Re: Motor-home

Hi, I'm from Brazil (sorry for my bad english) and I love California, but still do not know the Yosemite. I want to rent a small motor-home and stay four days in the park in May 2012. Is it possible? It is recommended? Where can I stay? Thank you so much,
Andre

Sure it is possible. You can stay in any of the Valley campgrounds. Be sure to get your reservation early. The windows for May 2012 are: Camping from April 15 through May 14:reserve on December 15, 2011. Camping on: May 15 through June 14, reserve on: January 15

I can't stress enough how important it is to login and get your reservations immediately at 7am pacific time. If you don't get a reservation, then you will have to log in to the site practically every day looking for cancellations. Those cancellations really won't start to appear until about a month before the dates.

Hi Andre,
As long as you're planning that far in advance, you shouldn't have too many problems but, depending on where else you want to go on your trip, you may be better off just renting a car and staying in one of the facilities within Yosemite. Even a small motor-home will seem huge when you're driving it on some of these mountain roads (not all of which have guard rails) and between the more expensive rental, the cost of gas and the fact that you're only staying four days, I would think it would be cheaper (and more comfortable and possibly safer) to get a car and stay in Yosemite Lodge or Yosemite West. Bookings for either of those places in May should not be much of a problem (my wife and I stay in Yosemite West in May almost every year and the closest we've ever had to a booking problem is having to stay a few nights in one room and a few nights in a different room). You can also try camping (browse around this forum and you'll see lots of people talking about their camping experiences) but I personally would rather spend a few extra bucks on someplace comfortable and quiet (back-country camping is a different story...there are many places in Yosemite that can't be reached via a day-hike and those require you to camp). I love Yosemite West in part because it is usually very quiet.
I have no personal experience driving a motor-home but LOTS of people decide that's how they want to go to Yosemite and they always look terrified driving down the mountain roads at half the posted speed limit (usually with cars backed up behind them wondering why the motor-home driver won't observe the pull-outs to let them pass).
Others might have a different opinion but that's my two cents.
David

I've drove a 27 foot Motorhome (my own, not a rental) into Yosemite Valley on three consecutive days and did not think it was a problem at all (from Groveland at a camp ground there). Except for the tunnels. The vertical clearance on those did bother me the first day. Then again, not everyone is comfortable with wriving a vehicle of that size. However, for only a few days like that I also think it would be better to try and get other accommodations. The hassle of getting the motorhome and the campsite is twice (or more) the trouble of getting a "room" at Yosemite.

Maybe he's on a road trip in the RV and Yosemite is just one stop of many!
If this is the case, then there's a good reason he wants to drive in a RV.

BTW, here is a link where you make campground reservations. If you want a campground in Yosemite Valley (the Pines campgrounds) then you will need to make them within the first few minutes that reservations are open for that time frame:

http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/camping.htm

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andrebufrem
Hi, I'm from Brazil (sorry for my bad english) and I love California, but still do not know the Yosemite. I want to rent a small motor-home and stay four days in the park in May 2012. Is it possible? It is recommended? Where can I stay? Thank you so much,
Andre

Don't worry about your English. Other than your phrase "the Yosemite" ("the" is not correct for most place names) your English grammar was fine.

Also - wouldn't you generally spell it "Brasil"?

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y_p_w

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andrebufrem
Hi, I'm from Brazil (sorry for my bad english) and I love California, but still do not know the Yosemite. I want to rent a small motor-home and stay four days in the park in May 2012. Is it possible? It is recommended? Where can I stay? Thank you so much,
Andre

Don't worry about your English. Other than your phrase "the Yosemite" ("the" is not correct for most place names) your English grammar was fine.

Also - wouldn't you generally spell it "Brasil"?

You might want to let John know The Yosemite isn't right.

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eeek

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y_p_w

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andrebufrem
Hi, I'm from Brazil (sorry for my bad english) and I love California, but still do not know the Yosemite. I want to rent a small motor-home and stay four days in the park in May 2012. Is it possible? It is recommended? Where can I stay? Thank you so much,
Andre

Don't worry about your English. Other than your phrase "the Yosemite" ("the" is not correct for most place names) your English grammar was fine.

