[Kristalox]

Hi there, I'm leaving tomorrow for Yosemite, yet I know so little about the park. I'd love any feedback that I can get. Our plan is to car camp and hike as much as possible. None of us are too technical, but we're all in great hiking shape and we all like a challenge. I understand that Half Dome is a must, but to expect tons of people on the trail. We'll have about three full days (Fri/Sat/Sun). What would you do? What do you recommend? What stood out as your trip highlight in Yosemite? Thank you in advance!

[Brain]

If you're visiting Yosemite on a summer weekend, then planning hikes in order to avoid crowds without going deep into the backcountry is futile. The least-crowded area is the Hetch Hechy (sp?) area. Lonely Planet has an excellent guidebook for Yosemite that can really help plan out what you want to do while you're there and it's worth picking up even if you've been there many times. Glacier Point absolutely cannot be missed. Cathedral Lake near Tuolomnie Meadows is a wonderful dayhike and is less-crowded than a lot of the other places. Cloud's Rest is a great alternative to climbing Half Dome and I think the views are better from the top. Have fun...it's beautiful.

[GeoTom]

I have not spent much time in the "Valley", the main area, but I have spent some time in Tuolomne Meadows. It was still a bit crowded, but not nearly as much as the main area. The two hikes I did while there were: Mt. Dana is an easy 13,000 foot peak (just bring more than a liter of water and don't have a beer on the top), and has nice views of the Sierras and Mono Lake to the east. The trailhead is right at the Tioga Pass entrance to the park (east). It's about 4 miles up and the trailhead is at 9,950. Cathedral Peak (scramble near the top and quite airy). The trail along the river was quite nice, although the water was cold. The views were great from here, and we saw a couple marmots near the summit. They just looked back at us until we left. The bugs were bad, but we were there in late May. The highlight was probably the Mobil Station in Lee Vining, but that's outside the park and this is a family internet forum

[wildernessed]

Been there for 5 days, keep your time in the valley down, Yosemite has many sections. Checkout the Tuolumne Meadows areas, do what you want, but start early it gets baking hot (especially in the valley), but do go swimming in the Merced River, jumping off huge boulders into the deep clear water of the Merced River when it was 113 degrees was da bomb, nice areas in the canyon outside the park. Guidebooks / Information sources... Dayhikes in Yosemite National Park by R. Stone Hiking Yosemite National Park by S. Swedo Insiders Guide Yosemite Frommers Yosemite / Kings Canyon NP's

[WTCrocker]

Forget Yosemite and go another hour south to the Sierra NF. Take Beasore Road from Bass Lake to the upper San Joaquin River, or California 168 from Clovis to the end of the line at Florence Lake. All the tourists get sucked off into Yosemite and Kings Canyon/Sequoia leaving a million acres of sparsely visited land in between.

[Kristalox]

LOL! Thanks so much, this is awesome you guys!

[Kristalox]

Thanks Wildernessed! I was hoping I'd see your name on here.

[Snowshoe Hare]

Only three days in Yosemite, what would I do? Probably sit down under a tree and cry. Ditto Mt. Dana from Tioga Pass- it's a straighforward hike but I was huffing a lot near the top- you start at 10K feet and end up at 13K in four miles. Fantastic expansive views, especially of ancient (est. million-year old) Mono Lake way below you to the east. Don't go up high if thunderstorms threaten- you don't want to be caught up there as you are way above timberline on that rocky summit. Ditto Cathedral Lakes- an easy hike to nice meadows and lakes beneath Cathedral Pk and Unicorn Pk. Ditto Glacier Point- absolutely a must-see near sunset- almost a surreal scene -it takes your breath away. Sure a touristy stop but worth it. I haven't done it but I've heard also that Cloud's Rest rivals Half Dome for an experience. There are so many places just at turnoffs along the Tioga Rd. (120) that you can park and scramble around on cool granite slabs and/or wander aimlessly. I enjoyed the heck out of hiking up the Lembert Dome in Tuolumne Meadows, and Mt. Hoffman (10,000') down the road from the Meadows to acclimatize the day before Mt. Dana. Beautiful central view of the park from the summit. Tuolumne Meadows is the largest subalpine meadow in the Sierra- you could just spend a day wandering around it and hiking along its namesake river that flows down towards the Hetchy Hetchy Valley/reservoir. Hey ditto on a swim in the Merced River down in the valley. It can get just stifling hot in the valley so it feels mighty nice to cool off in it. You obviously can't do the park justice on one trip but you'll find plenty to do to get a taste. I found this guidebook to be helpful and informative: Yosemite NP: a natural-history guide to Yosemite and its trails, by Jeffrey P. Schaffer, Wilderness Press, Berkeley. Oh just remembered- I thought I had heard several weeks ago that due to the heavy snowpack this past winter in the Sierra several high country car campgrounds above the Valley would either be late in opening or not opening at all, FWIW. I've stayed at Porcupine Creek and Tamarack Flat in the past - Porcupine is right off the Tioga Rd, Porc. Flat is a bit of a longer drive off of that main cross-park route. Both were primitive type CGs with pit toilets and possibly no water but I can't remember. Pretty cheap too for a NP but Arnuld the Guv said he was raising campground fees statewide so who knows now. Calif. had some of the cheapest and best bargains for car camping compared to the NW. The Tamarack CG area had had a wildfire not too long before I visited back in the late 90s, but despite or because of that the wildflower show in mid-summer was awesome there.

