Yosemite!

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Hi, I'm Yosemite Sam. I have invited my friend @d@m to come and visit me this weekend, but I'm stuck for ways to entertain him. If any of...y'all have been around these parts before, perhaps you could pitch in some recommendations and tips. Apparently, he wants to swim in a lake or river or something.

Thank you kindly.

Sam

― Yosemite Sam (nordicskilla), Thursday, 18 March 2004 03:41 (twenty years ago) link

The water in the Merced River is freezing in the summer, I can't imagine what it would be like now. I recommend you bring a wetsuit...

― svend (svend), Thursday, 18 March 2004 03:50 (twenty years ago) link

Perhaps you could go out and hunt you some varmints?

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Thursday, 18 March 2004 04:08 (twenty years ago) link

it's been a while but i would attempt the hike up the falls (if the trails are open this early).

the usual attractions: halfdome, el capitan, the upper/lower falls. all gorgeous.

svend is OTM, the temp. of the H20 will have been ice mere hours before entering a liquid state.

probably an excellent time to visit, good thinking you 2.

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 18 March 2004 20:47 (twenty years ago) link

Trail Conditions

(Also, see the weekly Tuolumne Meadows winter conditions update.)

Visitors to the park's wilderness should be prepared for avalanche conditions. Hikers leaving the floor of Yosemite Valley should be aware that the trails are snowy and icy and that there is a possibility of falling rocks, avalanches, and other hazardous conditions.

All park trails are open except:

Vernal Fall. The Mist Trail between its junction with the John Muir Trail and the top of Vernal Fall is closed for the winter. Visitors can access the top of Vernal Fall via the John Muir Trail.
Nevada Fall. The John Muir Trail between Clark Point and the top of Nevada Fall is closed for the winter. The upper portion of the Mist Trail from the top of Vernal Fall to the top of Nevada Fall remains open.
The (upper) Yosemite Falls trail has reopened. It had been closed due to rockslides.
The Four-Mile Trail is closed for the winter due to hidden hazards.
The Half Dome cables are down for the season. They are normally put back up right before Memorial Day weekend. An exact date will be posted when it becomes available.

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 18 March 2004 20:52 (twenty years ago) link

thanks!

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Thursday, 18 March 2004 21:10 (twenty years ago) link

Hey this was great.

I now realize that if I'd have read gygax's post properly, I wouldn't have tried hiking to Vernal Falls. Oh well. It was still great.

Plus now my wife has taken to shouting "Yo! Semite!" at me all the time. Which is pretty funny, I guess.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 22:44 (twenty years ago) link

haha. but did you do any acid and hug any sequioas?

― mullygrubber (gaz), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 22:48 (twenty years ago) link

There's always next time.

I did pimp around of an evening in the Twin Peaks-esque Awahnee hotel bar and drink cocktails.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 22:50 (twenty years ago) link

holy shit theres a bar there? one can only imagine the adventures to be had in such an establishment..

― bill stevens (bscrubbins), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 23:32 (twenty years ago) link

clue - they involve piano covers of showtunes and MOR drivetime "hits".

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 23:35 (twenty years ago) link

telecom and i drank black russians at the awahnee bar last month! there were no showtunes.

― stockholm cindy (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 23:42 (twenty years ago) link

I don't think that was really Yosemite Sam what posted up there.

― O.Leee.B. (Leee), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 23:45 (twenty years ago) link

The bar at the Ahwahnee has been substantially improved since the last time I was there in the late 90s. Back then, it was noisy and uncomfortable - mainly because of the TV sets they had (why must bars in nice hotels be compelled to do this).

Since then, they got rid of the TVs and half of the seating and result is wonderfully relaxing. Obligatory blurry photo:

http://www.quartzcity.net/~chris/ilx/ahwahnee-bar.jpg

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Thursday, 25 March 2004 03:42 (twenty years ago) link

The Ahwahnee lounge. They still have tea service at 4pm.

Paging Special Agent Dale Cooper...

http://www.quartzcity.net/~chris/ilx/ahwahnee.jpg

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Thursday, 25 March 2004 03:44 (twenty years ago) link

wow. how nice does that look?

― mullygrubber (gaz), Thursday, 25 March 2004 03:46 (twenty years ago) link

Yeah, I was in that second bit, too. It was grand.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Thursday, 25 March 2004 05:41 (twenty years ago) link

The last time I was there was in 1993 or so. With my parents.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Thursday, 25 March 2004 05:42 (twenty years ago) link

I think I have to kick your ass for using the word "grand". Sorry.

― oops (Oops), Thursday, 25 March 2004 07:47 (twenty years ago) link

dude, yosemite's bout to blow sky high

― cinniblount (James Blount), Thursday, 25 March 2004 08:11 (twenty years ago) link

party at the moontower!

