I'm not sure I'd have much of an appetite after that. heh.by letterknit - General Discussion
I've tried to reassure my mom that the chances of me getting killed by a bear are very slim. Her response was: "But what a way to go!!"by letterknit - General Discussion
I know what it's like being kept awake worrying about bears... I've done it even though I've never had a bear come into my camp. I *was* kept awake by people banging on pots & pans & blowing whistles in the camp next to us as a bear ate *their* food poorly hung in a tree. But even if the worrying is unfounded, sometimes it's ok to take some action to make yourself feel better (and tby letterknit - General Discussion
I just finished reading the book "The Last Season" by Eric Blehm. It's the book about the backcountry ranger that goes missing in Sequoia/Kings Canyon (in 1996?). He grew up in Yosemite and was a backcountry ranger for decades. I was enthralled with the story, made me want to do more backpacking in SEKI (Sequoia/Kings Canyon). Fascinating story. I won't spoil the ending! http:by letterknit - General Discussion
It sounds like they need to advertise more. Craigslist anyone? I think this was the key line: "Foreign workers, usually recruited through private agencies that do initial screening, pay for their own transportation to the park, stay up to 10 months and are less likely than Americans to leave early, even if they're unhappy." That's why they want the foreign workers. Less hiringby letterknit - General Discussion
Are Banner and Ritter the ones over by Garnet Lake? It's very pretty there in the Ansel Adams Wilderness. Here are some pics from our trip there. I got some nice pictures at sunrise when there was no wind and the water was calm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/2carolyn/sets/72157600031007377/ Post Edited (06-03-07 13:33)by letterknit - General Discussion
Who says you have to take the bus from Visalia? You just park at the Giant Forest Museum and take the shuttle to see the sights.by letterknit - General Discussion
From today's SF Chronicle: SEQUOIA AND KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARKS Shuttles will help visitors see sequoias http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/27/BAG40Q2G971.DTL&hw=sequoia&sn=001&sc=1000 "The Memorial Day weekend marks the inauguration of a shuttle system that will carry visitors to the parks' most popular destinations, including the Giant Forest, whereby letterknit - General Discussion
Yeah.. that's the part of the rule that kind of makes me chuckleby letterknit - General Discussion
The backpacker's campground is actually within the Tuolumne Meadows campground. You pull up to the kiosk, tell them you want to stay in the backpacker's campground. When we stayed there, they had us park by the kiosk and walk our gear back to the walk-in backpacker's tent campground. There is a box with the envelopes to pay your fee. Then we had to move our car over by Lembert Dome or somethiby letterknit - General Discussion
Michael, There is a backpacker's campground at Tuolumne Meadows! You can stay there the night before your permit starts (and the night you get back). I stayed there last summer and it was very nice. The main Tuolumne Meadows campground DOES fill up. Especially on weekends, I would imagine. It looks like you will be arriving on a weekend :/ Good luck. But you could possibly stay at Tamarackby letterknit - General Discussion
Beautiful photos Penny! Thanks for sharing! You certainly captured a lot of California!by letterknit - General Discussion
I still think the rash spreads the more you scratch it. At least on me. So I avoid scratching at all costs... not like you can really scratch red, puffy, blistery skin anyway. I use steroid cream, it's the only thing that helps it start to go away (although it seems to take forever to work). I would take the pills if I had a systemic or whole body reaction, but I avoid the prednisone/steroidby letterknit - General Discussion
Here's a Flickr search of Hume Lake, there's at least one picture of boys playing in the water. http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=%22hume+lake%22+sequoia&m=text Water is pretty darn cold in the mountains, but I've seen kids play in the SF bay for an hour when I can barely stick my toes in, so I guess anything's possible. Post Edited (05-24-07 09:56)by letterknit - General Discussion
I am suffering from poison oak myself... on both legs. I picked it up on a backpacking trip on the Lost Coast a few weekends ago. The trails were very overgrown. Even though I wore pants, I might have gotten it on my legs when I rolled up my pants to cross a creek (dumb- that rubbed the outside of the pants on the inside of the pants & probably transferred the oils). I have been poppingby letterknit - General Discussion
Have fun! I couldn't help but smile hiking up the Mist Trail, it was such an exhilarating experience.by letterknit - General Discussion
Penny, I'm glad you had a great trip. Hiking at high altitude can be tough, you are right about that! Other options for photos - If you have a Yahoo account (or want to open one), you can upload photos to Yahoo photos or Flickr. http://photos.yahoo.com If you upload to Flickr, you should resize your pictures before uploading because they have a limit on how much bandwidth you can use per moby letterknit - General Discussion
You can find the Wilderness Conditions here: http://www.nps.gov/archive/yose/wilderness/trailconditions.htm I would suggest calling the Wilderness Center (probably the same number as the permit reservation line) to get the scoop on what the conditions are like. Post Edited (05-22-07 10:36)by letterknit - General Discussion
David, But tell us what you really think.by letterknit - General Discussion
Oh how I've longed for a restroom at the Tunnel View!by letterknit - General Discussion
There is also a place to get permits at the north park entrance (Hwy 120) if you want to get your permit on the way in.by letterknit - General Discussion
My husband scours every square inch of our Honda civic for stray lip balm and food wrappers in bear country. He doesn't even let me keep lip balm in the tent and he rolls his eyes when I want to keep Advil in the tent. We store all our food in bear lockers in a plastic office box or cooler when hiking/camping. When backpacking we use bear canisters. After a backpacking trip we found someoneby letterknit - General Discussion
Does anyone know how far the drive is from the Valley to Fish Camp? I think it's about 30 minutes from Yosemite View Lodge to the Valley. Carolynby letterknit - General Discussion
My Lonely Planet Yosemite guide says they can drop you off at your trailhead and will pick you up if you flag them down. Reservations strongly recommended.by letterknit - General Discussion
It also depends what time of day. Since most people start the Half Dome dayhike early in the morning, everyone seems to be going up and coming down at the same time. If you're going on a weekday, see if you can get a permit to stay overnight at Little Yosemite Valley. Then you can head up early, spend as much time as you want at Half Dome during the least crowded part of the day and then headby letterknit - General Discussion
The only thing you might want to be careful of is the trail being obscured by patches of snow or mud early in the season. Bring a map/compass and be prepared to do some trail searching at times if necessary. We got a little confused once hiking around Sentinel Dome/Taft point area early in the year.by letterknit - General Discussion
Is YARTS the same thing as that hiker's bus? I've never taken a bus, only heard of it. Did you try calling the Wilderness Center?by letterknit - General Discussion
Another scenario is that the bear will ignore you completely if it is happily chomping away at your improperly stored food. The most important thing to do is store your food in a bear-approved canister or food locker and the bears will stay away from you. That means leaving NO food or scented items in your car or tent (including lip balm, sunscreen, etc). The bear is likely only interested inby letterknit - General Discussion
I think that stuff is run by DNC, you could try calling them: This is listed on the website as "Activites Information" phone number Activities Information (209) 372-1220 http://www.yosemitepark.com/AboutUs_ContactUs.aspx Here's information about rafting in the Valley (you probably already know this, but in case someone else wants to know) http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisby letterknit - General Discussion
And if you can't afford steak and potatoes at the fancy restaurants, I find a Hamburger to be more than satisfying after several days on the trail. Unless, of course, you're vegetarian. I'm going to take a guess that the backpackers campground won't be too crowded unless there's a large group there. When I was there at the end of June once, there was a group of student volunteers that stayedby letterknit - General Discussion