transmission lines, the Tuolumne Meadows area will be without electrical power and visitor services until repairs can be made.

All campgrounds along the Tioga Road are closed. All commercial services, including the gas station, store, and village grill, are also closed. There are no anticipated opening dates for any of these facilities at this time.

The Tioga Road is an historic travel route stretching 46 miles through the high country of Yosemite National Park.

This trans-Sierra road began as a Native American footpath for trade and travel. It later became the great Sierra Wagon road and then a mining road.

When the road first opened to regular park visitors in 1915 it was travelled by only 190 cars. Today Tioga Road is a seasonal highway used by more than 500,000 travelers each year. The road is typically open from May to November, depending on weather conditions, and is closed each winter.

Day hikes and overnight trips are abundant along the Tioga Road, each with a scenic reward of its own. Trips available from this stretch of the Tioga Road range from relatively level forested hikes to Yosemite Valley’s north rim to trails plummeting deep into Yosemite’s northernmost canyons.

Yosemite National Park covers nearly 1,200 square miles of mountainous terrain in the Sierra Nevada of California. For more information, visit the park’s Website at www.nps.gov/yose .

Via oldwestnewwest.com

“In tough economic times like these, we knew it wasn’t feasible to start a public bike share program,” explains Villaraigosa of the $16 million investment by Bike Nation.  ”But we know it’s what LA needs. As we’ve seen with CicLAvia and ‘Carmaheaven,’ Angelenos are aching for a day without a car.”

Bringing bike share to Los Angeles has been a hot and cold topic going back to the 2008 Democratic Convention in Denver.  At the Convention, Bikes Belong set up a temporary bike share for delegates to move around the city.  This captured the imagination of then City Council Transportation Committee Chair Wendy Greuel, who rode the bikes and wanted a permanent system in Los Angeles.  At the time, LADOT and many members of the bike community warned that the city wasn’t ready for a stream of inexperienced bicyclists to hit the Downtown all at once.

Is the city ready today?  It’s been less than four years since there was consensus that it was not.

Villaraigosa thinks so.

“We’re building the infrastructure; we’re making it safe and practicable,” explains the Mayor.  ”With Bike Nation’s new venture, we’re making it that much easier for Angelenos to get around this town while promoting business and job growth in the City.”

Alexis Lantz, the planning director for the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, also believes the city has made great strides in four years.  However, Lantz has one suggestion that will make bike sharing that much more accessible to Angelenos.

“The really important part of building a network that many people forget is the way-finding signage to direct cyclists to the best ways to get to major transit destinations and other areas where people where want to go,” Lantz explains. “In Washington D.C. they have a map of the downtown area showing where infrastructure is at the kiosk, but once you’re out there you’re on your own.”

Navin Narang, one of the founders of Bike Nation explains that their goal is to have a system that covers all of Los Angeles and some of the other neighboring cities.  For now they are starting with some of the more densely populated areas, which also happen to be places with some of the better bicycle facilities.  ”I think we can expand beyond this first step, but this is a great first step,” Navin hopes.

Los Angeles’ coming bike share system will be one of the largest in the country.  Washington D.C. and San Francisco both brag of systems with 1,200 bikes.  Chicago has a system with 3,000 bikes.  Only New York City, which has a system coming on-line in the very near future, will have a larger system.  New York brags of a 10,000 bike system.

“We all grew up in Southern California,” Navin explains of many of the original investors and staff of Bike Nation, “so we’re thrilled that we’re doing this in Los Angeles.  Los Angeles is an international city, and it’s always been a trendsetter.  We’re excited to bring something that’s green and sustainable to a city that we love.”

Via Streetsblog

Celebrities including Tony Hawk, Ziggy Marley, Michael Franti, and Andy Dick have teamed up to raise awareness about the enormous amount of litter created when people toss their cigarette butts away. To spread their message, the celebs, along with Legacy, the national public health foundation, created a video called “Butt Really” that you can watch below.

The facts around cigarette litter are astounding: according to Legacy, the organization known for its anti-smoking truth campaign, more than 360 billion cigarettes are smoked in the United States, with many of those butts eventually ending up being washed away into waterways and public places.

Butt Really Anti-Litter Video

Check out the video called “Butt Really” below to see what the team of celebrities put together to stop littering:

The truth behind cigarette butt litter

First and foremost, cigarette butts are non-biodegradable, and made from something called cellulose acetate. Because there are so many people who throw their butts on the ground rather than dispose of them properly, there is over 766,000 metric tons of cigarette butt litter produced every year. Although the tobacco industry investigated biodegradable butts and and anti-litter campaigns, they were all scrapped due to negative marketing responses.

Put an end to cigarette butt litter

If you’re a smoker that casually tosses your butts when you’re done with them, it’s time to make a change and cut back on your litter. If you smoke a lot at your own house or apartment, be sure to throw your butts away in a proper ashtray and garbage can, so they don’t end up as litter in your yard, or on the street. If you smoke a lot while driving, keep an ashtray in your car, rather than tossing finished cigs out the window. That will cut down on roadway litter that we have all become so accustomed to seeing.

Although cigarettes seem like they’re organic, the butts aren’t – and smokers should remember that when they’re tossing them!

Via GreenerIdeal

(Inappropriate Language While Stoked in Video)

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What is Bicycle Travel? from Russ Roca on Vimeo.