― oops (Oops), Thursday, 25 March 2004 08:14 (twenty years ago) link

new california quarter incorporates yosemite's half dome and john muir

― gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 15:30 (twenty years ago) link

That coin needs to be entitled ""John Muir vs Condor FITE!"

― Markelby (Mark C), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 15:43 (twenty years ago) link

my parents were at the Ahwahnee two weeks ago. i r jealous.

dude, yosemite's bout to blow sky high

dude, that's Yellowstone

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 15:45 (twenty years ago) link

oh yeah

― cinniblount (James Blount), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 23:48 (twenty years ago) link

ahahaha!

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 23:51 (twenty years ago) link

nine months pass...

What's it going to be like in the middle of Feb? We are hoping to do a Sierra/Yosemite/Tahoe loop for a short week...

― .adam (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 18:36 (nineteen years ago) link

bad idea... the road conditions will prevent you can't do the loop in the winter. wait until the thaw when the tioga pass opens.

― gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 18:46 (nineteen years ago) link

There are specific reasons why I want to go in mid-February! :(

― .adam (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 18:47 (nineteen years ago) link

How're you going to loop? You won't be able to get to 395 from Tuolomne Meadows nor vice versa. My dad was up taking pictures last weekend in the Valley and said it was snowy and beautiful. Crane flst gorgeous too.

― Michael White (Hereward), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 18:50 (nineteen years ago) link

How're you going to loop?

I don't know! What's the other hotel in the park like? Not the Awahnee, Yosemite Lodge or something...

― .adam (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 18:53 (nineteen years ago) link

Okay, forget the loop thing. Where can I go without fear of closed roads and ice?

― .adam (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 19:01 (nineteen years ago) link

Palm Springs

― Michael White (Hereward), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 19:03 (nineteen years ago) link

you funny

― .adam (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 19:05 (nineteen years ago) link

It is Sarah's birthday, and she has decreed that we will go to Yosemite and possibly Tahoe. It's maybe her favorite place on the PLANET!

― .adam (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 19:05 (nineteen years ago) link

Also she'll finally be legal!

― .adam (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 19:06 (nineteen years ago) link

That was a joke, obv.

― .adam (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 19:06 (nineteen years ago) link

She won't be legal 'til 2007, right?

― Michael White (Hereward), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 19:11 (nineteen years ago) link

Haha! In Kentucky, maybe!

― .adam (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 19:11 (nineteen years ago) link

i've been reading up on the "i know my first name is steven" kid who was abducted by a child molestor for seven years. turns out his brother cary went nuts as an adult and killed four women in yosemite.

― Turkey versus Eagle, McCauley is my Beagle (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 19:18 (nineteen years ago) link

Yes, those are the famous (and fairly recent) Yosemite murders, right? The guy was a janitor or a front desk person or something.

― .adam (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 19:22 (nineteen years ago) link

You should go to Yosemite, adam. It's beautiful and relatively deserted this time of year. The snow and cold air muffles the sound in the Valley and you could go up and ski at the little ski area at Badger Pass. I don't know about accomodations in the park since my grandmother lives in Groveland and I either stay there or camp. http://www.yosemitepark.com/bookonline.cfm?sectionID=22

xpost facto

― Michael White (Hereward), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 19:22 (nineteen years ago) link

yes. story also famous for the perhaps purposefully vague usage of the term "naturalist" (xpost sorry)

― kyle (akmonday), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 19:24 (nineteen years ago) link

Why, kyle? My dad was a naturalist in Yosemite.

― Michael White (Hereward), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 19:25 (nineteen years ago) link

there was much confusion over whether they meant she was a nudist or worked as a forest ranger or something. I don't think they ever really cleared that up.

― kyle (akmonday), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 19:26 (nineteen years ago) link

The job consists of showing visitors around and explaining the history and natural history of the park. They are also (and just as confusingly) called 'interpreters'.

― Michael White (Hereward), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 19:28 (nineteen years ago) link

Do they speak squirrel or something? Are you part bear?

― .adam (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 19:30 (nineteen years ago) link

yes but at least once I saw her referred to as a nudist. but I suppose the idea of a beheaded nudist was just too juicy for them not to allude to it. but this might have been complicated later on because I believe Stayner was arrested at a nudist colony.

Hey Adam could stay there!

― kyle (akmonday), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 19:31 (nineteen years ago) link

I never condescended to learn squirrel. They all talk nuts. I'm not bear at all regardless of what the say at The Eagle.

kyle,

I forgot to mention that the NPS naturlaists have to do their work naked.

― Michael White (Hereward), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 19:33 (nineteen years ago) link

I believe Stayner was arrested at a nudist colony

i dunno if he was arrested there but i know he frequented one.

