Surviving the presidential waiting game in Yosemite

Seeing a president is a bit like going to Disneyland.

You can’t sleep the night before.

You wake up before the sun to drive there.

You can’t enter without a ticket.

You wait and wait and wait once you’re inside.

Then it’s over before you know it and you wish it would have lasted just a little bit longer.

The public and press got a brief glimpse of President Barack Obama during his stay in Yosemite National Park this weekend. The first family arrived Friday night and planned to stay through Sunday morning to enjoy the park. His one official piece of business was a speech late Saturday morning in Cook’s Meadow in front of the picturesque Yosemite Falls.

The National Park Service, whose 100th birthday the visit celebrated, issued dire warnings to tourists Saturday advising them to enter no later than 8 a.m. to avoid presidential gridlock. Father’s Day weekend was already going to be a busy one in the park, with families flocking to the marvel of intimidating granite and impressive waterfalls.

Those who entered early as advised were welcomed by a slew of no parking pylons along either side of the valley floor loop. Normally, those spaces are free to park first-come, first-served. But for Obama’s visit, security was understandably tight. By noon, traffic along parts of the eastbound loop was at a near standstill, turning the left lane into a glorified parking lot.

Throughout Saturday, those aware of the Obamas’ presence asked hotel desk clerks which places to avoid. Others carried on, blissfully unaware of who they were sharing the park with that day.

The president’s remarks weren’t open to the public – just a select group of more than 50 credentialed local, national and traveling press and some 150 invited guests. But that didn’t stop looky-loos from trying to catch the faintest glimpse of Obama from some 400 yards away across the meadow and the road, the closest the Secret Service allowed them to come.

Those who did get in were asked to arrive four hours before his planned remarks. Then they were subjected to a bag search, metal detector wanding and one very attentive bomb-sniffing dog. Next they were bused to the site, and then another waiting game began. To help pass the two hours corralled on site, Yosemite music institution Tom Bopp played tunes for the ever-swelling crowd.

“Wawona Moon,” “Big Yosemite Mountains” and “Down By the Old Merced River” were some of his appropriately themed selections. The dapper singer called being asked to perform the pre-speech concert “a thrill.”

“It’s an honor. I’ve wanted to do this ever since Mr. Obama became president,” Bopp said, placing his hand over his heart.

Dignitaries and famous faces began to fill in the white folding chairs. U.S. Rep. Tom McClintock, climber and adventure photographer Jimmy Chin and famed African American national park ranger Shelton Johnson were among the guests. Many selfies with the empty presidential podium were taken.

A large team from the National Geographic channel was also on hand. The publication earlier announced on its Facebook page “the White House’s first 360 (degree) virtual reality video experience and capture President Obama visiting Yosemite National Park.”

Chitchat among the rest of the assembled press centered on vantage points and general excitement. Hey, even the often jaded press corps can get a little giddy. As one woman confided, “I didn’t really need to be here. But when do you get the opportunity to see the president?”

When indeed.

Then, with about half an hour to go, came the presentation of colors, then the Pledge of Allegiance, then the national anthem and then a reminder to turn all cellphones to silent. The presidential seal was attached to the lectern, and a guessing game as to which direction the motorcade would arrive from began. A few people seemed certain he would emerge striding triumphantly through the meadow, parting its swaying green grass like the Red Sea.

Then his scheduled start time, 11:05 a.m., came and went. Then 15 more minutes came and went. And then more than half a dozen motorcycle cops followed by the more than a dozen cars in the official presidential motorcade came into view across the meadow. Pulling up near the end was the ambulance which follows the president nearly everywhere he goes.

Snipers watched the ridges of the valley’s rock skyscrapers. Secret Service members, dressed to match a casual Obama, stood stoically in khakis and short-sleeved button-ups.

Obama gushed about his surroundings which, given the day’s cornflower blue sky and postcard-worthy backdrop, seemed only appropriate. He touched on the importance of preserving the national parks, the crisis presented by climate change, and the desire to bring more and more diverse families in to enjoy these national treasures.

And then, after 12 minutes squinting into the unblinking sun, Obama thanked the assembled crowd, wished everyone a happy Father’s Day, and left to be with his own family. Well, first he worked the line of people who crammed against the roped-off area in hopes of a handshake. Then he waved at the press corps, which crammed against its media corral for a good shot. And then he stepped into the waiting motorcade and the caravan pulled away as swiftly as it arrived.

Those left behind reveled in the afterglow.

“I am so excited for my son,” said Maria Rojas, whose 8-year-old son Jayson was among a small group of students from the NatureBridge program in San Francisco who got a surprise visit from Obama and the first lady before his prepared remarks. “Getting to meet the president, I mean, it doesn’t get better than that.”

About 15 minutes later, the road in front of the meadow reopened. A flood of bicyclists and hikers poured onto the asphalt, pointing up at the waterfalls and cliffs and wondering aloud what they should see first.

This story was originally published June 18, 2016 at 6:35 PM with the headline "Surviving the presidential waiting game in Yosemite."