Going to head to Yosemite for 3 days/2 nights or 4 days/3 nights the first of October. Plan would be to fly to San Fran on Wednesday, spend some time int he city, and fly out the following Wednesday. Would drive to Yosemite on either Saturday or Sunday. Questions: Want to do at least 2 nights camping, possibly all 3. Any recs for big, overnight hikes? Is 3 days/2 nights just too short? Would you recommend 4 days/3 nights? Really want to see SF, too, even with shit being closed Other than half-dome, what are some must-sees? Can you camp around half-dome? Is it in proximity to other highlights? I know Yosemite is huge -- is there a specific section of the park I should focus on (keeping in mind driving from SF)?
following closely, booking tickets this weekend for same time period. Half Dome will require a permit from the lottery 2 days ahead of time.
I’ve only got secondhand recommendations, but it sounds north Yosemite is where it’s at if you want the scenery without the crowds. Hetch Hetchy to Eleanor and Laurel or something like that could be good. Check out this trail on AllTrails. https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/miguel-meadow-to-lake-eleanor-to-laurel-lake-loop?p=-1
I'm camping for all 3 nights most likely (at least 2 nights), and looks like if you have a wilderness/backcountry permit, you're good:
After some research last night, unsurprisingly, all of the popular camping spots are booked. But there's a "North Rim Trail" that goes from Camp 4 to Yosemite Falls, camp at North Dome, then hike to and camp on top of El Cap, then out on Day 3: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/north-rim-trail--2 Supposed to be pretty hard, secluded, and still has tons of permits available. Would try and do that the first 2 days, then try and do Clouds Rest as a day hike the last day if I can't get a permit: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/clouds-rest-trail-via-tenaya-lake
Yep, that should do it! It's going to be chilly at night in October and you never know when a random Sierra snowstorm is going to roll through in the fall. The valley is lower elevation and will be lower. If Tioga road is open drive up to Tenaya Lake and do a long day hike out to Clouds Rest, one of the best view points of the valley. Edit: Bamanug is a smart man.
Got some good info on reddit: Apparently, with a wilderness permit, you can stay at a backpackers camp the night before or the night after. Would make the hike to clouds rest easier. But might try and go down El Cap and then up to a Lake on Day 3. We shall see.
I’m sure you can get hike recs elsewhere, but I went a few years ago with buddies and one of our favorite parts was driving up to Tuolmne Meadows and just exploring around. Not a lot of “hard” or particularly long trails, but just huge expansive space away from all of the crowds in the valley. It’s basically the North West part fo the park, plan to spend some time up there.
Also Mariposa Grove (if you’re into trees) which is like right past the SW entrance to the park. Super cool sequoia grove, we spent maybe 2-3 hours there before we left to drive back to San Fran
Mariposa grove was pretty cool. It’s jam packed with tourists, but Tunnel View on the road from the valley to the Mariposa grove is the coolest view. A picture I took from there has been my phone and other background/cover photos since I took it in 2015. So cool to see El Cap and Half Dome all lined up. You can take the 2 mile-ish artist point trail to a higher, similar vantage point that is supposed to be less crowded. Dogs, as great as they are, are pretty restrictive in national parks. So much unseen.
Hello, You have been awarded a wilderness permit reservation starting from or ending at Mirror Lake -> Snow Creek trailhead! This is not your wilderness permit confirmation - you will be receiving that shortly. We are writing to inform you about the camping closure along the Snow Creek Trail. Due to increased bear activity, the area to the south and east of the footbridge is closed to overnight camping. Guess I'll be renting a bear bin.
only place I've seen a bear in the wild was in Yosemite. He was pretty chill. Wife was really bummed we didn't come across any grizzlies in Glacier but I have to say I was rather relieved
Required in Yosemite, SEKI, and inyo nf, AFAIK. They have an approved model list. I’m f you’re paying more than $5 a day and you plan on going back ever it might be worth just purchasing one. https://www.sierrawild.gov/media/foodstoragemap/Bear-Canister-Required-Area-ver8.pdf https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/containers.htm I’m going to go BV500. I’d like a Bearikade, but not worth 4-5x the price for me.
