Bus lanes

i was in the Valley floor last week and noticed they no longer have a bus lane?? last time i was there, you couldn't use the right lane. was that seasonal or did they flat out do away with it? i hope they did away with it because it was IMO ridiculous! the left lane was backed up forever.

i went on a wednesday with out of state family thinking the crowds would be minimal, but it was the WORST i have ever seen it all the many years i've gone there!!! you couldn't find a parking spot for the life of you.

i asked a ranger if there was something special going on and they said no, they couldn't figure out why it was so busy either (they were expecting a slow day). our plans were to buy lunch at the hamburger place by the main grocery store, but you couldn't find a place to park... we drove around and around for like 20 minutes and gave up. lol good thing my wife and i had a back up plan and brought enough food in an ice chest to save the day. lol

and... i was all excited to use my really good / powerful spotting scope to show family, the climbers on El Capitan, and there was only one person. lol (strike 2). then, to beat all, my tripod for my spotting scope broke (strike 3 lol). back to the binoculars.

ended up at the river and played in the water (everyone had a great time doing that).

Last week, Monday was a holiday (Independence Day), so probably a lot of families thought it was a good week to take off for vacation. My brother did that, but he went to Lake Tahoe instead of Yosemite.

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Leave No Trace

As plawrence said, if you meant the end of the 4th of July week, that could be a reason. 4th of July is often the worst. We went to Lake Alpine and all the campgrounds were full, which was unusual for them too.

I think the bus lane is on weekends or busy times, though it was busy time for you. I'll be there next weekend, so will see if the bus lane runs or not.