Just an FYI... Up until last year, it was basically illegal to have a loaded firearm inside any National Park. But a new law took effect in February 2010 that eliminated the prohibition. ABC News: Visitors to National Parks Can Now Carry Gunsby plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
If you're staying at Hodgdon Meadow and want a leisurely hike through the woods, there are some old abandoned (or little used) roads that you can explore. From the Hodgdon Meadow campground you can follow Old Big Oak Flat Road south towards (and through) the Tuolumne Grove. Or you can explore Aspen Valley Road off of Evergreen Road. These roads are mostly in the forest, so there aren't any rby plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quoteeeek • Special Note to Campers at Potwisha Campground in Sequoia National Park: Road construction project work is being completed in the overflow area adjacent to the campground. You may hear this work while in the campground. Oh fun... There's probably going to be a lot of unhappy campers because of this.by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Are they also going to offer the half-day rides to Clark Point and the full-day rides to near the sub-dome of Half Dome this year?by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
A federal judge awards $1.9M to family of a boy killed by a black bear in Utah in 2007. The Forest Service was deemed to be at 65% at fault for the tragedy. The family and the boy were also ruled partially at fault for the attack because they had failed to remove trash and food wrappers from the boy's tent. SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah federal judge on Tuesday awarded nearly $2 million tby plawrence - General Discussion
QuoteAlmostThere Quoteplawrence QuoteAlmostThere All it will take is a bear seeing someone getting a vac sealed goodie out of it and walking away eating it. Proximity of bear + person using machine will eventually coincide. But if Yosemite black bears have such a great sense of smell that they can sniff out food hidden in a trunk of a car, and have good enough vision and memory to recognize preby plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Give the Forest Service office in Groveland a call. They should probably be able to give you a good time estimate when the gate will be open. And maybe you asking about it might bump it up on their priority list of things to do.by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quoteitchbay I never understand people who are in a hurry in Yosemite. So much to see, so little time to see it.by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
That's a major problem with the Wawona Road from Fish Camp into the Valley, but I've found that Big Oak Flat Road has sufficient stretches of road (marked with a dashed yellow center line) when one can legally (and safely) pass these slow moving vehicles (most of the time) if one is stuck behind them. So, generally speaking, they haven't prevented me from travelling at the posted speed limit tooby plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
It's really too early to tell. It all depends how warm or cool May is. This week, there will be a bit of a warm spell that should start to melt a good bit of snow. But next week, or the week after? Who knows? Just sit back and watch Spring unfold. Ask your question again about a week before your trip, and everyone will have a lot better idea of what the answer should be.by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I'm aware of that, which is why I try to stay within 5 MPH of the posted speed limit.by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quoterobinjayp I think it took about an hour to drive to the valley from here (we were in the valley for a week before we moved to Hodgdon). If one drives at the posted speed limits on Big Oak Flat Road, it should take less than 45 minutes to reach Yosemite Valley from Hodgdon Meadow Campground. (A bit quicker if one drives faster than the posted speed limits.)by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
QuoteAlmostThere All it will take is a bear seeing someone getting a vac sealed goodie out of it and walking away eating it. Proximity of bear + person using machine will eventually coincide. But if Yosemite black bears have such a great sense of smell that they can sniff out food hidden in a trunk of a car, and have good enough vision and memory to recognize prepackaged and wrapped food by sigby plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotetomdisco Quotey_p_w I saw a warning ticket on a car once - parked at the Yosemite Lodge parking lot. It was for storage of (I kid you not) cleaning fluids in the passenger compartment. Bears have been know to break into a car to get to a can of engine oil. It it looks like a food container, it is a food container as far as they are concerned. You basically should not store anything in sby plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
You also might want to consider the BLM campgrounds in the Merced River Recreation Area, off of Hwy 140 by Briceburg. The three small campgrounds are located near the Merced River and are managed by the BLM. They are first come, first served. Merced River Recreation Area BLM Campgrounds Info. Merced River BLM Campgrounds Mapby plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotey_p_w So Yosemite is where bears have mastered breaking into car. So I guess Yosemite bears are smarter than the average bear. But that shouldn't surprise me because I personally know a lot of Bears that graduated from Cal.by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
So is this the most dangerous part of the Sierra Point Trail? And on this specific section of the trail, was this how the Park Service maintained it while it was still an active trail, or has this portion of the trail deteriorated over time? I would think with trekking poles it shouldn't be that difficult of a decent. Obviously, I wouldn't want to traverse this section if it was eitherby plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Just visit it during the spring (April, May, and early June) and it's still pretty much a lake. Just think of it as a seasonal lake now.by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
QuoteSherry When is the latest you can find snow in Yosemite then? Year-round actually. There are still two (albeit small) glaciers in Yosemite National Park: Lyell and Mounts Maclure. And it can snow anytime of the year up in the high country. Once (in 1990) I drove through a snow storm on Tioga Road during the afternoon on an August day. That same morning I had been in Death Valley wherby plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
No, it does not. It just means that they started plowing the road. Don't expect Tioga Road to be open until around Memorial Day (at the very earliest — if the weather warms up). More likely, it won't open up until sometime in June if not early July this year.by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
As long as you stay along the rim, the great views of the Grand Canyon in Arizona are very wheelchair accessible.by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotemrcondron The Sierra Point Trail and the Ledge Trail were removed due to high risk. I know that the Ledge Trail was removed because of its inherent danger, but I thought the Sierra Point Trail was removed only because a rockslide took out the beginning portion of the trail. What else makes the Sierra Point Trail dangerous. I thought once you get past the rock slide, it's a relatively sby plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Big difference -- the bears in Yosemite don't sing!by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quoteitchbay But I still wonder what happens to reservations that aren't claimed? Are those campsites left empty? Or, like hotel rooms, do you have to check in by a certain time or lose your space? One has up until 10:00 AM the following morning to check-in, otherwise the rest of a mult-day campground reservation will be cancelled. For single-night reservations, the campsite will basicallyby plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Snow in July depends not only how much snow fell in the winter, but how warm (or cool) spring and early summer were. A long heatwave in late spring can melt a lot of snow very quickly.by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotejackolive There is golfing here? You are serious right? My next trip is Wawona. Yes, I'm serious. They even have a small Pro Shop on the hotel grounds: Yosemite's Wawona Golf Courseby plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I think that might be a good strategy on how to get the campground reservation you want: 1) Find a Yosemite campground reservation for sale on Craig's List or EBay for the dates you are interested. 2) Report that illegal resale of the campground reservation to Recreation.Gov 3) Wait for Recreation.Gov to cancel that reservation, then snatch it up on Reservation.Gov before someone else does.by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
If this is your first visit to Yosemite and want to see Yosemite Valley, I would avoid September since it's the waterfalls that make Yosemite Valley extra special. Late September is an excellent time to explore the high country of Yosemite with backpacking trips starting from the trailheads off of Tioga Road, but it's close to my least favorite time to visit Yosemite Valley itself. In regardsby plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Here's a short video of the Sevylor Trail Boat in action, courtesy of an Amazon.com reviewer: Amazon.com: Sevylor Inflatable Trail Boat (Customer Review)by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotemtn man Those bear boxes get awful hot inside during the day if they get sun on them. Maybe take a tarp or something to cover it with while you are away? Secure it with large rocks or something so the wind doesn't blow it away? Any perishables in the bear box with sun on it after a few days will be perished. Or if possible find and use a bear box that is shaded by trees.by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion