Trip To Yosemite
June 16-17, 2001
(brought to you by Ulysses Travel)
Current situation
| Where we meet
Yosemite's web site
| The Yosemite Guide
| Live from Yosemite
Attractions and Information
| Travel resources
| 2000 group picture
What to bring
| What to see
| Cost
| Meals
| Where we sleep
| Directions
| To communicate
Questions about
..... the food
..... the hikes
..... carpooling
..... tents
| Person | Car | Tent | Leaving | From | Camping | Nationality |
|---|
| Aura | ? | ? | SAT | San Francisco | Forest | USA |
| Christian | Christian+piero | 2 | FR 5pm | Berkeley | Forest | Netherlands |
| Molly | piero's | 4 | FR 5pm | Mountain View | Forest | U.S.A. |
| Matthias | Matthias | 2 | FRI 5pm | Menlo Park | Forest | Schweiz |
| Rajagopalan | Matthias | - | FRI 5pm | Newark | Forest | India |
| piero | piero's | - | FR 5pm | Mountain View | Forest | Italia/USA |
| Rod | Rod's | 4 | FR 6pm | San Francisco | Forest | U.S.A. |
| Yvona | Rod's | - | FR 6pm | San Francisco | Forest | Czech |
| Pilar | Rod's | - | FR 6pm | San Francisco | Forest | Espana |
| Marie | Rod's | - | FR 6pm | Oakland | Forest | South Africa |
Unconfirmed
| Sidi | Sidi's | ? | ? | Sacramento | Forest | Morocco |
| Mirela | Ovidiu's | ? | ? | San Jose | Forest | Romania |
| Ovidiu | Ovidiu's | ? | ? | San Jose | Forest | Romania |
| Dino | Dino's | ? | ? | San Jose | Forest | Italia |
| Ugo | Pierfrancesco | ? | ? | Palo Alto | Forest | Italia |
| Veronica | Pierfrancesco | ? | ? | Palo Alto | Forest | Italia |
| Shizuka | ? | ? | ? | Redwood City | Forest | Japan |
| Beata | ? | ? | ? | Palo Alto | Forest | Poland |
Bailed out
| Pierfrancesco | Pierfrancesco | ? | SAT | Menlo Park | Forest | Italia |
|
Carpooling
If you need a ride or want to carpool,
let me know.
Tents
If you need tent space or you can offer tent space,
let me know.
What to do
On saturday we split in two groups: Rodney gives a tour of the tourist
attractions (Mariposa Grove, Mirror Lake, the viewpoints, the waterfalls,
the tunnel, the visitor center, the souvenir store...) while Christian
and piero hike El Capitan.
Rod's tour includes short hikes (1 km or so).
We meet late afternoon at Curry Village and drive to Glacier Point for sunset
(or just back to the campground if we are tired/hungry).
On sunday we hike the Misty Trail (this is Yosemite's most popular trail,
7kms each way) which continues to Half Dome (27 kms round trip).
It is a strenous hike but rewarding.
Click here for a description of the whole hike.
What To Bring
- sleeping bag, mattress, pillow
- fork, knife, spoon
- cup
- snacks and water for the hikes
- flashlight
- hiking boots or good walking shoes
Costs
- Park entrance: $20 per car for the entire weekend
- Campground: zero (see later)
- Gasoline: about $50 each car for the entire weekend
- Meals at the campground: $10 each (includes saturday and
sunday breakfasts and saturday dinner)
- Dinner at a restaurant sunday night
Approximate cost per person: $5 (park entrance) + $12.50 (gas) + food ($10) +
dinner ($10) + etc = about $40 for the entire weekend.
Food
There are restaurants in Yosemite valley, but they are very far from the
campground, they
suck, they are is overcrowded, they close at 9pm, they are expensive.
People who want to eat outside Yosemite will have to go to Mariposa,
which is on 140 (our campgrounds are on 120), a long drive.
If you want to eat at the campground (saturday dinner, sunday breakfast),
coordinate food with
Rodney. Rodney writes:
The dinner menu will basically consist of bbq or foil-wrapped chicken and the
optional vegetarian main entree.
The side dishes will be a rice and a salad with
a vinaigrette dressing.