Also - wouldn't you generally spell it "Brasil"?

You might want to let John know The Yosemite isn't right.

I always thought it was "The Yo-Semite"

The Yo-Semite by John Lester

Thank you very much guys.
I really don´t know nothing about Yosemite (now is correct?).
Basically my journey begins in San Francisco, going to Yosemite and back to San Francisco. On the way, I want to know Sacramento and elsewhere. Does exist any ghost town around? From the time of the gold rush?
With your tips I am now thinking of renting a normal car. I thought it was easier to find several place to stay in a campsite than a hotel. It is even easier in a hotel? And the prices?
Now I will rethink this.
We spell our country Brazil itself, are correct! I was trying to write correctly in English. Out of curiosity, we call your country "Estados Unidos da America".
Please, feel free to ask any questions about my country, ok?
Thanks again.
Andre Bufrem

Doesn't a rental RV cost around $1500 a week? You can stay at Yosemite Lodge and eat at the lodge cafeteria for less. A car will give you more freedom in my opinion. If you have 10 days at least, then for sure head over Tioga... well, you said May, right? Tioga is unpredictable and whether or not it will be open in May next year is a big unknown.

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hotrod4x5
Doesn't a rental RV cost around $1500 a week?

Looking at one rental company it's hard to tell what the cost is. You have to make a fake reservation to even start to get an idea of the cost. What I found for a medium size RV was about $700 per week. But that did not include the mileage charge which they only quoted as an estimate (with a little math it came up to $0.32/mile) and, of course, there's fuel costs (7 to 13 mpg was quoted and I'd expect the lower end of that range if not less).

Not sure how many "extra" charges there are. Here's a few I found my snooping around on their website:

• $3/hour change for the generator.
• Fee for drivers that aren't 25 are older: Authorized operators 21-24 years of age may drive a motorhome subject to $25/day fee.
• Late returns are $25 per hour but you get nothing for being back days early.
• If you want cookware with the rental it's an extra $100.
• If you want to tow a car behind the RV, there's a charge for that but no mention of how much it is.
• Bike racks might be available for an extra fee.
• A fee of $250 if they decide you didn't do enough cleaning before returning the RV.
• A fee of $50 if you didn't empty the holding tank before returning the RV.

And they say you shouldn't drink the water.

I know most people rent RVs close to their home towns (or the airports they fly into), but I wonder if it might make more fiscal sense to rent one closer to your destination.

In other words, for those who want to camp in Yosemite, would it make more sense to rent an RV from a place in Fresno or Merced versus L.A, Las Vegas, or the Bay Area? To make it practical to do that you might need to pay extra so you could tow the vehicle you took to get to Fresno or Merced, but then you would also have the added benefit of having that extra vehicle with you. And of coure one could eschew that additional cost entirely by having two drivers in the party -- one driving the RV and the other driving the original vehicle they used to get to Fresno or Merced to pick up the rental RV.

I wonder if any RV renters who read this forum have made such calculations. I think the savings in the mileage charge and fuel charge could be significant if someone rented an RV closer to Yosemite than from their hometown or near a major airport that they flew into.

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andrebufrem
Thank you very much guys.
I really don´t know nothing about Yosemite (now is correct?).
Basically my journey begins in San Francisco, going to Yosemite and back to San Francisco. On the way, I want to know Sacramento and elsewhere. Does exist any ghost town around? From the time of the gold rush?
With your tips I am now thinking of renting a normal car. I thought it was easier to find several place to stay in a campsite than a hotel. It is even easier in a hotel? And the prices?
Now I will rethink this.
We spell our country Brazil itself, are correct! I was trying to write correctly in English. Out of curiosity, we call your country "Estados Unidos da America".
Please, feel free to ask any questions about my country, ok?
Thanks again.
Andre Bufrem

Andre,
Just for fun:
Tuolumne (a common word used in Yosemite) is pronounced "two-WALL-a-me" . Go figure.

