“This is bullier yet." That is what President Theodore Roosevelt said to naturalist John Muir when it snowed overnight on their camp at Glacier Point during a visit to the wilderness around early Yosemite National Park in 1903. May 15 marked the start of that trip, when the two men spent three memorable nights camping, first under the outstretched arms of the Grizzly Giant in the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, then in a snowstorm atop five feet of snow near Sentinel Dome, and finally in a meadow near the base of Bridalveil Fall. The trip aimed to explore Yosemite’s natural beauty and discuss the future of wilderness preservation. Muir used the opportunity to advocate for the protection of Yosemite and other natural areas. Two months before his visit, Roosevelt wrote to Muir, asking him to guide him through the park. “I do not want anyone with me but you, and I want to drop politics absolutely for four days and just be out in the open with you.” Muir rearranged his schedule to accommodate this request. He later admitted that during their trip, "I stuffed him pretty well regarding the timber thieves, and the destructive work of lumbermen and other spoilers of the forest." At the time, Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Big Trees, now known as the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, were not part of Yosemite National Park, but belonged instead to the state of California. Muir and Roosevelt’s conversations and shared joy with the beauty and magnificence of Yosemite led Roosevelt to expand federal protection of Yosemite to include Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove. President Roosevelt would continue to be inspired by these conversations and sign into existence five national parks, 18 national monuments, 55 national bird sanctuaries and wildlife refuges, and 150 national forests during his presidency. These historic images are from the park archives and are accessible in NPGallery at: https://npgallery.nps.gov/YOSE 📸1: John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt at Glacier Point. 📸2: President Teddy Roosevelt party under the Grizzly Giant in Mariposa Grove. 📸 3: President Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir riding down Yosemite Valley near Camp 19.