The last time we went to Yosemite we stopped by the Visitor's Center one evening a saw a spectacular show: Conversation with a Tramp: An Evening with John Muir.
This production has been presented every summer in Yosemite National Park since 1983 and depicts preservationist John Muir's last battle to save the Hetch Hetchy Valley, a part of the Yosemite National Park that the city of San Francisco looked on as the perfect solution to their need for water. The city wanted to build a dam and flood the valley, what Muir called "a little Yosemite." It's an amazing one-man show by actor/writer Lee Stetson.As the audience awaits the fate of the Hetch Hetchy, Sierra Club founder Muir relates a number of stories of his many wilderness trips, including a wondrous piece about Muir riding a tree through a massive windstorm. The show is funny and poignant and makes you appreciate the magical beauty of Yosemite and Muir's efforts to preserve that majestic place for us all to enjoy.
If you get to Yosemite, don't even think about leaving without seeing at least one of the shows Mr. Stetson puts one (there are now four of them). They are the inspired work of a man possessed and when you look at the beauty around you, you know what it is that possesses him and of course, what possessed John Muir.
"A few minutes ago every tree was excited, bowing to the roaring storm, waving, swirling, tossing their branches in glorious enthusiasm like worship. But though to the outer ear these trees are now silent, their songs never cease."-John Muir
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