― Turkey versus Eagle, McCauley is my Beagle (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 19:38 (nineteen years ago) link

Skipping 6 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

Also:

http://www.stim.com/Stim-x/0796July/Phenom/unacrime.html

― .adam (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 20:09 (nineteen years ago) link

http://www.ambientfluid.com/kate/kate_cory.jpg

― chaki in charge (chaki), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 20:26 (nineteen years ago) link

I know where you took that. It's a lovely view.

― .adam (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 20:27 (nineteen years ago) link

OMG Chaki that shirt

― .adam (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 20:28 (nineteen years ago) link

the random guy that took the picture didnt speak english and didnt seem to want to give back the camera

― chaki in charge (chaki), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 20:29 (nineteen years ago) link

i have lots of family in the yosimite area and my favorite city name is def FISH CAMP!

― chaki in charge (chaki), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 20:29 (nineteen years ago) link

Don't know if this will work...

http://homepage.mac.com/ilocations/.cv/ilocations/Sites/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2004-11-08%2014.44.03%20-0800/Image-51EC183731D711D9.jpg-thumb_202_269.jpg

Chaki, I used to drive through Fish Camp twice every weekday to go to school in Oakhurst.

― Michael White (Hereward), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 20:31 (nineteen years ago) link

HI DERE

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 20:32 (nineteen years ago) link

michael, im related to like half of Oakhurst. you might know my cousins Chance, Chris, Rael, Stacy and Anthony.

― chaki in charge (chaki), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 20:34 (nineteen years ago) link

Chaki, I haven't gone to school there since 5th grade and I can only remember a few kids that didn't live in Wawona.

― Michael White (Hereward), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 20:39 (nineteen years ago) link

teehee

― chaki in charge (chaki), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 20:40 (nineteen years ago) link

one month passes...

gygax, could you post that Tioga Pass link again? I lost it. thx!

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 18:09 (nineteen years ago) link

no need to, i can guarantee it will be closed.

― gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 18:11 (nineteen years ago) link

okay! but...where is it anyway?

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 18:12 (nineteen years ago) link

I am going this weekend.

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 18:22 (nineteen years ago) link

http://www.nps.gov/yose/

Current Conditions
The Tioga and Glacier Point Roads are closed due to snow. They usually reopen in late May or June, depending on conditions.

Visit the conditions update for more information and other road closures.

Carry tire chains in your car and be prepared to use them (even if you have four-wheel drive): chains may become mandatory at any time.

― Michael White (Hereward), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 19:18 (nineteen years ago) link

the image of adam in a giant coat struggling to put chains on his civic while slowly being covered by a blanket of snow fills me with amusement and pity.

― kyle (akmonday), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 19:36 (nineteen years ago) link

Aye.

― Michael White (Hereward), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 19:38 (nineteen years ago) link

Yosemite is my absolute, unconditional, favorite national park. Have one fun, @d@m!

― Remy (x Jeremy), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 20:06 (nineteen years ago) link

I will. I will have one fun.

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 20:10 (nineteen years ago) link

I may never come back, I think.

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 20:10 (nineteen years ago) link

Where y'all staying up yonder?

― Michael White (Hereward), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 20:11 (nineteen years ago) link

The Waworoanoaaoaana Hotel.

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 20:12 (nineteen years ago) link

Wawona is the town I 'grew up' in.

― Michael White (Hereward), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 20:13 (nineteen years ago) link

lucky adam.

― charleston charge (chaki), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 20:15 (nineteen years ago) link

I am going tubing. In an inner tube. On snow.

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 20:17 (nineteen years ago) link

At Summit Meadows or Old Badger?

― Michael White (Hereward), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 20:20 (nineteen years ago) link

We have the snow chains. Tioga Pass (through the park) may be closed. We are taking 41 to Wawona. Where are the restaurants? I get the sense that the further East you go, you might get some pockets of weirdness. I hear of a famed gas station that also serves cocktails and fantastic sandiwches? How far is Monolake? Is it worth taking a little side-trip? WHAT is Monolake?

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Thursday, 17 February 2005 18:28 (nineteen years ago) link

I hear of a famed gas station that also serves cocktails and fantastic sandiwches?

Yeah, it's at the intersection of 120 and 365 but you can't get there right now. Tioga is closed.

― Michael White (Hereward), Thursday, 17 February 2005 18:32 (nineteen years ago) link

What does Tioga road being closed mean, in the grand scheme of things?

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Thursday, 17 February 2005 18:36 (nineteen years ago) link

I'm not a very verbal person, I need to SEE things to understand them.

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Thursday, 17 February 2005 18:37 (nineteen years ago) link

It means it's under many feet of snow and you probably can't drive past White Wolf on Hwy. 120.

