Looking for recommendations for places to stay, number f days to stay in the park, and 'must dos'.
Thanks!

I have a great itinerary for you.. but.. need details

When are you going?

With who?

Kids?

How many days?

Coming from SFO?

Stay outside, catch a bus or tram in. Hike. See the accessible falls. Take a swim in the Merced if you dare (cold!). Go hike to one of the domes.

I'll take recommendations too. I have a place to stay in the park in early August. We have three full days in the western part of the park. It will be myself, wife and our 7 and 9 year old kids. They are active and used to hiking which is our preference while there.

Tia

Here's the itinerary from my trip - Hiked Half Dome, but that is not an option with young kids - so skip that day but the rest should be great for you and the kids - let me know if you have any questions.

Friday Sep 18
Drive 4 hrs from SFO to Yosemite View Lodge just outside the park entrance. (209)379-2681
- After about 2.5 hours and 150 miles outside SFO, stop for dinner at the enchanting Vista Ranch and Cellars Restaurant live music, wood fired pizza, wine, etc. www.vistacellars.com

Saturday Sep 19
- Drive 1 hr 45 minutes to Tuolumne Meadows Visitor Center and the Yosemite High Country hiking area
o 1 hour to Olmsted Point (view of half dome) mile hike awesome!
o 3 minutes to Tenaya Lake - just walk to it and relax... don't walk the 2.5 mile loop around
o 15 minutes to Tuolumne Meadows Visitor Center many options to look and hike
o 25 minutes back to May Lake hike 3 miles round trip 3 hours - DON'T MISS!
- Drive an hour back to the Valley
o Stop by Bridevail Falls short hike nice don't miss since it doesn't take long.
o Drive past El Capitan see climbers going up
o Mountain Room Restaurant 209-372-1403 is a good spot for dinner great outdoor views
- Drive 20 minutes back to Yosemite View Lodge

Sunday Sep 20
- Leave by 5 am for Half Dome 30 minute drive -park near Curry Village or Happy Isles Trailhead Parking.
- Sunrise is 6:39 am - We started the 17 mile trek at 5:30 am (dark!!) and got back to the car at 6:30 pm
o Take the Mist Trail on the way up (lots of steep steps) and then come back down via the John Muir Trial
- Dinner at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite Village 5 Star beautiful! (Great breakfast brunch also!)
- Back to Yosemite View Lodge

Monday Sep 21
- Drive to Inspiration Point check it out at sunrise DON'T MISS SUNRISE AMAZING!
- Drive 1 hour to Glacier Point. Stop at Washburn Point on the way up.
- Head back to SFO

Other things to keep in mind:
Yosemite National Park 209-372-0200 www.nps.gov/yose
Valley Visitor Center 209-372-0299 open 9-5
Cathedral Lakes we didn't make it consider next time?

Wear hiking boots and bring gloves for half dome
Sunscreen, lip balm, mosquito repellant, camel back for water and definitely bring flashlights

https://www.scenicwonders.com/

My family rented a house in the Yosemite West community from this website. They are all fairly new properties and were inside the gates of the park. While there were not many food options close and we had to pack in all our main meals from Oakhurst, we still enjoyed the comforts of home (including a hot tube) and didn't have the traffic entering the park every day. We either packed our lunch to eat on hikes or at the lodges during the day. Our lunch in the Ahwanhee's dinning room was enjoyable and the hotel is amazing.

The short hike to Sentinel Dome was my most memorable. We got away from the most popular trail a little and just saw amazing views of Half Dome and Yosemite Falls. Glacier Point was pretty amazing too, but crowded.

Yosemite is one of those places that is truly magical if you can find a quite, scenic spot away from people. It truly leaves you in awe of God's creation. Enjoy.

great points! the answer to get away is May Lake - highly recommend the short hike to it - so great and less crowded

Quote:

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The short hike to Sentinel Dome was my most memorable. We got away from the most popular trail a little and just saw amazing views of Half Dome and Yosemite Falls. Glacier Point was pretty amazing too, but crowded.

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In my mind, the Sentinel Dome view is one of the best in the entire valley. Highly recommend! We also saw a bear on our hike down which was neat. Also agree that it was way less crowded than Glacier Point.

Was going to make a new post but decided to piggyback this one...

I'm going to be in Sonora, Ca. for work from early March to early May. I'm not much of a hiker/camper but I figure I should at least give it a shot for those 2 months while I'm in that area.

With that said - I need recommendations on stuff I need (like hiking boots, camelback, etc.) and also some ideas not already discussed about places to go in that area.

Thanks in advance!

20 fatalities with 4+ million visitors in 2015. Weird thing is two kids were killed by a falling limb at 5 am in a campground we walked through a day or two earlier. It was a crazy drought and very little water flow in the park. We left to catch Madbum pitch against our Astros. I might be crazy (no doubt), but I wouldn't camp under those big trees in the Upper Pines Campground, or any big trees anywhere. Outside the park, half the trees were dead on all the mountain sides from LA to Yosemite. It made our drought look mild. Billboards were everywhere about how many gallons of water it takes to make cheese, "say no to cheese". Allegedly it takes 55 gallons for two slices of cheese. "Shut down dairy farms and have enough water for citizens for 3.5 years." We went from LA to SF to SD and back to LA. It was a great vacation but, the drought was the big story everywhere.


Bridalveil Falls, less H2O

Edit - I had to take several photos to catch the wind blowing some moisture over the falls. This was the most moisture I caught.