since the days of john mere people have loved yosemite national park but it was actually the automobile that really opened up the park to the public at large. and george watson will take us on a ride into the past. keeping the people and the bears away from each other is a constant problem at yosemite so what are rangers doing to make sure both stay safe. a danville man who was confined to a wheelchair scales el capitan inch by inch. a man who captured the park's

grandeur in black and while, ansel adams. we take a trip to yosemite. this year marks 150 years since president abraham lincoln turned his attention away from the civil war to sign the bill that created yosemite park. it was john muere who claims yosemite was the biggest temple of nature that he was ever permitted to enter. >> reporter: yosemite national park is enormous. more than 1,011 square miles. but most of the public area is here. you might be tempted to ask, are we loving yosemite to death? in the 1890s naturalists john

muere rallied national wide support to support yosemite from quote the greedy ravages of man. ironically his writings spurred the nation to come to yosemite in droves. greedy men and all to see it for themselves. >> what we have here in yosemite epitomizes the entire national park system. we have the best of the best and the worse of the worse. we have the tremendous scenery, the waterfalls. over 800 acres of trails. but we have hoards and hordes of people coming. i think john muere never advocated people out of the car. he felt that to protect it people needed to see it. >> reporter: the limits of transportation kept yosemite out of harms way in the early going. an arduous stagecoach was

finished with push cart. >> i think it was the trains in 1907 which was the year after the federal government took it over from the state. because the trains built a line up the merced river and it was the first time people could come into the valley during the winter. >> so they came on horse back, by stagecoach. and by train. soon it would be the automobiles turn but not right away. >> when the federal government took over yosemite in 1906 major harry benson was the director. he complained about the bowling alley, the shops, the stables he wanted to make some changes but the first big change he made is he banned automobiles. the automobile ban lasted from 1906 to 1913. >> even john muere supported lifting the ban on the automobile. again he felt the more people that saw yosemite the more they

would want to preserve it. >> in a sense, that effort to create access places for people to stay, roads to come in here created a lot of the problems we have today. none of them really understood john muere the same way. >> steven mather took over the national park system in 1916 and was a strong supporter of the automobile. believing it opened the park to what he called the common man. but in 1926, he oversaw the construction of a hotel that would be beyond the reach of most. the iwani was an oasis of luxury. critics said it was more palatial than park like. but the olani has endured and is part of yosemite itself. back when it was being built. getting to yosemite was more of

an issue. when it was finished three years later you could drive through and come out at inspiration point. which you saw almost 70 years ago is what you see today. but the real miracle is that you also see the same incredible vista that the mewak indians gazed upon five years ago when they first made yosemite their home. that may be the challenge and the struggle for yosemite. can it endure with the hand of man and nature. a parking lot allowed visitors to drive right up to the lake. now the parking lot is torn up.

gone. slowly drying up because nature declares it to be so. yosemite has coexisted with the demand of time and man. and to see yosemite is to save it. still to come on a second look, riding through yosemite as our great grandparents might have done behind the wheel of a model t. a bit later the story of one remarkable man who made a promise he was going to climb el capitan. little experiments. big ideas. brighter ways. and better tomorrows you can take home today. imagine if everyday was just a little bit better for everyone. you treat every minute like it's a chance to do something.

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and today we go back in time to see how our grandparents may have traveled to yosemite. >> reporter: good old horsepower was still a valued way of transportation.

in 1908, henry ford would take the horses out of. there were only 144 miles of concrete paveed roads in the whole country. so almost all of america's automotive journeys were by necessity an adventure of the back road variety. >> in california, one of the most challenging of those adventures came here to yosemite. to the valley of granite domes where mountains were carved by the sculpting hands of giant glaciers. everywhere people drove their model t s it was a challenge. >> coming to yosemite was the same kind of adventure. one of the great things about

