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. We continued down the narrow road, no other vehicle in sight until we reached the dam, where seven others were parked.
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.