Any Yosemite NP Visit Updates in 2021

[diversey]

We plan to go to Yosemite NP in May. It seems all hotel rooms inside park have been fully booked, no room available besides tent cabins.
Any updates to visit Yosemite NP in Spring and Summer 2021?
What is the best itinerary to Visit Yosemite NP, 3 or 4 days?
Thanks!

[AnalogAngler]

Time of course depends entirely on what you want to do - but I would go for as long as possible. Right now there is no mention of the reservation system being put back in place for the summer, but will be something to watch out for. In the absence of the reservation system, the park will likely be very busy compared to last year - probably even more so than previous years based on the trends other parks have been seeing.

Also note that in May the Tioga Road may or may not be open depending on the snow and subsequent removal. Glacier Point may also not be open - see https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/seasonal.htm for previous open/close dates from NPS. If closed, this obviously cuts down the number of places you can see in the high country.

Anything in particular you want to see/photograph? Most of places within the valley are pretty short trips.

Possibly of interest: the Ansel Adams gallery will reopen in April and they also have a new app with the locations of some of his photographs.

Kind of new to this forum - hope this helps,

-AnalogAngler

[Drew Wiley]

It would be wise to check for accommodations outside the Park in El Portal. It's very difficult to predict the exact manner in which covid restrictions will be gradually lifted; so the official Park website should be frequently consulted. Snowfall levels are somewhat below normal in the high country, but still ample enough to make it doubtful Tioga Pass will be open before Memorial Day. Other entrances will have to be used.

[Vaughn]

Tent cabins are pretty neat. Fancy digs if one is a camper.

If the Pass is still closed, check out the Wawona area. Chilnualna Creek Trail up to the Falls would be an alternative to the Valley. A short hike (not 'easy') is along the creek until it leaves the creek on its way up to the Falls. The whole hike is for the fit. Many years ago, we used it as a warm-up hike for our hike up to the top of Half Dome...it is about half of that hike in distance and elevation gain. I'll be up there in this mid-June (Chilnualna Falls -- not the disney Half Dome hike).

Unmarked walk up to Turtle Dome is also nice.

Photo:
Chilnualna Creek, Spring, 1997
4x5, 150mm lens, meter read 7 to 14, exposed at 9 (f32 at 4 seconds)
Kodak Copy film, HC-110, carbon print

[John Kasaian]

Like others have said, a lot depends on if Tioga Pass is open. If not, Yosemite Valley is your oyster.
I don't know what is going on with Mariposa Grove this summer at part of the spiffy new plastic walkway was damaged in last year's fire.
If it is during the high season, or week ends, or a free entry day, Yosemite Valley could be your gridlock nightmare.

If Tioga is open, plan to spend some time at Tuolumne Meadows & Tenaya Lake.

For accommodations check out the Housekeeping Camp (16) and shoot for a riverfront tent if possible. Being lured to sleep by the Merced at night is worth the effort

If Tioga is closed and there are no vacancies in the Valley, try Bridalveil campground on the Glacier Point road, or Wawona campground.
Very early Spring(April-May) before the mosquitos arrive has the best waterfalls, but the Spring run off is treacherous, so beware. Later Spring has mosquitos so large the FFA paints N numbers on their wings. Autumn is quite nice other than that the falls are a trickle.
There are plenty of classic hikes from the valley that can easily occupy most of a day each: Vernal/Nevada Falls; Glacier Point; Mirror Lake; Yosemite Falls, etc...

I hope this helps!

[DavidFisk]

Outside the park, your best bet is the Yosemite View Lodge in El Portal. If you are going, book now!

[diversey]

AnalogAngler: Thanks for your information. I am worried about Tioga road opening. If it does not open we will miss some good places. It will be our first time to go to Yosemite and hope we can go back again.


Time of course depends entirely on what you want to do - but I would go for as long as possible. Right now there is no mention of the reservation system being put back in place for the summer, but will be something to watch out for. In the absence of the reservation system, the park will likely be very busy compared to last year - probably even more so than previous years based on the trends other parks have been seeing.

Also note that in May the Tioga Road may or may not be open depending on the snow and subsequent removal. Glacier Point may also not be open - see https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/seasonal.htm for previous open/close dates from NPS. If closed, this obviously cuts down the number of places you can see in the high country.

Anything in particular you want to see/photograph? Most of places within the valley are pretty short trips.

