Politicians and local media pushed for Hetch Hetchy. O'Shaughnessy was completed 10 years later. Crews used about 674,000 cubic yards of concrete and 760,000 pounds of steel to create a dam that's 308 feet thick at its base. Our first glimpse of Hetch Hetchy came at Inspiration Point, a turnout about 1,500 feet above the Tuolumne River. To the north, Hetch Hetchy Dome's granite brow rises abruptly more than 1,000 feet, then forms a rounded top much like Half Dome.
Backpackers can stay at a nearby campground, which has restrooms and a water faucet.
Kathleen and I started our walk across the top of O'Shaughnessy Dam. We looked down the sheer, 430-foot face. At this spot in 1987, an environmentalist painted a giant crack. The movement reached its zenith that year when Interior Secretary Don Hodel endorsed a study advocating removal of the dam. It's easy to see why people are so passionate about this place.