[ree]

Glacier Point. FOR SURE. Worth the effort.

[Bloated Chipmunk]

Unfortunately we've had to postpone our Yosemite trip due to the govt. shutdown & come up w/a Plan B instead. So, we've decided that since we each have this week off from work we might as well finally go back up to WA to retrieve all our crap in storage & transport it down here. Maybe next yr. Yosemite will work out....

[olderthanIusedtobe]

That's a bummer that the government shut down cancelled your Yosemite trip. Hope you make it there in the near future.

[marta]

Sorry to hear this - a drive back up 395 might be interesting for color if you are not in a hurry. BTW - I did hear that they were closing Tioga because of a snow forecast. Maybe for the best.

[Bloated Chipmunk]

Fast forward 3.5 yrs. from this thread, & I am finally gonna make it to Yosemite, yay! (We were thwarted by the govt shutdown in 2013, & since then I couldn't find any willing partners to go with until now). Anyway, I'm headed there in a couple weeks, & I know a lot of roads will still be closed due to the huge amount of snow, so we're concentrating our efforts in the valley to see what should be very full waterfalls. Since it's a full day's drive up from SD & we'll be pulling in late, the 1st night we were thinking of just finding a motel or bnb type place in Merced (got suggestions?), or possibly Mariposa (if not too expensive). After that we'll be car camping - likely outside of the park boundary as from what I can tell, reservations had to have been made months in advance for stuff inside the park. We've got our eye on McCabe Flat near Briceburg as a place for camping, though if there's something a little closer that would be better. Some maps show a place called "Dirt Flat" & "Dry Gulch" (sounds attractive, right?) but I couldn't find any info on them in regards to camping. So, my main question is: Anyone familiar w/the campground areas outside the park boundary along hwy. 140? & what sort of drive time we should expect each day going into the park? Figuring out what hikes to do should be pretty easy since we'll be limited to the lower elevation stuff; places like Tuolumne Meadows or other things around Tioga Pass will be saved for a later trip (possibly this fall?). Thanks in advance for any tips!

[KevinDo]

the folks over at YosemiteNews could provide some insights too! Also coming from SD (I assume San Diego), why not take the 41 in instead of the 140? If you take the 41 in, I've always found some nice comfy airbnbs around YosemiteLakes or Oakhurst (about an hour away from the Valley itself).

[rossb]

I was just there about a month ago. I skied up to Sentinel Dome and it was fantastic. If you are a cross country skier, that is something to consider. If not, you might want to borrow some snowshoes (if you don't own them). There are some great places you can access from where they plow the road in the winter (Badger Pass). Most of these are much closer than Sentinel Dome or Glacier Point (which really only make sense as cross country ski trips, given the distance). Dewey Point is supposed to be outstanding (as good as Glacier Point) and appeared to be very well marked when I was there. You should probably check with the ranger, though. They may have plowed much of it -- but that would make it better for snowshoes than skis. Just carry your skis a little bit, then head to Dewey Point. Better yet, just follow the old Glacier Point Road. Here is a map. I stayed at Yosemite Cedar Lodge for a couple nights, and found a really good rate with one of the travel sites (Expedia or something like that). I don't see that available right now, and the place was fine, but not worth what they appear to be charging now. I would say the best time to visit the valley is in the morning or evening. That is when the crowds are the smallest. Since there are a lot of great views from the road, as well as some of the short hikes, that is the time to do them. Spending the morning in the valley, and the afternoon outside it would make a lot of sense. Other than Badger Pass, I'm not sure what options are available in terms of places outside the valley. A lot depends on how the plowing is going, and what they have open.

[rbuzby]

One thing to know is that there is a bike path that goes all around the valley, so if you bring your bike, you can park, and access all the trailheads and other stuff by bike, if you want to.

[mb]

if you come through mariposa, the mariposa lodge is a nice straightforward place to stay, and locally owned. the sierra foothills are beautiful too. if you're coming from the south, you can get to mariposa by going through raymond and taking the ben hur road (leave 99 in madera). it's about 15 minutes longer, way twistier, and way prettier. poor signage, no services except maybe in raymond, and no cell service, so look at a map closely or have it offline in your car/phone/gps. if you're coming at night, take the main road! but going via oakhurst instead of mariposa is the normal route from the south. i've never gone that way. http://www.yosemitehikes.com/ is worth reading also if you're outside the park.... it can take forever to get through the gate at highway140. on busy weekends (e.g. memorial day), i've spent an hour just for the gate though that was a major weekend when 120 was closed. i don't know about 41. 120 is usually not so bad because the gate area is wide and so passholders can get around people who need to buy a pass... but you probably won't be over that way?

[Bloated Chipmunk]

Thanks everyone for your advice! We got a fairly cheap hotel in Los Banos the night before (places in Mariposa or Merced were booked &/or too expensive &/or had poor reviews) & we camped throughout the week @ McCabe Flat (very nice CG outside the park w/a handful of sites along the Merced River). Lots of very full waterfalls! Crowded of course, but probably still not as bad as it gets post-MDW. We pretty much knocked out all the main trails in the valley. Only had 1 day w/rain. Trip report coming soon! Itchin' for another trip in the fall, this time to Tuolumne Meadows.