[contour5]

I would head for Tuolumne Meadows, rather than the smoggy, crowded valley. There's a very cool, semi official trail down Tenaya creek, from a tiny parking lot below Tenaya Lake, down to a little tarn at the cliffs edge. DO NOT venture below the tarn unless you have absolutely mad climbing skills. You'll have to talk the rangers into a permit for this hike- lots of tourons have gotten themselves trapped/killed below the tarn. It's a fantastic overnight, with good campsites near the tarn. You can also cross country down there on open slabs on the north side of the canyon-takes a little routefinding. Another stunner is the walk from near Tenaya Lake that follows a trail down the north side of Tenaya creek to Mirror Lake in the valley. (4000 foot drop) Nice bivy spot on a knob on Mt Watkins- directly across from the summit of Half Dome. You'll have to hitch a ride back up to Tuolumne, but it's worth it- this is a truly spectacular walk- awesome views of Half Dome and the entire valley. Don't miss having breakfast at the Tuolomne Grill! What a freak show! (Broken climbers laying around comparing injuries, tourons gaping and asking stupid questions- some people spend their whole summer right there at the grill). Man, I wish I was goin'!

[Snowshoe Hare]

Well except for the insult about tourists some interesting stuff. Everyone has to see the Valley at least once- but I agree a summer weekend probably isn't the time to do it. You're talking about the canvas-walled "eating establishment" next to the campground up there? Interesting experience for sure. God the food in Yosemite is godawful- pretty dang bad burger and fries crap. Well except for the Ahwahnee. Curry Village is quite the opposite experience - now that is much better! I won't even mention Housekeeping Camp. Yeah best to drive the valley loop and then head fer the hills.

[qm1pooh]

We were only at Yosemite for two days in early June, and almost everything was still closed. However, the waterfalls in the Valley were out of control! We made reservations late and camped at Wawona, which was pretty nice. Our highlights were- Glacier Point (of course, it's that nice) Mariposa Grove (hike to the upper grove to avoid that tram thing) Vernal/Nevada Falls (people thin out after Vernal) Have fun!

[contour5]

Yeah, the Grill is that canvas-walled "eating establishment", and nope, nothing other than the bacon and eggs are worth eating. The Ahwanee is good, bar the occasional case of food poisoning. The cool thing about the grill that I forgot to mention is that it's the Thru Hiker Center of the Universe. Endless stories, madcap hijinx and personality disorders galore! Better than Everest base camp or the hot springs at Tatopani. All types of fruits, nuts and flakes are well represented. I believe the rangers are mostly armed, since one was murdered by a wingnut a few years back. My comments about tourists are not without reason. My first trip to the valley was via Snow Creek/Mt Watkins, after atwo month trip in the high country. Dropping down through (arguably) the most beautiful terrain in the world, I reached the smoggy valley floor and was shocked to find myself in an absolutely bizarre sort of rustic "ye old" cowboy style SHOPPING MALL. I wanted to burn it down, cut the bridges, blast the road and drive the heathens out of the temple. How could they have done this? I think the valley loop should be closed, or limited to some sort of public transit access only.

[Wes]

During the summer, I agree Tuolumne is perhaps the best place to spend time. I've stayed there and there are some small cliffs and rocky areas to climb around on. The river itself is beautiful, but there are meadows like that all over the Sierras. My most memorable hike was actually during the Winter -- a hike up the main falls. There was this huge Ice cone at the bottom that would let out huge thunderous cracks as it melted in the daytime. Really beautiful and no crowds at all. Definitely want to avoid Curry Village if possible, but you do have to see the Valley -- and I think the hike up to Half Dome is a classic. It sounds like they had a lot of moisture so the hike through the mist of Vernal Falls to the grandeur of Nevada falls is a nice segue into the forest and finally the ascent up the granite side of Half Dome (besides its an easy way to tackle one of the world's most famous climbing ). Yes, lots of people, but after you get past Nevada Falls its pretty pleasant (until you get to the cables). To get some sense of the exploitation of the Valley, when I was a (little) kid, they used to build huge bonfires near the top of Glacier Point, and dump them off the cliff. I thought it was spectacular then, but I believe you can still see scars of these great "firefalls" -- what a mess. Also I remember that there were bears *everywhere* in the Valley, until NPS realized they had to put restrictions on food storage, and enforce it. I know they now have propane-only roads, and you might try to rent a bike or something to get around. I've always wanted to see what its like at the top of El Cap. Also memorable is the drive up/down Tioga pass. Lots of references on the internet, but http://www.nps.gov/yose is a good place to start. Good luck!

[ActionBetty]

Never been there.. but have fun Krista!!

[newdawnfades]

I guess i'm posting a little late, but I just got back from Yosemite a week ago. We dayhiked North Dome, which sits directly in front of Half Dome AND has very few hikers on the trail. You'll want to hike it from Porcupine Creek though rather than from Yosemite Valley. If you have 3 days then you undoubtedly should spend it hiking to Little Yosemite Valley. On the way you pass by Vernal Falls AND Nevada Falls. Usually the crowds don't get beyond Nevada. Then you can camp in Little Yosemite Valley. Dayhike Half Dome on Day 1, then dayhike Clouds Rest on the second day. We hiked out the 2nd day, but you can always camp that evening at Little Yosemite and hike out the next day. Clouds Rest was a great hike, but honestly, the full experience, including the hike up and the views, is better for Half Dome. How can you pass up that chain rail climb up the side of Half?! You DO avoid the crowds at Clouds Rest though.