Yosemite: Day 1

Due to popular demand of 1, I'll revisit my Yosemite Adventure of August 2012.

There are a lot of web guides and suggestions for a 3 day stay and this is what we came up with:
Day 1: hike Vernal Falls
Day 2: Sentinel Dome, Glacier Falls, and Tuolumne Meadows
Day 3: Mariposa Grove
I think it was a fairly good plan. In the future I would consider doing Half Dome and maybe visiting the area around Hetch Hetchy.

We flew from D.C. to San Jose and stayed with some relatives. The drive from there to Yosemite was about 4 hours. There was a lot of desert and highway. A few Walmarts in between for last minute supply gathering, mainly food. Would recommend a lot of water and some snacks.

We decided to stay outside of Yosemite at the Days Inn Oakhurst. While it was only 14 miles from the southern entrance, it still took about 45 minutes to drive just to the entrance due to one lane roads and a low speed limit. If we were to go again I think we'd shell out and stay inside the park or as close as possible. Once in the park it is about 45 minutes to an hour(s) to each destination. That said the Days Inn had a nice continental breakfast each morning and the rooms were sufficient. There was a microwave and fridge.

Day 1 we arrived around noonish or 1pm and decided to try one hike, the Mist Trail to Vernal falls which was just 3 miles round trip. We thought it would not take that long but ended up taking several hours. We did stop and take a lot of pictures along the way. There are two or three places that people stop a lot of photos, all related to the falls. I do recommend getting off the trail to the bottom of the Falls. Nice rainbows and a refreshing mist during the summer.

In August it was crowded but manageable. People of all ages were doing the trail and there is one place to fill your water bottles. At the top of Vernal Falls there is a nice pool of water but even in August very chilly. Only a group of French adolescents were brave enough to jump in and swim to the other side.

Prior to this we were thinking of being ambitious and try the Mist Trail to Nevada Falls or even Half Dome. But we or I am out of shape. Maybe one day.

Being a "why adventure" when we got back to the car we saw a note on the car. Someone saw our keys on the ground and they had it! OMG. This was very distressing especially because our cell phones did not have any reception. We tried using pay phones and asking strangers to use their phone. Finally we found the Yosemite security and we were able to get in touch with the folks with our keys. I had dreams that we would be sleeping on a bench somewhere or when we found the stranger with our keys they would like stab us to death.

They were very kind and we ended up eating pizza at one of the dining halls and stopping to look at the stars before heading back. Pretty amazing but a photo fail. The Tunnel View was a place we placed several times each day and it was always an sight.

Mist Trail: http://www.yosemitehikes.com/yosemite-valley/mist-trail/mist-trail.htm
Days Inn: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g32809-d79191-Reviews-Days_Inn_Yosemite_Sierra_Inn-Oakhurst_California.html
Yosemite Valley: http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/yv.htm
Hetch Hetchy: http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/hetchhetchy.htm
Half Dome: http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/halfdome.htm

3 Day Guides:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/GoListDetail-i21258-Three_Days_in_Yosemite_National_Park.html
http://www.sunset.com/travel/california/yosemite-travel-3-day-trip-itinerary-00400000050386/
http://www.fodors.com/community/united-states/3-days-at-yosemitethings-to-do-.cfm

Yosemite Day 2

This was a mostly fun and action packed day.

We went to Sentinel Dome first. It was about 2.2 miles up and back and took about 2 hours. The hike was pretty pleasant and the views were amazing on the Dome. This was about 45 minutes from the South Entrance.

I was experimenting with InfraRed or fake infrared during the trip. Here is a tree:

Then we drove not too far away and went to Glacier Point. There is not much hiking here just look outs. The parking lot gets very full for both of these spots so I recommend going early or being patient. There is also a gift shop and snack shop here.

Then we drove to Tuolumne Meadows which was very far away on the Northeast portion of the park. We actually had to stop and get gas at one of the in-park gas stations ($$). 

One of my favorite parts of the trip was a stop by Tenaya Lake. The lake was just so pretty and peaceful. Felt like I was in the Alps or something. A few brave, again I think Europeans went swimming in the cold water. 

Pretty right?

We also stopped by Omstead Point which is another nice look out but did not spend much time there.

We finally made it to the Meadows and it was not too exciting in the summer. We arrived too late to do a mule or horse ride. We had a picnic and relaxed a little and drove about 1.5 hours back to the Valley. It was too late to do any more hikes so we rented bikes and tried to catch a sunset with just mediocre success. :-D Bike rentals are pretty cheap and a lot of people bring their own bikes too. Fairly easy to get around on paved paths. We had dinner again at one of the Valley eateries and caught a movie about the dangers of Yosemite. The Valley is the area of most interest and traffic. It has multiple lodging, hikes (Half Dome, Vernal Falls), and places to eat and do souvenir shopping. 

Another long drive back to the hotel.

Tenaya Lake: http://www.yosemitehikes.com/tioga-road/tenaya-lake/tenaya-lake.htm

Bike Rentals: http://www.yosemitepark.com/bike-rentals.aspx
Tuolumne Meadows: http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/tmhikes.htm
Valley: http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/yv.htm

Yosemite Day 3

While Yosemite was fun we were about ready to head home.

The last day we went to visit the Giant Sequoias at Mariposa Grove. There is a very small parking lot at the bottom of the hill near the South Entrance and it was full. We had to drive about 30 minutes to another parking lot and wait for the shuttles that came every 20 or so minutes. There is a souvenir shop there so I could spend some time wandering around.

Once there there is a paid tram tour but I was kind of cheap and decided to do the hike. We hiked to one of the cut out trees were and went back. It was about 2 or so hours. Cameras just cannot capture the size of these trees.

One of the fallen trees and a popular photo spot near the beginning of the hike.

We went by the Valley one last time (for souvenir shopping :-D) and then were on our way back to civilization. For our trip total (including a trip to San Francisco) we drove about 1000 miles in 5 days.

Final thoughts: Hiking shoes are useful. Bring Water. Dining options are limited in the park and outside of it so don't wait too late to eat. Be prepared to drive a lot. Plan to get to your destination well in advance, i.e. for sunset photo ops or scheduling a ride. May consider hiking Half Dome in the future.

Mariposa Grove:
http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/mg.htm
http://www.yosemitehikes.com/southern-yosemite/mariposa-grove/mariposa-grove.htm