I always have to rent them for the Olympic Peninsula, but sometimes skirt the rules and just hang my food. Prolly going to purchase one, though. They're just so fucking big and bulky.
This is the best resource for hikes in the national park is http://www.hikinginthesmokys.com/ I live on the Tennessee side so I'm not as well versed on the North Carolina side, but I do get over there some times. - Mouse Creek Fall right off of I-40 on the state line in the Big Creek area is a good hike for kids. It's about four miles round trip and not too steep. For kids the best part is a swimming hole called midnight hole, it's probably a little over a mile into the hike. There are some rocks you can jump off of and a decent sized swimming area. It can get busy on weekends. - The Deep Creek Loop is something kids would probably like. It's maybe five miles and you see three waterfalls. Not too steep. Also in Deep Creek you can tube the creek. As you drive into the area from Bryson City you will pass several places that rent inner tubes. I think you then walk up the creek and float back down. I've not done it here, but kids seem to like it. (side note: if in Bryson City High Test Deli has the most amazing ice cream sandwiches in the world) - Not a hike, but driving into the Catalooche Valley is something kids might like. It's near Waynesville. There is a herd of elk that have been reintroduced. In the summer the moms and calves will be in the valley. Early morning and late evening is the best time to see them. There are some historic buildings in Catalooche from the old logging town. - Outside of the park, but a nice view is Max Patch. It is also off of I-40 near the state line. It's a short hike up a hill to a bald with some great views. The Appalachian Trail runs across the bald.https://www.romanticasheville.com/max-patch - Wesser Bald Fire Tower is another hike along the AT that is outside the park. It's a short hike and a little steeper, but doable for kids if they aren't really young. https://www.romanticasheville.com/wesser_bald_tower.htm - Sliding Rock, between Waynesville and Brevard, is cool place for kids (and adults). It's a natural water slide on a big rock in the creek. it will probably be crowded on weekends. - Charlie's Bunion is my favorite hike in the park and is on the state line, but is more accessible from TN. It is always my number one recommendation for visitors. It is 8 miles round trip which may be a little much for kids, but it's not a hard hike. The last half-mile down to the bunion, a neat rock outcropping with great views, is pretty steep. That makes coming back up that half-mile tough, and you may have to stop every couple hundred yards with kids. - Clingman's Dome which is near Charlie's Bunion is a good place for kids. It's a short, steep hike up a tower to the highest point in Tennessee - The Joyce Kilmer Forest near Robbinsville is a nice area for kids. It has some of the only old growth trees east of the Mississippi, and they are massive. It's a short trail to the grove and then you walk around two loops. I was there back in May and a storm had done damage on the easiest route back to the grove, which closed the trail. I have no idea if it's back open, but the harder route is still fine for kids. - In my opinion the best hike for kids in the park is Porters Creek. It has an old cemetery, a historic cantilever barn, it follows a really nice creek most of the way and then finishes at a waterfall. It's an easy four miles roundtrip. The problem is that it is near Gatlinburg, TN which may be further away than you want to go. If you wanted to go do something in Gatlinburg this would be a good hike to accompany that. Under normal circumstances I recommend avoiding Gatlinburg. Under COVID conditions I can't emphasize enough that you should not go to Gatlinburg. East Tennessee's numbers have been better than the rest of the state, but Sevier County has been the worst place in East Tennessee on a per capita basis. - Again it's probably out of the way, but driving the Cades Cove loop is one of the most popular things to do in the park. It's a good way for kids to see wildlife, some historic building and nice mountain views. Abram's Falls is a nice, but very, very popular trail in Cades Cove.
This is so great, thank you for taking the time! Is it Cades Cove where people often see bears? That seems like it’d be a cool thing with them.
