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Early on a Friday morning a couple of weeks back, I caught my first real glimpse of Yosemite Valley.

It was chilly, but not frigid. Silvery clouds blotted out the rising sun, until they were streaked with pale pink and orange. Jenna Schoenefeld, the photographer I was traveling with, and I drove along the Merced River admiring the snow-dusted peaks of El Capitan and Half Dome.

Mist rose from the ground.

It was stunning. And above all, it was empty.

Aside from a handful of scattered tourists, we came across no madding crowds at Tunnel View, no traffic jams on the highway.

I felt conflicted in a way that I do more and more often these days living in California.

Yosemite, like many of the most popular national parks, is struggling with overcrowding in peak season, as the need to protect fragile public lands rises.

[Read more about the lasting effects of the federal government shutdown on Joshua Tree.]

But access to national parks is uneven, to say the least. Legacies of racism have kept Americans of color from fully enjoying one of our nation’s greatest resources.

All that was rattling around the back of my mind, even if at the front of it, I was dumbstruck by tumbling waterfalls and stands of dark, ancient trees in the distance.

I felt almost as if I was witnessing something I shouldn’t.

We hopped out of a gas-fueled car we had driven hundreds of miles, and stood on a man-made road just to look at nature that might have been better off unseen, and therefore untouched, by people.

At the same time, I wanted everyone to see what I saw, to be humbled by the power of an environment where you don’t have cell service, to be mesmerized by the vastness.

In the new year, I hope to keep grappling with these particularly Californian paradoxes. And I hope you’ll join me.

Here’s what to know for the weekend

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Wildfire victims have until Tuesday to seek damages from Pacific Gas & Electric, the state’s biggest utility. Many still may not know about the deadline. [The New York Times]

Senator Bernie Sanders visited the editorial board of The Los Angeles Times. They talked about health care, homelessness and President Trump. [The Los Angeles Times]

Travis Kalanick, the founder and former chief executive of Uber, stepped down from the company’s board, severing his last formal tie with the ride-hailing giant. [The New York Times]

In the latest fight between California and the president, the Trump administration awarded billions of dollars in contracts to private immigration detention center operators, days before a new state law banning for-profit prisons goes into effect. [The Associated Press]

Santa Clara County reached a deal with a union representing 3,000 nurses, averting a strike the group authorized the day before. [The Mercury News]

Members of the Coachella Valley’s Purépecha community prepared for months to celebrate Virgin of Guadalupe Day. It’s a way of preserving an indigenous culture that often feels under threat. [The Desert Sun]

Ranching purple sea urchins could help alleviate the effects of a nasty ecological chain reaction. People just have to want to eat them. [KQED]

The Times’s 52 Places Traveler visited Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. He was confused — but not in a bad way? [The New York Times]

California Today goes live at 6:30 a.m. Pacific time weekdays. Tell us what you want to see: [email protected]. Were you forwarded this email? Sign up for California Today here.

Jill Cowan grew up in Orange County, graduated from U.C. Berkeley and has reported all over the state, including the Bay Area, Bakersfield and Los Angeles — but she always wants to see more. Follow along here or on Twitter, @jillcowan.

California Today is edited by Julie Bloom, who grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from U.C. Berkeley.

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