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splendor shrouded
Noah Berger/Associated Press

Smoke from the Ferguson forest fire filled Yosemite Valley in California on Wednesday, providing an ominous backdrop as Hannah Whyatt posed for a friend’s photo in Yosemite National Park. Campsites and lodges emptied after disappointed tourists were ordered to leave the heart of the park by noon Wednesday. It marked the first time since 1990 that the park village was closed. More than 3,300 firefighters, aided by 16 helicopters, battled to contain the huge wildfire, which has threatened the park’s forest and obscured grand vistas of waterfalls and sheer granite faces.