Yes, they seem to be frequenting there more often over the last couple of years. Please remember to stay in your car when you see one. There have been more problems with them being aggressive over the last five or so years. It's almost always tourists getting too close and the bear swiping at them or charging. It often leads to the bear being put down, and it's not really the bear's fault. On the trails just stop and give them space and they will move along.
I just thought of this, but Cades Cove is bike only now on Wednesdays. Depending on how old your kids are this might be fun. They might have to walk some of the uphills, and one downhill could be a little sketchy if they are not too sure of themselves on a bike. But overall it is doable for kids 12ish and up. It can be a much more enjoyable way to see Cades Cove. Often, especially weekends, the loop can be bumper to bumper, and that will detract from the atmosphere.
Six mile hike to tallest waterfall in Mt Rainier Nat Park. Freaking awesome. 380 ft Spoiler View attachment 100942 View attachment 100943 View attachment 100944
I got back from a trip to Alaska a couple of weeks ago and got to add three more parks to my list, Wrangell-St. Elias, Denali and Kenai Fjords. I started the trip by heading straight to Wrangell-St. Elias from Anchorage. On the way we stopped and did a really neat hike, Lions Head. There is not really a trail, you just bush wack a mile or so up to the top of a precipice. It was about 1,000 ft gain with many sections that were over 45 degrees angles in mud. It was probably the most intense one mile hike I have done, but it also had one of the best vistas I have ever seen from the top. Then went on to McCarthy, maybe the most remote town you reach by car. It's about 50 miles down a dirt road, and the road was really neat to drive. The next day we did a guided Root Glacier hike. In total we hiked about 12 miles, 7 on the glacier and got a mini tour of the old Kennicott Mine Mill. The mill is closed right now for construction.
Next we headed to Denali. On the way I found a glacier cave we could get in, Castner Glacier, so I caste wise judgement to the side to go into a glacier. Everything I read said you should not go into glacier in the summer or when it is raining, but when else am I going to get to go into a glacier cave without a guide. It involved walking through a mildly rushing river and scramble over a pile of rocks that had fallen off the top, but I got in and out without incident. Then I drove the Denali Highway to get to the park. It's unpaved for about 120 miles and supposed to have some of the best view in the state, but in rained on us the whole time and was too cloudy to see any of the mountains. In Denali I got a permit to drive the park road. That was an awesome experience, again it was too cloudy to see Denali, but the whole area was so neat. We saw two grizzlies, a lot of Caribou, a moose, and got to drive a road that I think they are releasing 600 permits to this summer. We got to do a little bit of hiking in Denali, but some of the trails I really wanted to do were closed because of bear activity.
After Denali we headed south, drove over Hatcher Pass and did some short hikes to glacier lakes. Also hiked Rendevous Peak outside of Anchorage which was about 3 miles with 1,300 feet of elevation gain to some amazing views. After that we headed down to the Kenai Penisula and spent a few days. Started with a short hike to Byron Glacier and then did Portage Pass. Portage Pass is supposed be one of the best hikes in the state, but we got fogged as we approached the glacier and could hardly see anything.
We stayed in Cooper Landing on the Kenai Penisula. One of the best hikes we did was Skilak Lake Overlook, awesome views at the end. We also got inside Kenai Fjords to walk to Exit Glacier, and drove down to Homer to see across Kachemak Bay. We finished up by doing a boat tour of Kenai Fjords from seward. The weather was bad and it was probably the coldest it was the whole time we were there, but the views were beautiful. We saw two humpback whales, about six orcas some of which were jumping all over the place, and several sea lions and seals.
Those four tspa posts now form the cornerstone of my strategy for convincing my wife, who is unreasonably opposed to a trip to Alaska, that we need a trip to Alaska
Ya, it's been a while since I've done something that irresponsible. That rock pile on the right is all loose gravel leading into the meltwater river, it's about 50 yards and I had to scramble across it while not falling in the river to get in the cave. Then you had to time your entrance because rocks, up to softball size, were falling over the opening. It was also raining pretty good the whole time.