― Michael White (Hereward), Thursday, 17 February 2005 18:38 (nineteen years ago) link

What's past WHite Wolf? What CAN I drive to?

Also talk about Monolake.

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Thursday, 17 February 2005 18:39 (nineteen years ago) link

Do you have a Native American name, Michael?

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Thursday, 17 February 2005 18:40 (nineteen years ago) link

Mono Lake. Lee Vining is the closest town. It has a gas station, 2 restaurants, a bar, and a little coffee shop. To get there at this time of year, you have to take 50 to 89 and then drive down 395 (not 365 as I said upthread).

Since you're going up 41 to Wawwona, you should content yourself with going to Summit Meadows for the inner tubing. When you leave (I assume on Monday) you should go out through Yosemite Valley. Distance and time should not be underestimated as the speed limit in Yosemite is 35 mph and with snow/ice conditions it may not be always safe to go that fast.

http://www.chateaudusureau.com/eehmain.html This is the best restaurant in the Sierras but very, very dear.

― Michael White (Hereward), Thursday, 17 February 2005 18:45 (nineteen years ago) link

I just mispelled Wawona too. Je suis con.

― Michael White (Hereward), Thursday, 17 February 2005 18:46 (nineteen years ago) link

leaving tomorro!

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Thursday, 17 February 2005 18:52 (nineteen years ago) link

There's probably still a picture of me in the map they give out at the entrance. I was five (or six?) when it was taken.

― Michael White (Hereward), Thursday, 17 February 2005 19:04 (nineteen years ago) link

one year passes...

I have never been. I would like to go someday in snowmelt season. But what is it like in the, Fall?

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Monday, 17 April 2006 18:58 (eighteen years ago) link

i want to do a big wall in yosemite in the worst way.

― gbx (skowly), Monday, 17 April 2006 19:16 (eighteen years ago) link

yosemite is really pretty gorgeous all year round.

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 17 April 2006 19:17 (eighteen years ago) link

four months pass...

looks like I may be able to get to Yosemite (finally) the last week of October. Would probably be a mid-week thing for a few days at least, and the guys I would be going with are pretty serious hikers/climbers. They want to hit the backcountry.

Is it pretty dry up there that time of year (the website hinted that there's not much melt going on) in the falls and creeks and rivers and whatnot? I don't mind nasty or cold weather, just wondering if I should shoot my wad in a different season or need more than a few days.

― don weiner (don weiner), Thursday, 14 September 2006 22:59 (seventeen years ago) link

See Shakey's post. The aspens will be at the tail end of their color turning but the place will gorgeous and the Valley is lovely that time of year. May I assume that you'll not be joining your friends in the backcountry?

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 14 September 2006 23:12 (seventeen years ago) link

my understanding is it's very nice, but pretty dry if that's what you're going for. I want to go to SF sometime in this season, but I want to go to Yosemite in spring ('07?) first, marine layer or not. my parents have been at least twice in early spring in recent years and say it's amazing then, but they're not backcountry people.

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Thursday, 14 September 2006 23:20 (seventeen years ago) link

I want to backpack in the outside-the-park wilderness areas even more, but that's much likelier later rather than sooner.

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Thursday, 14 September 2006 23:22 (seventeen years ago) link

The cool dry valley emptied of many of its many summer visitors, with the reddish afternoon sun to the west silhouetting the oaks, the cool approach of winter in the wind and the blue-grey sheer faces of granite are lovely. I would say eveybody needs more than a few days, but take advantage of the opportunity to see it any time of year.

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 14 September 2006 23:28 (seventeen years ago) link

if I could go anywhere of the type around that time, it would be the Southern Rockies

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Thursday, 14 September 2006 23:32 (seventeen years ago) link

I'll go wherever the other guys want to. I think they've seen the famous sights when they were there before, so I think that's why they want to go into the backcountry. I figure at some point I'll be back there with my wife/family to see the touristy stuff, but the chances to get out in the middle of BFE seem to get harder and harder with each passing year. (But if I do this, that means I can't backpack in the Presidential range this winter, and getting out to the West Coast is such a bigger trip than staying in EST.)

I really want to go. I'm horribly envious that you lived there M. White.

― don weiner (don weiner), Thursday, 14 September 2006 23:37 (seventeen years ago) link

fourteen years pass...

Classic gabbneb posts ITT: flooding the thread with irrelevant posts about a place he's never been with other posts about other places he'd never been.

― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Monday, 1 March 2021 20:49 (three years ago) link

Anyways, as someone who has descended this slope on foot 2x, this footage of skiiers descending Half Dome's shoulder is absolutely bonkers:

https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/nation/2021/02/27/two-skiers-defy-death-yosemite-descent/6851728002/

― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Monday, 1 March 2021 20:49 (three years ago) link

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