Camp 4 Determined Eligible for the National Register of Historic Places
Request submitted by Don L. Klima, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
Comments:
Camp 4 is eligible for listing in the National Register under Criterion A in the area of Recreation/Entertainment for its significant associations with the growth and development of rock climbing in the Yosemite Valley during the "golden years" of pioneer mountaineering. From 1947 to 1970, the Yosemite Valley region was an exceptionally important center of rock climbing. Activities, technological advancements, and skills developed there made outstanding contributions at the regional, national and international levels. Camp 4 played a pivotal role in mountaineering and rock climbing activity in the park. Within the mountaineering community, knowledge, skills, and philosophical concepts were largely passed on through word of mouth and hands on climbing activity. Few, if any, manuals or guidebooks were available. As a result, the campgrounds and base camps at climbing locations played important roles beyond just the provision of overnight accommodations. They were vital meeting grounds and equipment, and the comradeship and esprit-de-corps that defined the early days and history of the sport.
The documentation makes a strong case for the "exceptional significance" of Yosemite National Park within the context of modern mountaineering and rock climbing history. Yosemite's pivotal role in the development of new techniques, equipment, and climbing philosophies during the "golden years of rock climbing" after WWII has been widely recognized. In addition, scholars like California State Librarian Kevin Starr have documented the importance of rock climbing and mountaineering to the history of outdoor recreation in California especially in Yosemite and the Sierra Mountains. As far back as John Muir and other early pioneers of outdoor natural recreation in the Sierra Mountains, the Yosemite Valley area has a rich history of public fascination with mountaineering and active pursuit of technical recreational rock climbing by enthusiasts and experts alike. The documentation of mountaineering/rock climbing history today rests predominantly in the hands of post-war pioneers. While scholarly, academic study of mountaineering history is still in its infancy, materials produced, both here and abroad, by those intimately tied to the events of the period, clearly identify the exceptional role Yosemite played in rock climbing history. The various mountains, cliff faces, and "walls" in Yosemite Valley that were explored and climbed by the experts and innovators are important places within this context, as is Camp 4, for its significant associated use.
Camp 4, with its camping area and boulders for climbing, was the acknowledged starting point for Yosemite climbing activity and an important spiritual/cultural center for comradeship, instruction, planning, and training. Numerous quotations cite the importance of the methods and attitudes developed in the Valley (what would become known as the "Yosemite Method") to worldwide application of climbing skills. The level of documentation clearly substantiates the important statues Camp 4 held in the history of Yosemite climbing. The most substantial full length work on the history of rock climbing in Yosemite (Roper) is entitled Camp 4, Recollections of a Yosemite Rockclimber. While the significant activities associated with rock climbing in Yosemite and the use of Camp 4 detailed in the determination of eligibility request happened largely within the last 50 years, they occurred during a discrete period in rock climbing history -- the pioneering period -- which is essentially complete and now being studied and documented for its contributions.
As defined by the users Camp 4 historically extended across a full 10 acres. Within the loosely defined boundaries are 1) the open boulder-strewn areas (adjacent to Valley Loop Trail at the base of the talus slope) used as campsites by many early "residents," 2) the parking lot, which became an important area for equipment/expedition staging and preparation, and 3) the more concentrated campground area containing the original bathrooms, the rescue camp section, and other camp infrastructure elements. While camping is now restricted to the lower formal area (5-6 acres), the historic resource must be viewed in its entirety as it existed and was used during the historic period.
The natural features in and around the historic bounds of Camp 4 appear to be largely intact and are dominated by trees, open space, and boulder fields. Alterations have had some negative impact on the integrity of the lower campground areas of the modern day Sunnyside Campground. During the historic period the highly informal space had picnic tables and drive-in campsites scattered across a largely unplanned 10-acre site. During the 1970s and 80s, Camp 4 evolved into its present formal arrangement of camp sites, each with its standard fire ring, table, and storage cache set in a planned arrangement with associated support buildings (restroom, kiosk, parking lot). While the infrastructure comprising the lower camp (the formal Sunnyside Campground) does not appear to retain integrity of design and materials from the "historic" period, the overall character of this area still reflects the natural aesthetic that defined the historic camp. The boulder field and open areas to the north retain their historic character to an even larger degree. Although no longer available for drive-in camping, the qualities that originally defined the area and made it desirable to the climbers remain: the open natural setting, numerous boulders, and the adjacent trails, practice areas, and views of the climbing walls.
Evaluating integrity involves defining those characteristics that give a place its significance and that are important to conveying its historic function and use. The historic campground are is documented as a meeting place that provided a relaxed location within a natural setting conducive to the activities, nearby training sites, and planning areas. The adjacent boulder field played a pivotal role in the educational and training activities conducted at the site. When viewed in a holistic manner, Camp 4 was essentially a mixture of natural and informally created environments set in a scene dominated by natural features -- trees (incense cedars, oaks, ponderosa pines), open spaces, and boulders, surrounded by climbing walls within the confines of the narrow Yosemite Valley. The dominant materials and characteristics were predominantly natural and remain in place today, despite minor changes in the manmade built resources. The changes of the 1970s and 80s altered the way the camp functioned more than they affected the important physical characteristics that defined the historic campground area. Camp 4 retains the dominant physical characteristics necessary to convey its historic significance and possesses integrity of location, setting, association, feeling, and materials.