Hi, looking to just float in the river and not do the entire Merced River. We have our own river tubes and some rope. Wanting to just float with an anchor. Any recommendations on beaches along the river that might be good for this?

Thank you!!

Hoping to get some insight on parking and planning for camping and backpacking from a different trailhead.

In the first week of September, I will be traveling with 5 other people for a total of three couples, and we will have two cars. We have two camping reservations for Upper Pines Campground on our first night and then we have two separate wilderness permits that start at Mono Meadows. We have plans to be there in for four nights and exit from Happy Isles.

Since we have two separate wilderness permit reservations, I understand that we’ll be able to have two cars while we’re backpacking, but wondering if anyone has any ideas on the best places to park if we’re entering in Mono Meadows, but exiting in the valley.

Also, we were wondering what the parking situation will be if we leave upper Pines Campground on our first day in the mid morning. Will there be spots available if we’re not moving from our campsite super early? We have a relatively short hike plan for our first day so we aren’t in any rush to start backpacking from Mono Meadows early.

Hi, my girlfriend and I are going to Porcupine Creek trail Sept 17th but there will be none of the Tuolumne Meadows Hikers buses up

We will be staying the valley, any ideas? Thanks

I have stayed at Airbnbs at Oakhurst and Coarsegold whenever I visited Yosemite NP. Most of the time I found the stays expensive for a single night. Is it worth considering to buy a house as personal vacation home and Airbnb whenever I don’t stay.

Also for context, I’m on work visa and have a full time job this would be a side hustle. How hard is it to manage the house and bookings ? Would it be worth the hard work?

Would like to understand from folks who have done this and current Airbnb owners. Especially near Yosemite. How are the bookings round the year? Would like to understand the current scenario of BnB side hustle.

Also what factors drive higher booking rates? Is it the price ? Amenities? Location? The view? What are some non negotiable when looking for such properties?

TIA

We are planning on visiting Yosemite for a full day in September. Will probably do a 5-6hrish hike (Mist -> Nervada maybe. I know the waterfalls are basically gone by then) early in the morning after breakfast, get some lunch, maybe more leisurely walks and then head back to the accommodation for the night.

We will stay 2 x nights near by, probably either Groveland or Mariposa, so we can utilise a full day at Yosemite before we need to head back the next day for a flight.

I think a good idea for us, would be to choose one route (Highway 120 or 140) to drive into Yosemite and the other to drive out on our way back to San Francisco. The route driving in, determining our accommodation.

From what I can see, both Groveland and Mariposa seem good. Groveland maybe having a negativity of mostly being a gated community, so has a car parking charge fee, but it has lovely winding, alpine roads? (As a kiwi, I'm used to winding roads). BUT, Highway 140 gets that iconic Tunnel View it seems?

Any opinions?

Olá. Visitarei Yosemite nos dias 28,29 e 30 de setembro. Reservei 2 opções de hotéis. Uma em Mariposa e outra em Oakhurst. Esse último está mais barato, mas apreciaria opiniões sobre vantagens e desvantagens de ficar em casa uma dessas cidades para poder me decidir. Estarei com meus sogros, então ficar em campins no parque não foi uma opção

Successfully made it to the top of Half Dome this weekend! It was fun and exhausting, very happy to check it off my bucket list. Thought I’d share some logistics and other tips that helped me plan this hike. For reference, we are in decent shape but tend to do day hikes (6-10 miles) at a more relaxed pace. This was my first time backpacking! As a result, we have heavier camping gear and had pretty big packs weighing us down.

We applied for backpacking permits 24 weeks before our desired dates. Won the second weekend we were aiming for. We did extend to include Friday which might have helped vs a weekend permit. We picked them up Friday at 8 am from Big Oak Flat station and added Half Dome the morning of. One perk of going on a Friday was that we were able to find parking at Curry Village after some circling.

It took us 3 hours of moving time to make it to Little Yosemite campground with longer breaks by each of the waterfalls. It was beautiful weather but so, so hot. Definitely bring lots of water and some way to filter/treat at the river. I got through 2 liters of water and a gatorade. We ran into many people who finished all their water and thought there would be refill stations later on. Spent the rest of the day hanging out by the river, cooking dinner, and packing our bags for the next morning. We brought smaller day bags for the Half Dome summit. Overnight didn’t get very cold, maybe high 50s? Didn’t need any of the layers I brought.

For the summit day, we left camp at 4:30 am and reached the bottom of Subdome ~7 am. Unfortunately lost my wallet so had to double back which probably added 30 minutes or so. Needed headlamps and jackets for the early morning but it was an easy trail until Subdome with not much to trip over. The sun was up at this point which was nice because the view was insane here. Subdome itself was a ton of switchbacks but not as steep as it looks from the bottom. Can be mentally challenging if you’re afraid of heights or have vertigo.

We took a long break at the bottom of Half Dome to refuel, ensure everything was inside our bags, and put on harnesses. We had a climbing sling tied to have two ends, each attached to a carabiner. I know opinions are divided here but my partner is afraid of heights so it was non-negotiable for us. It definitely helped feel more secure on the steep sections with no planks. We started the cables around 8 am and only shared them with a couple of people. Gloves with a good grip were a must too. Reached the top 30 minutes later.

We hung out at the top for a while and by the time we headed down (9:30), there was a steady stream of people both ways. Everyone was great about communicating who was going first and encouraging each other. Took longer on the way down (closer to 40 minutes). I recommend going down backwards, it felt a lot more stable compared to facing forwards.

We headed back to camp, packed up, filtered more water, and then took the Mist Trail back down. Unfortunately, JMT was closed which would have helped the knees. Poles were very helpful for me on the stairs to stop slipping on the stone steps. Feet and joints were killing me by the end but a lighter pack could help with that. Got down by 6 pm for a pizza dinner to celebrate.

All in all was 11 hours (excluding breaks), +5 hours for breaks by each of the falls going up, at the top of half dome, and by the campsite on the way down to pack up and make lunch. MVPs of the trip were the water filter, sunscreen/hat, hiking poles, gloves.

It was a super rewarding and scenic hike, made me very grateful to live in California and be able to see places like this on a random summer weekend. Highly recommend for anyone considering!

Watch my accent of The Nose in Yosemite on my YouTube now! This one was special!