This was sent to my email address by Denise. I'm posting it here in the hopes that she will get all sorts of useful ideas from the forum members. My experience with camping in the the park campgrounds over the last 25 years is limited to one stay at Camp 4 and a few stays at the Hetch Hetchy backpackers campground. All other nights in the park have been in the back country. Well I did stay aby mrcondron - General Discussion
I don't even carry a cell phone anymore. There just isn't any coverage up there. Bring a CD to use as a signaling device. When you get to TM use the pay phone.by mrcondron - General Discussion
I'm pretty sure that you can get a permit for any trailhead at any issuing station in the park. Everything is computerized now and the trailhead allocations that have been used are known at each station.by mrcondron - General Discussion
You should be able to put your stove in your checked luggage. This assumes that it does not have an integrated fuel tank like the Coleman single burner stoves. You can even have an empty fuel bottle in your checked baggage but leave the lid off. You can buy fuel anywhere after your arrival. If you are more comfortable with mailing the stove then send it to the TM post office marking it as aby mrcondron - General Discussion
My thoughts exactly. We hiked the North Highland Way in Scotland two years ago and there was a lady in the group with a memory problem. She was never out of someone's sight the entire hike. Post Edited (08-11-07 00:31)by mrcondron - General Discussion
The Merced River flow rate at Pohono has been as high as 25,000 cubic feet per second to as low as 10 cubic feet per second. No record of ever haveing been at 0 cfs.by mrcondron - General Discussion
I was up that way Saturday and I recall a small flow. I think everything that is blue on the park map has water in it although it may be slow.by mrcondron - General Discussion
Having lived in the bay area most of my life, which has been long enough to have put me at Playland At The Beach, I've eaten my share.by mrcondron - General Discussion
Saturday my hiking buddy, Dale, and I hiked from the Elizabeth Lake trailhead to Elizabeth Lake where we ate lunch, then cross country to Nelson lake and had dinner. We spent the night there and then went cross country to Matthes Lake and had lunch. We cross countried to Echo Lake for afternoon tea and then went on to Upper Cathedral Lake for dinner. We stayed over for the night there and theby mrcondron - General Discussion
Two 1 liter bottles each and bring the filter. It's always good to have it with you even on a day hike. You never know when you will need more water water than you started with.by mrcondron - General Discussion
Uzumati, Maybe you've seen this site but here it is anyway: http://setiweb.ssl.berkeley.edu/~davea/yosemite_6_05.phpby mrcondron - General Discussion
Indeed good stuff. People with no bear experience should note though that the first page deals with grizzly bears and the second page deals with the black bears in the Yosemite area. There is a huge difference in the behavior of the two bears and the danger level from a black bear in Yosemite is nothing compared to a grizzly.by mrcondron - General Discussion
I think that all of the camp sites in the park that can be reserved have room to park at least one car. The exceptions would be the walk-in Camp 4 (used to be Sunnyside Campground) on the valley floor and the backpackers walk-in campgrounds which would have parking lots. The backpackers campgrounds are not what you have reserved as they are for wilderness permitted backpackers only and can onlyby mrcondron - General Discussion
There is a spring about halfway up from LYV but it can be hard to find as it is a couple hundred yards off the trail. A 7.5 min topo map will show it. But follow eeeks advice and fill up at the Merced River at LYV. On a hot day I would have three liters of water and about 1500 calories in snacks.by mrcondron - General Discussion
I don't know of any public transportation that follows that route. You might have to hitch a ride. If you hitch you might find it easier to get from the June Lakes loop to 395 and then up to Tuolumne Meadows than the other way round.by mrcondron - General Discussion
Another option is to leave Yosemite one day earlier and spend the night in Merced before catching the train to SF. If you do get to the train on time on the earlier day then you will have one extra day in SF. Not knowing your plans while you are in Yosemite makes it hard to recommend a car or not. If you plan to do nothing but day hikes out of Tuolumne Meadows then a car isn't necessary but iby mrcondron - General Discussion
If I were bitten a few days from help I would set up camp and lay down with a good supply of water on hand if possible. Whatever is going to happen to me will probably be less severe than what would happen if I tried to hike out for two or three days. Even if you had a hiking partner things would be pretty much the same as being solo. Help is still a few days away. If you start hiking and youby mrcondron - General Discussion
Rattle snakes are common in the Sierras. It's not surprising you saw one. The chances of being bitten are slight unless you try to handle one. Two to three hours from help removes the medical threat unless you are very allergic. It's when you are two to three days from help that things can get tricky.by mrcondron - General Discussion
Well, I've heard of the elephant, monk, Weddell, leopard, Ross, crab-eater, hooded, ringed, Caspian, ribbon, bearded, gray, Baikal, and fur but never the road crack.by mrcondron - General Discussion
I couldn't find anything on the river actually drying up but in 1986 the flow was down to about 100 cubic feet per second prior to the spring surge. This is still a lot of water but not much when compared to the years when the spring runoff is going at over 6000 cfs.by mrcondron - General Discussion
It only puts off old wives.by mrcondron - General Discussion
Wear long pants, a long sleeved shirt, and spray some OFF Back Country into the palm of your hand, rub your hands together and smear it over your face and neck, and finally rub your hands together to get the backs of them. This will keep the guys from biting for most of a day and doesn't use much repellent. If they are really thick and you are breathing hard you might inhale one now and then tby mrcondron - General Discussion
John, Will this be your first long backpack trip? Are you going solo?by mrcondron - General Discussion
Kristen, Are you going to be six days and five nights or seven days and six nights? Are you going in at May Lake and coming out at the Yosemite Creek trail-head on highway 120? I suggest that you plan your stops based more on the availability of water and less on how much flat ground you can find. There is always somewhere to pitch a tent even though in your case there will be several. Day 1.by mrcondron - General Discussion
The two threads, "Half Dome Safety" and "Fatalities on the Cables", have several links and pictures related to all three of the deaths. Post Edited (07-10-07 11:20)by mrcondron - General Discussion
I reread my post and it isn't as clear as I thought. I was referring to the situation where it is at least two to three days before one of the hikers can get help and maybe another one to two days before help arrives. (excludes helicopter) The victim should sit it out until help arrives. It could be five days after the bite and by then the emergency could have passed one way or another.by mrcondron - General Discussion
Rudy, Think about parking your car at the valley end of your hike and getting to TM by bus at the beginning of your hike. That way all the uncertainty is out of the way.by mrcondron - General Discussion
Doctor, Thank you for your informative post. I and my backpacking buddies have been trying to get an opinion on what do in the event of a bite two or three days from help as we are often in that position. It seems, in a nutshell, the best thing to do when days from help is to just sit and wait it out without trying to administer any kind of first aid.by mrcondron - General Discussion
eeek, You have access to much better info than is available here. Where do you get it?by mrcondron - General Discussion
Barney, Peeler, Snow, and Crown Lakes out of Twin Lakes which are near Bridgeport on 395. You will need a wilderness permit issued by the Bridgeport office.by mrcondron - General Discussion