The Moon is Waxing Gibbous (66% of Full)
Show all posts by user
All posts are those of the individual authors and the owner
of this site does not endorse them. Content should be considered opinion
and not fact until verified independently.
I was reading through Schaffer's description of the Happy Isles - Vernal Fall Bridge - Vernal Fall - Nevada Fall loop, and came across this gem: "Entering forest shade once more, you ascend a steep stretch of trail before making a quick drop to the Vernal Fall bridge...Just beyond the bridge are restrooms and an emergency telephone (for emergencies such as heart attacks or slips on dangerous
by
Not quite The Geezer, but getting there
-
Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra I'm scheduled to arrive in the Bay Area on Sunday and to drive up to Yosemite early Monday morning. In warm weather I would just take 120 to the BOFR entrance, but there's a good chance of snow over the weekend and into Monday morning, so I'm thinking of taking the longer route in on 140 - less likelihood of snow accumulation or the need to use tire chains. Is my assessment correct?
by
Not quite The Geezer, but getting there
-
Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra Ditto on the ranger-led programs, we've never gone wrong with any of them with young kids at any of then national parks we've visited, you can get a list of the ranger-led programs in the current "Yosemite Guide" here: https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/guide.htm.
As to hikes: if the Glacier Point Road is still open, the hike from the road to Sentinel Dome and back is certainly d
by
Not quite The Geezer, but getting there
-
Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra Old Dude, can you provide a link to the "trademark filing" to which you refer? Do you mean something filed by DNC at the USPTO when it registered the mark "The Ahwahnee" (there are two such registrations, 1529066 for use in connection with hotel and restaurant services, and 2772512 for hats, shirts, dishes, blankets and some other stuff), or something filed by NPS in seeking
by
Not quite The Geezer, but getting there
-
Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion Thanks. The map is cute. The accompanying article not so much so. Here's a quote from the near the end:
"And the 3,000-foot "El Capitan" appears on the opposite corner, scaled by a rock-climber for the first time in history in 2015."
Riiiiiiight. (The author obviously meant the free climb of the Dawn Wall in 2015, which *was* a first.)
by
Not quite The Geezer, but getting there
-
Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion And earlier this month, the USPTO confirmed it will suspend NPS' cancellation actions against DNC until final resolution of the litigation instituted by DNC before the Court of Federal Claims. http://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?pno=92063225&pty=CAN&eno=17
by
Not quite The Geezer, but getting there
-
Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion I stayed at Yosemite Lodge last February, mid-week, in the family suite for $143/night including tax. Same room for the same time is now being shown on the Aramark site for $212/night including tax; room is $40/night more, plus tax, on weekends. I also think that once they see they're under capacity, they'll adjust the prices downward. And maybe they'll learn how to list the hotels on Expedia,
by
Not quite The Geezer, but getting there
-
Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion The TRs of your recent hikes have me intrigued but I can't see the pics on your blog :-( although the photos from older blog entries are just fine.
by
Not quite The Geezer, but getting there
-
Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra It's now spelled "Willis Tower", but it's pronounced "Sears Tower". Just liked it's spelled "Half Dome Village" but pronounced "Curry Village", and spelled "Yosemite Ski and Snowshoe Area" but pronounced "Badger Pass Ski Area", and "Big Trees Hotel" is pronounced "Wawona Hotel". English is a funny language that way.
by
Not quite The Geezer, but getting there
-
Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra Maybe it was windy that day. Placing a stove in the trunk itself might have provided something of a wind break...and a free Darwin Award Honorable Mention...
by
Not quite The Geezer, but getting there
-
Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion Besides, being concerned about Lyme disease, I'd only want to try it on bears that aren't infested with arachnids, i.e that lack tick, or that don't have claws, i.e. lack toes, but I don't know if there are any.
So I agree: milking a bear? Udder nonsense.
by
Not quite The Geezer, but getting there
-
Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion So who's the person in charge of awarding the concession to whom we complain? The NPS should be encouraging people to use the shuttle; charging encourages people to use their cars. As far as I can tell, Aramark also raised the rates on the various hotels. (I didn't have a problem with DNC until they pulled that trademark stunt, after they'd already lost the contract.)
by
Not quite The Geezer, but getting there
-
Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion It was and is Curry Pizza. But due to Delaware North's attempt to hijack the name "Curry Village" in connection with hotel and restaurant services, the operator of the pizzeria (Aramark? presumably Aramark) has apparently decided to temporarily change the name to "Half Dome Village Pizza" until NPS' litigation with DNC is resolved.