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Old Dude

Hi folks.
My trip was a success.
I ended up getting it in Oakhurst. Very close to Mariposa grove. There was lots of snow and we had to walk enough to see the redwoods. But it was worth a lot.Tudo there is very beautiful. We arrived early and there was nobody else. Snowshoeing in the silent forest was an unforgettable experience.
Other thing...
When we were leaving, we saw a large animal crossing the road, about 30 miles away from the park (near Mariposa). It looked like a big wolf. Is this possible?
Thanks for the tips.
I don´t know if is possible put pictures in this forum... I like to show you , me and my wife in the snow...
Best wishes.

Hi all.
I ended up staying in Oakhurst. Very near Mariposa Grove. We arrived early, there was no one in the grove and there was lots of snow. Walking in the snow with the silent forest was an unforgettable experience. We saw many sequoias. We love this grove.
Another thing ...
When we were leaving, we saw a large animal crossing the road. It looked like a big white wolf. Outside the park, about 30 miles away, near Mariposa. It may be a wolf? Or maybe a coyote?
Thanks again for the tips.
Can we put photos on this forum? I would like to see my photos with my wife.
Best wishes,

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andrebufrem
Hi all.
I ended up staying in Oakhurst. Very near Mariposa Grove. We arrived early, there was no one in the grove and there was lots of snow. Walking in the snow with the silent forest was an unforgettable experience. We saw many sequoias. We love this grove.
Another thing ...
When we were leaving, we saw a large animal crossing the road. It looked like a big white wolf. Outside the park, about 30 miles away, near Mariposa. It may be a wolf? Or maybe a coyote?
Thanks again for the tips.
Can we put photos on this forum? I would like to see my photos with my wife.
Best wishes,

Hi andrebufrem,

On your other thread you did not discribe the animal so I thought that maybe you saw a coyote since there are no wolves in Yosemite. However, unless it is an albino, coyotes are always shades of brown with grey or yellow mixed in and they are about the size of a medium dog. It might have been someone's dog.

Hi folks.
Thank you for the responses.
I think that the animal that I saw, was a Coyote.
He wasn´t white white, but a light brown. Sorry about the confusion. My english is not so good, and in Brazil when we talk white, it could means a light color, right?
First I think that the animal was a wolf, because he was very big to be a dog, and his face look like a wolf. But now I think that was a Coyote.
He was in a road far from cities.
Another thing... When I was in mariposa Grive, it was very empty, only me my wife and a couple of friends. Nobody guided us on what to do if a bear appears.
Is that normal? Everything was so beautifull that we didn´t think about that possibility, but...

Best wishes.

It sounds like you had a wonderful experience. Walking or snowshoeing through a Giant Sequoia grove alone and in silence is a very special thing.

May in Yosemite was beautiful this year. With the early spring melt and low snow levels, most of the park was accessible, but not overcrowded and the waterfalls were at their peak.

Thank you for coming back to share your experience, and yes you can share photos if you like!

Upload the photos to a sharing website like Picasa. Then open the photo to it's biggest viewing size and right click/copy image URL. Then back at your post on this site, click on the button on the toolbar that is for Insert Image URL. Then hit Cntl +C to insert the URL and you should be good to go. Hit the preview button to be sure it worked right. Good luck!

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"It is all very beautiful and magical here - a quality which cannot be described. You have to live it and breath it., let the sun bake it into you" - Ansel Adams

Andre, There are several ghost towns and gold rush towns were people still live along Hwy 49 starting at Oakhurst and going north. You can google California gold country for websites. Here are three that you can try

www.calgold.org

www.visitcalifornia.com/Explore/Gold-Country

www.historichwy49.com

There is also Columbia State Historic Park that is on the 49 Their website is: http://www.columbiacalifornia.com/

One of the most popular ghost town in the Yosemite area is at Bodie State Historic Park. The park is on hwy 395 on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada and north of the town of Lee Vining. Their website is: www.bodie.com

If you want to stay in Yosemite Park then you need to try to get reservations now since they book a year and a day in advance. May is not as crowded as the summer months but I would book your hotels where ever you go as soon as you have an idea of where you want to go and how long you want to stay in each area. If you want to stay outside of the park, then Yosemite View Lodge or Cedar Lodge and are around 20 minutes from Yosemite Valley. There are also rental houses in Foresta which is inside the park and they are also close to the valley. Yosemite West has bed and breakfasts, condos and houses for rent. Yosemite West is not in the park boundary but you can only access it by going into the park. It is around 20 minutes to the valley from there. Lodging can also be found at the Redwoods in Wawona and also in Fish Camp which is just outside the 41 entrance. Oakhurst is a town of 13,000 about 1 1/2 hours from Yosemite Valley. There are numerous lodging in the town.

