![]() ![]() In the middle of the conflict was Tenaya, the last known chief of the valley’s Native Ahwahneechee people and the canyon’s namesake. It had been reduced to fewer than 700 not even a decade later. In the late 1840s, that number stood at 7,000 people in the southern Sierra foothills. The war followed the arrival of white European settlers years prior and decimated the Indigenous population living in the Yosemite foothills and Yosemite Valley. It was the site of at least one bloody conflict during the Mariposa Indian War, which took place across what is now Yosemite National Park and the surrounding Sierra Nevada from 1850 to 1851. ![]() “That’s what makes it exciting.”īut like Yosemite itself, the canyon has a troubling and complicated history. “You’re always wondering what’s around the next bend,” he added. Some people believe Tenaya Canyon in California’s Yosemite National Park may be cursed. Brennen, now 81, said the route includes “lots of climbing over boulders and waterfalls” with “very bare rocky slopes you have to be careful about slipping on.” In all, it took his team 10 hours to complete the journey. Then you’re really in trouble,” Christopher Brennen, who climbed Tenaya Canyon in 2000, told SFGATE in a recent phone interview. “There are lots of places where you can slip and fall. It’s so accident-prone that park officials warn that “a trip into the unforgiving terrain of Tenaya Canyon … should not to be taken lightly.” There’s also an ominous park sign that greets visitors at the entrance of the treacherous canyon: “TRAVEL BEYOND THIS POINT IS DANGEROUS.” Even John Muir, the “Father of the National Parks,” was knocked unconscious when he fell here. Many have tried, many have succeeded and many have been hurt. For those brave enough to traverse the 10-mile Tenaya Canyon, smooth granite slabs, risky rappelling, mandatory swims and precarious ledges await. Slips, trips, falls, unusual experiences, rockslides, helicopter rescues and deaths are common occurrences in this so-called “Bermuda Triangle of Yosemite,” a challenging and trail-free part of the park running from Tenaya Lake down to Yosemite Valley. “Maybe in some kind of funny way, that’s sort of the holding place for the original spirit of the place and the people ,” Kauk said. Hikers descend into Tenaya Canyon in California's Yosemite National Park. Like those of his contemporaries, his experiences at Yosemite are shaped by the park’s storied history - one that includes dark chapters and a rumored curse for those who venture into Tenaya Canyon. The Redwood City native moved to the iconic park when he was just 17, living at fabled Camp 4 for decades and scaling some of Yosemite’s most challenging walls alongside a who’s who of climbing pioneers. Kauk, celebrated internationally for his climbing exploits, knows Yosemite very well. “Crazy things happen there you can’t explain.” “When we were up there, something was around us,” he added. ![]()
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