Note that even if DNC's putative ownership
by
Not quite The Geezer, but getting there
-
Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion Makes sense, especially since there's no TM infringement in the NPS using the names in question on maps, and with the NPS needing more funds, why waste them on new brochures before the existing ones are gone?
At any rate, I like to think of these names as "temporary names" rather than "new names". I'm confident than when the dust settles, the names of these hotels will re
by
Not quite The Geezer, but getting there
-
Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion FWIW, when I visited in early June, the "Yosemite Guide", that newspaper-like brochure you can pick up on the way into the park, had the new names, and apparently has since March 1. See https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/upload/yg16-3.pdf or https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/upload/yg16-5.pdf or https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/upload/yg16-6.pdf, and compare to the last
by
Not quite The Geezer, but getting there
-
Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion Thanks for the update (not that I'm anywhere near YNP right now or for the foreseeable future). But I want to take the opportunity to raise a pet peeve: please do not refer to the Ahwahnee as "The Majestic" whatever. I don't give a rat's rear end what the NPS and Aramark have decided to call it until the litigation with Delaware North (and the parallel trademark cancellation proceedin
by
Not quite The Geezer, but getting there
-
Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion We headed out for Cloud's Rest on June 5 but ended up going to the Sunrise Lakes instead due to a late start and snow covering parts of the trail and slowing us down. I would expect that by next weekend much of that would have melted off. Serious mosquitoes at the Tenaya Lake outlet crossing at the beginning of the hike (and the water was up to our thighs, don't know if the water level is lower
by
Not quite The Geezer, but getting there
-
Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra From my flight in on Friday (got bumped up to first class and moved to the left side of the plane)...and the pilot actually announced that Yosemite Valley would be visible!
The photo appears cloudy b/c...it was a little cloudy...
From a little farther west:
by
Not quite The Geezer, but getting there
-
Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra Coming up Sunday with my brother-in-law to do a few short hikes (including Mt. Watkins, suggested by mrcondon offline and then I found the discussion of it in this forum from a few years ago). But we're wondering - that picture of the Tioga entrance parking lot from 10 days or so ago shows a lot of snow. Does anyone know if there's still enough snow to make a snowshoe trip up to the Gaylor Lake
by
Not quite The Geezer, but getting there
-
Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra Re: Horsetail falls: we were there this past February. Here's a link to picture taken with our point-and-shoot Canon, no retouching or playing with the shot:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ObD0-bNDg2c/Vs1pEI-ZwHI/AAAAAAAAVVs/JO_9FGz2gvUEJJeXF6UuYD_50P5oFVFqACCo/s512/IMG_0377.JPG (someday I'll figure out how to post actual pictures here).
And here is but a small group among the many, man
by
Not quite The Geezer, but getting there
-
Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion Thanks for all who posted the photos, and amen to The Other Tom's sentiments. I've been fascinated looking out airplane windows since I was a kid, and I love getting the views in the western USA, and I don't understand how people could be more interested in another formulaic bit of Hollywood pablum than seeing the Rockies or the Utah Canyons or the Sierras from 35,000 feet.
A few years ago, o
by
Not quite The Geezer, but getting there
-
Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra Thanks to all who responded, in the end the we all got a view of the Clark range on a ranger-led snowshoe walk at Badger Pass on Monday. The next day while two of the kids were learning how to ski -- something they had vehemently said they weren't interested in doing prior to our arrival in Yosemite and something they didn't want to stop doing once they started to get the hang of it -- I did the
by
Not quite The Geezer, but getting there
-
Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra I'm envious!
Changing topics: in February we're planning to come to California from a galaxy far, far away (ok, only from the other side of the planet, but it's far enough), and have allotted two days midweek for Yosemite. "We" being myself, my wife and three of our kids (two teens and a first-grader). We've been to Yosemite before but never in the winter, so we're looking forward to
by
Not quite The Geezer, but getting there
-
Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra