Gary-Summer: Place: CA-Ahwahnee

Thursday, January 1, 1970

Place: CA-Ahwahnee

Ahwahnee (Half Dome, Yosemite)   (37°44′44.68″N 119°34′27.07″W)
Ahwahnee Bridge (Half Dome, Yosemite)   (37.7440921, -119.5732196)
The Ahwahnee-3,989' (Half Dome, Yosemite)   (37.7463142, -119.5743309)
Ahwahnee Meadow-3,983' (Half Dome, Yosemite)   (37.7465920, -119.5801646)

Description:
“Village on Black Oak Flat, extending from site of Galen Clark’s grave easterly to Yo-watch-ke [at mouth of Indian Cañon]. As in the case of most of the villages, the village name was applied also to a definite tract of land belonging to it. . . . This being the largest tract of open level ground in the valley, the name Ah-wah-ne came to be applied by outside Indians to the whole valley.” (C. Hart Merriam: Indian Village and Camp Sites in Yosemite Valley, S.C.B., 1917, X:2, p. 205.—See, also, Kroeber: California Place Names of Indian Origin, 1916, p. 34.)

“The valley has always been known to them, and is to this day, when speaking among themselves, as A-wa'ni. This, it is true, is only the name of one of the ancient villages which it contained; but by prominence it gave its name to the valley, and, in accordance with Indian usage almost everywhere, to the inhabitants of the same.” (Powers: Tribes of California, in Contributions to North American Ethnology, III, 1877, p. 361.)   Place Names of the High Sierra (1926) by Francis P. Farquhar

"The only one which is current is that of the Valley itself—”Yosemite,” and this, it appears, is not the name given to the Valley by the Indians; the word means “Grizzly Bear,” and was probably the name of a chief of the tribe; or, perhaps, this was the name given to the Valley by the band of Indians driven out by the whites in 1851. Such would seem to be the case, from the fact that the name became current at that time. At all events, it is well known that the present Indian name of the Valley is, not Yosemite, but Ahwahnee." The Yosemite Book: a description of the Yosemite Valley and the adjacent region of the Sierra Nevada, and of the big trees of California by Josiah Dwight Whitney, Jr.

From GNIS on the Ahwahnee Hotel: This resort hotel at the eastern end of Yosemite Valley is named with a local Indian word meaning "deep, grassy meadow." The epitome of rustic monumentality and luxury, with rough granite piers and concrete formed and stained to imitate wood, the Ahwahnee open in July 1927. Wrought-iron fittings, stained-glass windows and murals in geometric Indian/Deco designs on the interior enhance the structure's intentionally rustic atmosphere.

Note: As of March 1, 2016 The Ahwahnee Hotel is now called The Majestic Yosemite Hotel. But it has been switched back, now that the lawsuit has been settled.

Trips:

October 18, 2014 - Ahwahnee hotel as part of hiking around the Valley
April 11, 2015 - Meetup day hike around the East end of the Valley
November 11, 2015 - Ahwahnee hotel as part of a meetup hike around the east end of the Valley
April 23, 2016 - Meetup hike around the east end of the valley
October 15, 2016 - Meetup hike around the east end of Yosemite Valley
March 12, 2017 - Meetup hike around the east end of Yosemite Valley
April 19, 2017 - Day Hike with John, Roger and Jerry
March 10, 2018 - Day hike around the east end of Yosemite Valley with Meetup group
October 21, 2021 - Tour of Glacier Point and Yosemite Valley areas
April 12, 2023 - Trail alongside of Ahwahnee Meadow
May 23, 2023 - Exploring Yosemite Valley, tourist style, with Connie, Steve, Sherri and Gary
November 6, 2024 - Walking around the east end of the Valley from Camp Curry to Mirror Lake and over to the Ahwahnee