Tag: Half Dome

Last Days at Yosemite

After being fortunate enough to grab a campsite at the Valley’s North Pines Campground, I enjoyed a full day in the Valley plus a little more time as I made my way out of the Park on my last day. Part of the reason I left when I did was a forecast of a wintry mix–which did happen. Spring is a great time to visit Yosemite because of all the water, but I will probably choose another time of year next visit, if for no other reason than to have access to all roadways. What a beautiful, beautiful place. ‘Can’t wait to return and visit the parts I didn’t see on this trip–and to see the same parts again! I highly recommend a visit. Just be prepared for the inevitable sea of humanity. Reserve early and also leave early each morning. Enjoy!
(I plan to have one more Yosemite post with videos)

Yosemite National Park

My next destination was one of my bucket-list parks, Yosemite NP. When I first arrived, it was early in the day, so I went in the south gate, got some information, and looked around at the Pioneer Yosemite History Center. I found out from the visitor center employees that I could drop my trailer at the Wawona hotel overflow parking lot whenever I made the long drive to the valley. This was extremely helpful as I did not feel my trailer would be secure where I was camping outside the south entrance. I really appreciated that.

At first, I dispersed-camped outside the south gate. ‘Had a scary experience with some aggressive locals so I later moved to another spot in the national forest. I kept trying to get a reservation down in the valley and, after a while, finally snagged one for a couple nights. (In this case, some spots had opened up because of receding flood waters!)

The first time I headed to the valley, what was supposed to be a one-hour trip turned into two because they were doing tree-work along the road. That’s a tough job for the workers with all the traffic.

The valley was just stunning. There’s a one-way perimeter road through the valley to accommodate all the humanity. I found parking pretty easily despite all the people. It was amazing to be in a place I had wanted to see my whole life.