I spent this past weekend in Yosemite Valley, also known as the Disneyland of National Parks. About 4 million people visit Yosemite every year and it often feels like they are all in the Valley at the same time. This is not the way I like to enjoy the outdoors, but the charm and appeal [...]
I was holding out hope that the epic overnight trip covering a lot of miles and some cross-country travel I had planned for this weekend would work out, but this year’s late snow cover would make it more epic than I wanted. So, at the last minute I trolled my Yosemite friends for conditions and [...]
Last month Yosemite National Park announced a new permit system for weekend climbs of Half Dome. Today they opened up the reservation site for preview (it is not active yet – the reservation window opens on March 1). Check it out here. There is also a screenshot-heavy instructional pdf available here, for those who need [...]
If you plan to hike Half Dome this summer, you’ll have to plan ahead. Like Mt Whitney, Half Dome is moving to a quota system on weekends (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) and holidays. Granted, that quota is still an enormous 400 people per day, but they say that is half of the number they usually see [...]
Snowcamping, Yosemite, and friends. What better way to start the new year? We drove out to Wawona on New Year’s Eve to meet a bunch of friends at the group campground. After celebrating the new year with a warm campfire, cheap champagne, and lots of laughs, we got a good night of sleep before heading [...]
It’s here! It’s here! Sonora Pass is now officially open, and the Half Dome cables opened for the season today. Rumor is that Tioga Pass will be open by the upcoming holiday weekend. Me, I’m sticking to the lowlands around Cache Creek this weekend, hoping to catch some wildflower stragglers. I’ll be off to the [...]
I love autumn in the mountains – the crisp air and fall colors along with the relatively light crowds always make for a wonderful experience. Paige had the lovely idea of heading to Yosemite Valley in early November and a few of us jumped in on the party. It turns out it was big weekend [...]
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