Mexican-style chips for
snacks and water will be provided. Dessert will be marshmellows and watermelon.
Cost of the meal will be divided by the number of people eating.
Where we sleep
e are planning
to camp for free in the National Forest.
If you prefer to sleep in a motel/cabin, you have to make your own arrangements.
Route
Directions from San Francisco:
- Take 580 to Livermore (1 hour)
- Take 205 east to Manteca (30')
- Take 120 east to Yosemite ranger station (1 hour)
From San Jose first take 680 to 580.
From Palo Alto first take 101 to 680 to 580.
Distance from:
- Berkeley: about 300 kms (3.5 hours)
- San Francisco: about 300 kms (3.5 hours)
- San Jose: about 300 kms (3.5 hours)
- Palo Alto: about 325 kms (4 hours)
How we communicate
Cellular phones are unlikely to work in Yosemite.
I have a free mailbox where you
can leave messages from any pay phone (no coins required).
Dial 1-800-864-5000, wait for the voice, then dial 650-369-7905, follow
instructions. You will hear my outgoing message and then you can leave your
message for me.
Where we meet
We camp along Evergreen Rd. It's a nice piece of forest.
- It's near the ranger station and the ranger station has restrooms
- It's near a real campground, just in case somebody gets cold
(There are no hot showers in Yosemite campgrounds, so you don't miss much.
There is one place where you can take a hot shower, but it's a secret).
Directions.
As you are driving east on 120, it will take a long time (and a lot of curves)
before you get to the beginning of Yosemite National Park. The left turn
on Evergreen Rd
(also marked "Mather campground")
is a few kms before the ranger station, so almost
at the very end. If you get to the ranger station, you missed it:
just drive back and take the first road on your right.
After a while you get to a fork.
At the fork, take the road on the left.
Look for tents at the side of the road.
Here is a map of Evergreen Rd
(The map says "Tioga Pass Rd" but the sign on 120 will say "Evergreen Rd").
Zoom out to see the route.
And
here is is the place where we usually pitch tent: turn left at that fork and look to your left.
If you get to Mather campground you went too far.
I have a campfire permit at the California Dept of Forestry so we are
absolutely legal.
I will change my 800 number so if you are late and
don't find us,
call my 800 number and you will hear the directions of where we are.
You can find a phone at the ranger station.
Christian will meet his car at the AVIS office in Pleasanton. It's off 580:
3956 Old Santa Rita Rd (exit Santa Rita Rd south, then turn right onto Old
Santa Rita).
Map
If we all leave friday around 5pm, we could just meet somewhere for dinner
and then proceed together.
Proposed restuarant where we can meet:
Denny's on 1555 East F Street, Oakdale (209-847-0242).
(Map)
We camp in the forest, which means that we can make as much noise as
we like and stay up as late as we like (in an official campground you
can't make noise, and after 10pm you can't even talk).
As far as food goes,
Rodney
will coordinate the food and cooking.
Everybody who plans to eat at the campground should bring her/his own fork/knife/spoon/cup.
Tamarack Flat campground alternative
Rodney,
I am assuming that we will be leaving at 5pm and you will
be leaving at 6pm. We will be one hour ahead of you.
Leave a message on my 800 when you have picked up the
last girl so we know what time you started and we can
estimate how far ahead we are.
When you get to the ranger's station, call 1-800-864-5000
then 650 369-7905
We will try to find space in a campground called Tamarack Flat.
The message will tell you either "Come to Tamarack Flat"
or "Go to the usual place on Evergreen Rd".
- If the message says "Come to Tamarack Flat",
keep driving into the park for a while (till past Crane Flat),
then turn left on 120 Tioga Pass, drive about 10 minutes and
then turn right when you see the sign to Tamarack Flat,
drive to the end of the road.
This campground is first-come first-served.
Map (No, it's not a mistake: move west to see where the road comes from)
- If my 800's message says "Go to Evergreen Rd", turn around, go
back about 1km and turn right into Evergreen Rd.
- If there is no message, leave a message saying that you are at
the ranger station and check again every 15 minutes.
2000 Yosemite trip |
Travel resources |
piero's website
