Your window into the stories, history, and ongoing work to preserve Yosemite’s climbing legacy.

A Note from the Editor

California is experiencing a state wide heat wave this week with temperatures in the triple digits in multiple areas including Yosemite Valley. The waterfalls are mostly completely dry in the Valley and the river is low and becoming stagnant.

While the fire season has been relatively quiet so far, the recent spike in temperature could bring a surge in wildfires and smoke across the state.

On July 26, the Dove Fire started southwest of Sonora in Tuolumne County. The cause is suspected to have been from a 30 year old man abandoning a cigarette butt that ignited a small blaze that rapidly grew out of control in dry grass.

The fire forced road closures and the evacuations of hundreds of homes in the nearby surrounding area. As of August 1 the fire was reported to be 95% contained.

The park continues to be more crowded than usual due to the lack of timed entry reservations, with parking remaining a challenge to secure during the busy weekends.

The Ferguson slide construction on the 140 has finally been underway this season and progress is being made. The project is expected to be completed by 2030, providing traffic relief by opening both lanes instead of the current alternating use of the single bridge.

Per the NPS website, “Forestry crews will be removing hazard trees along Glacier Point Road beginning July 21, 2026 through August 2026. Anticipate traffic delays of approximately 15 minutes between 8 am and 4 pm.”

Additionally, a scenic section of the John Muir Trail known as the “Ice Cut” reopened on Monday after over two years of repairs since being damaged during the record-setting winter of 2023. Crews had been repairing the section of trail by blasting into the granite wall to widen the trail and relocate the stone wall which borders the trail on the steep hillside, where a rift had formed from the winter damage.

Seasonal climbing closures to protect peregrine falcons during the fragile nesting season were lifted on July 15 and there are no current closures remaining in effect.

For this week’s Feature I speak with Michelle Pellette about her role as Yosemite Valley SAR Tech and living and working in the park.

Miles Fullman

Editor, YCA News Brief

YosemiteClimbing.org

Michelle Pellette scrambling in the Clark Range during an extended backcountry search for a missing person. Photo: Brooke Maushund

Yosemite SAR Tech Michelle Pellette

Michelle Pellette has been seasonally living and working in Yosemite National Park since 2017. She was part of the SAR team while I was volunteering as a Climbing Steward before we worked on the Valley Search and Rescue Team together from 2021 to 2023. She has climbed El Capitan numerous times, including having climbed it twice in a day and rope soloing the Nose in a push. She is the ideal person for the Yosemite SAR Tech position and her tireless contributions help keep YOSAR the well oiled machine it is today.

Sometime in her early twenties, her dad brought her and her family to Yosemite for her first time. Her dad loved the park and sharing experiences in nature with his family. In 2015 she returned to the park as a climber. One of the first routes she climbed was Snake Dike.

In April of 2017, she came to work as a helicopter crewmember on Yosemite Helitack. She then went on to work one season on the Tuolumne SAR team and five seasons on the Valley SAR team. In 2024 she worked as an LYV / EMS ranger, and in 2025 she accepted the newly opened Valley SAR tech position.

John Dill was the first Yosemite SAR tech. He started working for the park service in this capacity in early 1975 and went on to create the mold of YOSAR as it still exists now. He still works in this capacity today. He had been on the Valley SAR Site from September 1970 through the summer of 1973. He developed the basics of offset helicopter rescue technique, which is still how helicopter rescue operations are done in the park. Any questions that Pellette has, she turns to Dill for his extensive experience.

Pellette has many duties as Valley SAR Tech. She has to maintain her qualifications through training just like every other first responder. She also trains other responders in technical rope rescue, leading the annual Valley Ropes Training along with other instructors. She helps coordinate the Valley SAR Site. She purchases any needs requested from SAR incidents, ensuring responders have the appropriate equipment they need. She maintains the organization and efficiency of the rescue cache by inventorying and maintaining gear and coming up with better ways to do things.

On top of all this, she is still responding to rescues as an advanced life support provider. She also helps with incident command, working as an IC in the planning and logistics of incidents. She also helps EMS with their staffing when there is need for additional resources and to maintain current proficiency in running calls and providing patient care. Pellette is also one of few members of the dedicated Yosemite Helicopter Rescue Team, which trains extensively throughout the season.

This Spring, Pellette was an attendant for a technical El Cap rescue. A climber had reached Camp 4 on the Nose when he began experiencing rhabdomyolysis and couldn’t further ascend or descend. A team was flown to the summit, where a twin tension system was rigged. Pellette was sent over the edge with a litter and lowered to the patient at Camp 4 from the summit. After packaging the patient, Pellette lowered with him all the way to the ground in a massive three thousand foot lower. The patient was then carried to the road by a litter team and safely transported to a nearby hospital. Pellette has assisted with countless rescues over her years working for Search and Rescue and her institutional knowledge is invaluable.

In addition to Pellette and Dill, the two Valley SAR Techs, there are two SAR Techs in Tuolumne as well: Sean Lillis and Anika Ramey. In general the Valley and Tuolumne work to identify and support their own needs, occasionally collaborating for larger scale incidents and needs.

When asked if this position is her dream job, Pellette replied:

I think being on the Valley SAR site was my dream job but most people would say, ‘that’s not a job.’ This might be the next best thing. I get to work with a great team in a beautiful place doing work that I find fulfilling.

Pellette gives a lot of energy to her work and can often be found in the rescue cache well outside of her paid working hours, organizing equipment and taking care of odds and ends. When she isn’t working too hard, she still gets after it in her free time as well. She uses her three day weekends to go on adventures that bring her joy. In the winters off, Pellette has used her free time to travel internationally and climb. She has visited Spain, Greece, and Mexico, among others.

Yosemite Search and Rescue is lucky to have Michelle Pellette as its Valley SAR Tech!