these cars is they were easily fixed. >> reporter: these were the dusty days of the early 20th century. half of all americans lived in towns with less than 200 people. most people died within 5 miles of their birth home. times are changing. almost half of all the cars sold in america. this audible was slowly but suring becoming part of the fabric of american life. but that was a long time ago. what would you think about someone reaching back in time and pulling the model t out of distant memory and putting it into the present. david wood worth is trying to do just that. he's offering a vacation tour that includes luxury hotels, fancy food, and most important the chance to drive a model t

over the same roads as the earliest automotive adventurers. >> we used original model ts with no alterations at all from the time they came off the assembly line. and people get a feel for what it was for grandpa to really start driving the back roads of america. part way down. >> reporter: some people may have to relearn the trick of driving a model t. others like myself have to learn it from scratch. >> now this is your gas. so you can raise it up and down. release the hand break just a little bit. and then step on the lower pedal. which is on your left side. >> and so we begin gently enough in the parking lot of the tanaya lodge. one of the yosemite stop overs on the t tours. but the adventure lies not here but out there. on the back roads of yosemite.

this car is 90 years old and this is original equipment. this replaced literally the horse and buggy. people bent from horse and buggy to this car. so this was a big step up for folks 90 years ago. horses could pull a buggy at 10 miles per hour for a couple of hours. the model t could run all day at 35-miles-an-hour. still the t is an automobile. a piece of machinery full with intangibles that a horse could never know. stories of the old days traveling in a t abound. the kinds of tall tales that in the telling eventually evolved into history. >> one of the stories they have is going into yosemite because the breaks not being really good they would find a tree, tie a chain to it and drag the tree down the hill to help slow them down. >> and model t's gave way to a way of measuring time and distance to yosemite. especially when traveled on the

old merced river road. i had a friend who used to come down there from fresno, and i asked him how long it took. he said i'll tell you how long it took. three flat tires. it's not important how long it takes to travel yosemite, just being there is what counts. here's why you lock up your food at yosemite. we'll tell you what rangers have been doing over the years to try to solve the bear problem. also capturing the ever changing mood of yosemite with his camera. anzel adams look at the park. and why this man with no climbing experience a fear of heights and confined to a wheelchair promised that he was

going to climb el capitan.

this summer yosemite park is working to keep the bears away from visitors. what happens when hungry bears find a picnic at the park and what travelers are do to stop the party. >> reporter: fall it's one of the most beautiful types to visit yosemite national park. there aren't nearly as many tourists and the leaves are just starting to change colors. it's also a challenging time for rangers because black bears native to the park are preparing for hibernation in the long winter by bulking up on any food them find. rangers want to make sure the bears find food in the wild and not in cars or campgrounds. >> when you check in you have to sign a disclaimer that she told you everything about the bears and to lock it and clean your car out.

and make it safe. >> the park started a public awareness program three years ago designed to return bears to the wild. at that time the bears were breaking into cars for food in record numbers and causes hundreds of thousands of dollars in property damage. there are now specially designed bear proof food storage lockers in the valley and warnings posted everywhere. the program has been extremely successful in some ways. the number of car break-ins is down 20% from last year. >> we're finding fewer and fewer bears are breaking into cars but more bears are showing up in campgrounds and populated areas because the bears are going into cars. people are complying not leaving food in their cars but they're leaving it at campground. >> it can be an even tougher process changing the behavior of tourists. so now officials are focusing on the campground getting people to move all food,

cosmetics and trash out of the camps before going to bed. >> there's signs everywhere. it's a little unnerving. they tell us they haven't had any problems with campers and bears. >> but? >> but i'm not real comfortable. >> lawry says after seeing all the signs he became a bit frightened and try to upgrade from a tent cabin to a lodge but there was no room. the bears pose the biggest danger but park officials say visitors need to be more careful with all the animals in the park. it's essential for the animals to fend for themselves and find food on their own in order to maintain the park's wild beauty. >> apples from the park's historic orchard can be a temptation for bears. so every year, rangers invite people to come pick the apples. >> unfortunately we've had to euthanize bears that have become a safety concern for visitors but it's been pretty

bear. the park used to have to euthanize quite a few bears before we had the program we have now. >> since the park started the apple picking program back in 1998 the number of human encounters with bears at the park has dropped by 90%. now many have tried to capture the grandeur of yosemite. but it was anzel adams that captured the beauty with his camera. >> reporter: the maze like ma yes, sirty -- ma yes, majesty of the canyon. >> he did something photographers had not done. people don't think of landscapes as moving but they do. the imagine moves all the time.