Possibly of interest: the Ansel Adams gallery will reopen in April and they also have a new app with the locations of some of his photographs.

Kind of new to this forum - hope this helps,

-AnalogAngler

[diversey]

Drew, Thanks! we plan to make hotel reservations in El Portal, which is the best option, although we want to stay inside the park.

[diversey]

Vaughn, a nice photo! From the picture, the tent cabins look great, but not heated. I am worried it will be too cold in night.If Tioga road is closed, can I hike to Glacier point?


Tent cabins are pretty neat. Fancy digs if one is a camper.

If the Pass is still closed, check out the Wawona area. Chilnualna Creek Trail up to the Falls would be an alternative to the Valley. A short hike (not 'easy') is along the creek until it leaves the creek on its way up to the Falls. The whole hike is for the fit. Many years ago, we used it as a warm-up hike for our hike up to the top of Half Dome...it is about half of that hike in distance and elevation gain. I'll be up there in this mid-June (Chilnualna Falls -- not the disney Half Dome hike).

Unmarked walk up to Turtle Dome is also nice.

Photo:
Chilnualna Creek, Spring, 1997
4x5, 150mm lens, meter read 7 to 14, exposed at 9 (f32 at 4 seconds)
Kodak Copy film, HC-110, carbon print

[diversey]

John: Thanks for your information!


Like others have said, a lot depends on if Tioga Pass is open. If not, Yosemite Valley is your oyster.
I don't know what is going on with Mariposa Grove this summer at part of the spiffy new plastic walkway was damaged in last year's fire.
If it is during the high season, or week ends, or a free entry day, Yosemite Valley could be your gridlock nightmare.

If Tioga is open, plan to spend some time at Tuolumne Meadows & Tenaya Lake.

For accommodations check out the Housekeeping Camp (16) and shoot for a riverfront tent if possible. Being lured to sleep by the Merced at night is worth the effort

If Tioga is closed and there are no vacancies in the Valley, try Bridalveil campground on the Glacier Point road, or Wawona campground.
Very early Spring(April-May) before the mosquitos arrive has the best waterfalls, but the Spring run off is treacherous, so beware. Later Spring has mosquitos so large the FFA paints N numbers on their wings. Autumn is quite nice other than that the falls are a trickle.
There are plenty of classic hikes from the valley that can easily occupy most of a day each: Vernal/Nevada Falls; Glacier Point; Mirror Lake; Yosemite Falls, etc...

I hope this helps!

[diversey]

DavidFisk, will check the lodge you mentioned. Thanks!


Outside the park, your best bet is the Yosemite View Lodge in El Portal. If you are going, book now!

[Vaughn]

Vaughn, a nice photo! From the picture, the tent cabins look great, but not heated. I am worried it will be too cold in night.If Tioga road is closed, can I hike to Glacier point?

I thought some cabins had heaters. I have given workshops in the Valley in April and the weather can go from warm sun to snow to rain and back again in the week. May can be pretty nice...but can also have cold nights. The Valley is only 4000', but high enough1

One can hike up to Glacier point by a couple different routes...neither are easy walks. The Four-Mile Trail is the quickest route...sometimes closed due to snow in the winter, with people going up anyway. The other route goes up to Nevada Falls then over to Glacier Point. A longish hike for the fit.

[Drew Wiley]

My nephew and his wife hiked up to Glacier Pt a few weeks ago; but quite a bit of snow has arrived since. Early road access, prior to June, can vary year to year depending on late spring snow activity. Again, check the official website updates. It's a relatively easy road to keep open, but Park staffing might still be strained due to virus issues. They maintain in-Park roads themselves, and are not as well equipped as the State agency, CalTrans. That fact affects Hwy 120 too, over the top at Tioga Pass.

[DavidFisk]

If you can't find a room at Yosemite View, there is a much smaller motel about 8 miles farther. If not there, you are looking at staying in Mariposa, which is about 1 hour from the valley. Bottom line: book early and book often.

[DavidFisk]

[QUOTE=Vaughn;1592140]I thought some cabins had heaters.

Well, I guess if you rub 2 photographers together you could generate some sparks and then....oh, never mind.

[John Kasaian]

The falls should be cooking by now, and the skeeters shouldn't be out yet, but they will be.
I don't know what's open in the valley.
The shuttle system, if it's working properly, helps ease the valley traffic but afaik they're still parked due to the 'rona.

