Is there some trick to getting Yosem reservations?

[EFerrari]

I used to have to call at the stroke of 7 a.m. exactly three months (or so) from our 1st day.

Last year, I tried to make a res on line and struck out. Couldn't get through on the phone either.

Does anyone have a tip? I want to camp in the valley.

[Mountainman]

1. I use to hear it was easy to camp at Wawona by being first come first served on Monday mornings.

Of course it isn't in the valley but it was easier to get a camping spot.

[pinto]

2. Wawona's a good choice, imo. Close, not the jostle of the valley,

and some nice walking/hiking/picnic areas. Check out the swinging bridge, if you're a hiker go up Wawona dome trail, or picnic along the river. Drive in and out to the valley when you want - or there's a regular shuttle from Wawona.

Have fun.

[EFerrari]

4. Part of the reason I stay in the valley is because I have issues

with any road you can't park an RV on and dig a swimming pool. I used to drive us to Mariposa, stay the night, get up, take a Valium and then drive the last leg. Then, I'd do it backward on the trip out. I must really love Yosemite because I did that every year for more than a decade. Bears don't phase me in the least. Steep and narrow and cliffs -- they phase me. lol

[EFerrari]

3. I used to have it completely down and we spent a week there

every year. But whatever I knew isn't working at all any more!

[Xithras]

5. Good luck with that. Here's a suggestion.

Every year I try to get a reservation. Every year for seven years straight. I've made it two years (I prefer camping in the backcountry, but my wife is a car camper and we like to include her on at least one campout a year). The problem is that there are a limited, and declining, number of campsites in the valley, and tourists worldwide trying to secure them.

The other problem is that the site YOU want to reserve is actually available five days earlier to other people. Since you can reserve out up to 5 days beyond the date, you're competing with other people who had reserved earlier. Lets say you want to reserve July 1&2. You normally couldn't reserve those dates until April 1, but someone else can come in on March 29th and reserve out the whole June 29-July 2nd block. By the time you get in there on April 1, you're competing for the handful of July 1&2 spots remaining. Of the 350 sites, no more than a few dozen will be available, and you'll be competing for them with thousands of others.

Your best bet is to get a reservation in 5 days early and then try to modify the reservation later. Reserve the whole 5 day block, and then free up the days you don't need later on. It WILL cost you more money, but that is how you get a campsite in the valley.

If you couldn't get in, try Crane Flat or Hodgdon Meadows. Crane Flat can be a little harder to get into because its still close to the valley, but I've NEVER had a problem getting into Hodgdon, and it's only about 20 minutes from the valley floor. If the site says its booked out, head up there anyway the morning before...many people book Hogodon as an emergency backup, and almost half of the campers there cancel. I've never NOT been able to get a spot there (I also don't try to visit during the insane July 4th weekend though, so that weekend might be a little different). I've found Hogodon to be quiet, uncrowded, and a bit more relaxing than some of the other developed sites. If you can get into Crane Flat, it's a better choice despite the larger crowds simply because it has a YARTS stop. You can ride into the valley for a couple of bucks and leave your car at the campground.

[EFerrari]

6. That's exactly what I'm looking for, thanks.

Do you res online or over the phone?

I'm self employed so I don't have to mess with anyone's schedule but my own. Even so, I couldn't find more than one night open last year where in the 80s, early 90s, I could always get a week. :crazy:

[Xithras]

7. There are good arguments for both phone and internet.

The phone ladies (I've never had a guy answer) are extremely helpful and can be useful if your first choice is booked up. If you're on the web and your selected campground is full, you have to backtrack and restart the process to try one of the other sites. It's time consuming, and you don't have a lot of time to waste. The phone workers can check a different campground in seconds.

On the other hand, there are ONLY 25 phone workers, and hundreds of callers every morning. You can waste an enormous amount of time just trying to get through.

For 5 years, I used just the phone and got one reservation. For the past two, I've used the new website (the older version really sucked) and managed one reservation. BOTH pull their information from the same database.

Another pair of incredibly useful resources are:
www.yosemitesites.Com. Has an almost real-time list of availabilities by day and campground. It's not very useful this time of year since it shows everything a sold out, but it becomes incredibly useful as summer approaches, when people start cancelling those extra days and spots start opening back up.
www.yosemitefun.Com. Great site with Yosemite news and loads of tips and tricks for camping and hiking around the park.

[EFerrari]

8. Wow, thank you! Yosemite is my favorite place on Earth

and even if I got to go up for two days that's better than no days.

My kids learned how to swim at Mirror Lake Annex, jumping of off the big rock and we've all seen the bears in the apple orchard by moonlight. Some ladies at the NA display taught me to make pine needle baskets. So much to do there, even if you never speak to another person during your entire stay. :)

[Xithras]

9. You know, I've been to Yosemite countless times, and I've never been to Mirror.

I couldn't even tell you why. I've hiked the Yosemite backcountry extensively, I've camped in every Yosemite Valley campground at some point (including the now closed River campgrounds), I've been on Half Dome a half dozen times, and I've been to the top of half the high peaks in the park.

But I've never seen Mirror Lake, except in photos. How odd is that?

[EFerrari]

10. Mirror Lake was pretty much MIrror Meadow by the time I got there.

But, there was what we called The Annex about 200 meters back up the bike trail. A good sized pond where you could swim and there was a huge rock in the middle and after our kids got out of their morning Ranger program, we'd bike down there with lunch and spend the afternoon there.

I have a heart connection to Yosemite and I don't even believe in heart connections unless they are digital, lol.

Once despite my better judgment, I went on a bus tour of the surrounding country, and there were COUNTLESS valleys like Yosemite. But, I like that one. :)

[Xithras]

12. I love Yosemite, but my heart lies elsewhere.

IMO, the greatest valley in the Sierras is the Kern Valley below the headwaters in Lake South America. Imagine a glacially carved canyon the size of Yosemite Valley without any roads, crowds, or people. No formal campgrounds, no RV's, and no bear boxes. You get the big pretty waterfalls, hot springs, and gorgeous views all to yourself. To get there, drive to Whitney Portal on the eastern slope, climb to the top of the tallest mountain in the lower 48, and then descend down the alternate trail on the backside of the peak. You can be there, on foot, in about a day that way. If peaks aren't your thing, it's a 2.5 day foot hike in from the west. Not even dirt access roads penetrate this deep into the mountains.

What you get when you arrive, however, is one of the last remaining vestiges of uncrowded wild Sierra left. It's one of the few places where you can really get a sense of what John Muir must have felt as he stared across the empty Yosemite Valley so long ago (BTW, Muir explored, and fell in love with, this valley too). There's a ranger station on in the valley, and the days I stayed there, the ranger told me that I was one of only 8 people in the 20 mile long upper valley. One was with me, and we never saw the other six.



It may not have the fame of its northern cousin, but that's OK with me.

[proud patriot]

11. I've lived in California my whole life and have never been

:shrug: I camp here every July: http://www.florence-lake.com/index.html
same mountains just about 30 miles south of Yosemite . Perhaps I'll make
it to Yosemite someday . If you ever make a trip to Florence lake be sure
to read this first :
http://www.muirtrailranch.com/kprsurvival.html Safety First :patriot:

Good luck with your reservations .

[EFerrari]

13. Thank you for the tip!

And, you really need to go to Yosemite at least once. It's breathtaking. :)