It was great. There is just so much to see and do. I did 11 days, but I think I could have easily done 3 weeks.
This is so cool. It wasnt a reintroduction they migrated on their own. This is why we need to protect our land. Best accomplishment by a #Wolverine this century
My son came downstairs wearing this shirt today. We went there in 2018 and it was no cars before noon on Wednesdays so we tried to do the whole loop before the cars were allowed on the loop but there were too many things to stop and see on the way so the cars eventually caught up to us. He had just turned 10 but made it around no problem (and then needed the shirt to prove it).
Posted this in the camping thread as I did not realize we had a National Park thread.. Looking for some pointers from this group. Girlfriend and I have tentatively planned to go to Zion the second weekend of December. Current plan is to fly into Vegas Thursday, get up early Friday and spend Friday/Saturday in Zion. Neither of us are really very experienced in camping/hiking, so we will be going the glamping route and staying at an airbnb or resort type place near by. This place called Zion Wildflower Resort is the current leader in the clubhouse. From my limited knowledge/research Angels Landing, Observation Point and Narrows are the most popular. I am very afraid of heights, so I think Angels Landing is out cause there is 0% I am climbing that last part. Is The Narrows still a good idea considering the weather? Another thing to keep in mind is the girlfriend is all of 5'2 so I'm not sure how well she will fair with The Narrows water situation. Friday will be the shorter of the 2 days, so most likely will do a more low-key hike that day and save longer one for Saturday. I see the shuttles stop at the end of this week, so would also love any pointers on if anyone has taken other transportation into the park. We will have a rental car, but doesn't seem like actually driving in will be much of an option unless we get their extremely early. Pretty much looking for any/all advice because we are both very inexperienced with this.
Couple things December weather is iffy, just keep an eye on that. I havent done the narrows but i heard the water in the narrows is cold in the summer, I can’t imagine in December. If you don’t like heights yeah angels landing I would not recommend. You get to the top of the switchbacks and then to get to angels landing it’s a chain you have to hold onto to go up and go down. If someone is coming down while you are going up you have to maneuver around them. And it’s a popular spot so there’s a lot of traffic going up and down. Often we see in the news out here people who lost their grip on the chain and went a long way down to their demise I don’t really have an issue with heights but I just don’t feel comfortable near the edge. I got about 20 yards up on angels landing and said F this
Canyon Overlook trail is a good one for a quick easy hike with a great view. The watchman trail is good for a hike with no heights. I would imagine the narrows are going to be too cold at this point but you’d have to speak with some rangers there. A nice secluded part of the park that not many people go to is Kolob Canyons on the Northwest side.
Angels landing in December...ice might be an issue. I usually skip the chains and sprint it but ice would definitely give me pause. A couple years ago I did Bryce the day after a snow storm. I've been there a few dozen times over the years but I wasn't even prepared for this. The air was saturated with ice crystals under sun and a blue sky. Top 10 experience.
Descending into kolob after being lost in cattle coming from the west rim trail is one of my favorite hiking experiences.
I wonder what the effect will be from an access standpoint? Might need to take a trip up there in the spring before all the new regulations and changes are implemented.
My wife's sister and her husband live in DC and just bought a cabin near there. I know where I'll be a few times a year
I tried to go in 2018, but there was a pretty significant eruption a few weeks before I got there and it shut the park down. There is a separate unit of the park on the opposite side of HWY 11 that I went into and did a couple of hikes, but nothing particularly spectacular there. https://bigislandhikes.com/ is the site I used to do most of my hike planning for the trip. I found it very useful. There were lava fountains shooting about 100 ft into the air while I was there and you could see them from pretty away, which was neat. But coolest thing I did to see lava was a boat tour out of Hilo. I'm not big into tours, but this was the best boat ride I have been on. It was like a combination of whitewater rafting, and a rollercoaster for three hours in a 50+ person boat over huge open-ocean swells. Then they pulled you up to where the lava is pouring into the ocean and that's pretty neat to see.