I'd be up there today if I didn't have pressing work to do around the homestead

[John Kasaian]

I thought some cabins had heaters. I have given workshops in the Valley in April and the weather can go from warm sun to snow to rain and back again in the week. May can be pretty nice...but can also have cold nights. The Valley is only 4000', but high enough1

One can hike up to Glacier point by a couple different routes...neither are easy walks. The Four-Mile Trail is the quickest route...sometimes closed due to snow in the winter, with people going up anyway. The other route goes up to Nevada Falls then over to Glacier Point. A longish hike for the fit.

IIRC some of the tent cabins at Camp Curry still have heaters. The deluxe tent cabins that were also insulated were removed around 2015 because it was thought they attracted Hanta spreading critters

[Jim Andrada]

Ah yes, Tenaya lake mosquitos. I still occasionally find a carcase in my camera - and it's almost 50 years since I did the Adams workshop.

[John Kasaian]

Ah yes, Tenaya lake mosquitos. I still occasionally find a carcase in my camera - and it's almost 50 years since I did the Adams workshop.

I heard the FAA paints N-numbers on the wings of Little Yosemite Valley mosquitos

[Jim Andrada]

At least they're smaller than the Minnesota mosquitos that folks stuff and eat for Thanksgiving. Nice thing about living in Tucson is that there are relatively few flying insects outside of a few of weeks around Monsoon -we have 2 1/2 seasons a year. Summer, Winter and the 1/2 season Monsoon. Crawling on the ground insects like tarantulas and scorpions, on the other hand...

[AnalogAngler]

The falls should be cooking by now, and the skeeters shouldn't be out yet, but they will be.
I don't know what's open in the valley.
The shuttle system, if it's working properly, helps ease the valley traffic but afaik they're still parked due to the 'rona.

I'd be up there today if I didn't have pressing work to do around the homestead

The falls were going pretty good last Thursday; went for a short walk around Cook's meadow. Attendance was already picking up and there were a lot of cars headed that direction over the weekend - spring break surge I expect.

The Yosemite Valley Shuttle System will not be running this year. It is operated by a concessionaire and they made the decision not to operate this summer; so expect a more congested valley and don't plan on catching the shuttle back to anywhere.

Note the separate YARTS busses are operating but they are primarily just to get into/out of the park.

https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/publictransportation.htm

Ansel Adams gallery re-opens April 1st.

Also, if you don't already have the webcams bookmarked...

https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/photosmultimedia/webcams.htm

There will be a snow pack update April 1st; can get a better idea of what might happen with Tioga Road then.

Cheers,

-AnalogAngler

[Tin Can]

-AnalogAngler

Thanks for the links to live webcams!

[Drew Wiley]

Yosemite Valley is relatively low altitude. The mosquitoes are brief, long gone before summer, having choked to death on all the campfire smoke. The high country is a different story. There the mosquitoes arrive is squadrons. The first squadron is essentially all Kamikaze; they sacrifice their lives landing in your sweat and fresh insect repellant just to soak it up. The next squadron lands to lick off the residue. Then the main invasion comes next, seeking real blood. You either want to be slightly above the snowline in June, or wait till September. But if you wait, then forest fire smoke is more a risk. The mosquitoes know that, and carefully study trail maps and so forth while they're still larvae in the ponds, to predict where hikers will be that particular season.

I'm hoping for a brief altitude tune-up hiking to some seldom-visited little lakes near the border of the Park in June. Mosquitoes will be out in force. I just received some permethrin-treated shirts to test. I should also probably figure out how to attach extra blood plasma bottles to my backpack, just in case the insects bleed me dry. But the horseflies in Wyoming high country two years ago were way worse than anything mosquitoes can do to you; and I'd like to see if this kind of treated clothing seriously deters them or not before heading that way again.

[John Kasaian]

My son was on El Capitan yesterday. He reported that the falls are indeed doing their thing and the mosquitos still absent(that was yesterday...today, who knows?)

[Drew Wiley]

Rocks don't bleed much to attract mosquitoes, except when those granitic batholiths were first extruded. El Cap certainly bled a lot of black diorite over on the North America wall. Waterfall mist also helps. But what really is miserable in the lower elevations in summer isn't mosquitoes, but chiggers. They don't just want to bite you, but fly into you, and ruined many an evening on the front patio.