As for costs, there are some many different places to stay at and a wide difference in price. You will have to look up the areas I mentioned on the internet to see what kinds of lodging and their costs.

Other than the times I have camped in Yosemite Valley, I don't have any personal experience with camping in the area but there are other people who post here that can give you suggestions.

Thanks again folks.
I see that I must research a lot to have the best trip possible. The choice of hotels outside of yosemite looks interesting, I'm almost dropping the motor home ....
I will research more and new questions will arise and then post it here, ok?
Best wishes to all.
Andre

If possible try to find lodging INSIDE the park.

If you go to the website for the main lodging options inside the the park, http://www.yosemitepark.com, and you don't find lodging available for the dates you're seeking today, keep trying, because cancellations do frequently occur, and the lodging for the dates you desire will often open up. Persistance in checking the website is the key in finding a hotel room (or cabin) inside of the park while you visit.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/18/2011 06:07PM by plawrence.

Might have been a dog, but I have seen some VERY healthy and large coyotes in Yosemite.

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hotrod4x5
Might have been a dog, but I have seen some VERY healthy and large coyotes in Yosemite.

Considering that the animal is question was white and was seen near Mariposa, I am thinking it was someone's dog. I have not heard that there are any albino coyotes in the Yosemite area.

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parklover

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hotrod4x5
Might have been a dog, but I have seen some VERY healthy and large coyotes in Yosemite.

Considering that the animal is question was white and was seen near Mariposa, I am thinking it was someone's dog. I have not heard that there are any albino coyotes in the Yosemite area.

Oh, I didn't see where he said it was white.

I've most often seen them alongside roads begging for food, although I've seen them
going after squirrels in the campgrounds and El Cap Meadow.

DON'T FEED THE ANIMALS! They've learned to beg from passing cars because it's worked in the past.

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qumqats
DON'T FEED THE ANIMALS! They've learned to beg from passing cars because it's worked in the past.

Amen Brother!

I didn't realize there were coyotoes in Yosemite until today. I need to keep my eyes out for them. Are they usually out during the day or night?

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DanPJ
I didn't realize there were coyoetes in Yosemite until today. I need to keep my eyes out for them. Are they usually out during the day or night?

Usually they are nocturnal but can be seen during the day. This winter there was one near Chinquapin that was out during the day because people stopping at the restroom were giving it food. The park ended up putting an electronic sign up saying not to feed the coyotes. Since they eat small rodents look for them in meadows especially in the early morning and evening. We see at least one every trip even in the winter.

I have seen coyotes at the pullout in front of Bridalveil across from El Cap, at Gates of the Valley pullout (where I saw the really beefy one) and also saw one in winter hunting in the meadow under El Cap. I am surprised that some people haven't seen them.

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hotrod4x5
I have seen coyotes at the pullout in front of Bridalveil across from El Cap, at Gates of the Valley pullout (where I saw the really beefy one) and also saw one in winter hunting in the meadow under El Cap. I am surprised that some people haven't seen them.

For many years I always told the kids to watch for the Coyote "greeter" when we first entered the Valley between Cathedral picnic area and Sentinel picnic area. For years he never disappointed us, but for the last few years haven't had a Coyote greeter along the road in that area. But usually see them in the meadows and forest looking for rodents..



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2012 05:01PM by mtn man.

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hotrod4x5

I have seen coyotes at the pullout in front of Bridalveil across from El Cap, at Gates of the Valley pullout (where I saw the really beefy one) and also saw one in winter hunting in the meadow under El Cap. I am surprised that some people haven't seen them.

I guess it depends how long one visits Yosemite.

For me, coyotes are the third most common large mammal I see within Yosemite. Humans, of course, are the first, followed by the deer, and then the coyotes. After the coyotes would be the black bears and then the foxes. And I've also seen, once, a mountain lion in Yosemite too.

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