the light changes. the clouds move. and that's what adams photography is all about. about the fact that nature is not perm innocent. >> reporter: john socousky is part of anzel adams 500. >> on view adams long life homage to the american west. the spectacle of yosemite national park. celestial park high above the sierra nevada. this one called moonlight new mexico. he took the picture before the sun set into darkness. sometimes he would just set the camera down and let the scenery dictate. >> his own intense experience. >> adams was born in san francisco in 1902.

ambitions to become a pianist were sidetracked after a visit to yosemite. he returned to the solitude of the country. >> we walk across a meadow in yosemite and he would just stop and look up and there were clouds and he would just look at me and say, my god. it is so wonderful. >> adams revisited his favorite subjects old faithful, the grand canyon. glacier national park again and again. for all those portraits of sweeping vistas. a weathered stump. a cascade of flowers. he proclaimed a sense that the mountains are no more miraculous than a few blades of grass floating on good water. but those mountains. >> in the 1930s anzel adams was

hired by the curry country to take pictures and to promote ice sledding, skating and skiing events. he also made promotional pictures of yosemite. when we come back on a second look, an incredible journey up yosemite's el capitan. and one man's commitment to keep his promise. ♪

whoo! mmm! ♪ ♪ oh, yeah [ male announcer ] discover your new orleans. start exploring at followyournola.com. welcome back to a second look. yosemite's el capitan sees people from all over the world. but a man with real challenges set to climb el capitan to fulfill a promise. >> reporter: steve wampler admits he may seem like a man who needs a lot of help. >> 99% of society today thinks

that i need help and i beg to differ. >> reporter: in fact, it's easy to see that the wheelchair bound lafayette native has always done what he set his mind to. he graduated from uc davis. married with two great kids and he started his own foundation. >> i just don't ever let anything stop me from doing anything. >> steve set his mind to something that seems absurd. , he decided to climb the 2,200 rout of el capitan and yosemite. and made a movie. he was never a climber. he has a fear of heights, and yes he has cerebral palsy. >> it's insane. >> reporter: a good abled body climber can do the climb in two days. >> how far did you get on the same day? >> 400 feet. >> reporter: using a pullly

system he created, steve says he pulled himself up about two inches at a time and he camped on the rock face five straight nights. on day four the challenges increased. >> i passed out. i was dehydrated. i wasn't into hyperthermic shock. >> reporter: yet steve knew he had to finish. because he had made a promise. >> kids i told that i was doing this for. and i couldn't quit. >> reporter: his foundation takes kids into the wilderness to show them what's possible in their lives. on day five steve made it to the top. >> when he made it to the top, and i knew he was safe, i almost fainted. >> reporter: steve's wife made the movie. but i asked steve how the kids

he promised he would make it to the top reacted. steve could not answer. but his wife says these kids now see steve as a champion. >> those kids can now put their face on that expectation. that's what steve did. >> steve says his feat shows no matter your circumstances you can do much more than you ever imagined. >> and that's it for this week's second look. i'm frank somerville. we leave you with views of wildlife taken by ktvu news photographers over the years. >> ♪

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(gasps) did you see it? does she know? this is the last thing she needs today. no! busy day at the dunphy compound. we have a wedding tonight, and this afternoon, claire is debating duane bailey in the race for town council. (lowered voice) and now the "weekly saver" says that some voters find claire-- quote-- "angry and unlikable." to those voters, i say, "wait till she sees this." no one can mention it to her. we can't have some unscientific poll shaking claire's confidence. phil... what poll? too late. she knows. who told her? what is this, a witch hunt? oh, my god. i have to go. well, i just don't think it's a big deal. i mean, how many people read the "weekly..." "saver"? "saver," anyway? 22,000... ish.