It wasn't until the week before those days off that we finally settled with going to Yosemite and Sequoia National Park. I hadn't ever been to Yosemite and wanted to see what all the hype was about. As for Sequoia, I wanted to see the biggest tree in the world, General Sherman.
But if you know anything about Yosemite at all, camp reservation within a week before arrival date is just impossible during the summer, especially around Yosemite Valley. And because we are frugal (ahem, broke), staying at their hotels/cabins for $90+ a night is out of the question.
I was devastated when I finally looked at availability for camp sites around the area. The three campgrounds around Yosemite Valley were all reserved. The only ones with available sites are all 45 mins to an hour away from Yosemite Valley, such as Crane Flat and Tuolumne Meadow.
Well, you know what? I gots us camp sites IN Yosemite Valley, IN one of the three all-booked campgrounds. Booyah! Here's how I did it...
TIP ON RESERVATION: You can still book camp sites last minute, even during the high season! The best time of the day to look for available camp sites is during lunch time (11:30am - 1:00pm). The people that have to cancel their reservations will do so during their lunch break, opening up random spots on random days.
In the end, for the three nights that we were at Yosemite, I reserved three different camp sites, but all were in Upper Pines Campground. The most wonderful thing is that it's right next to Happy Isles and the trail head to Half Dome. What's even more spectacular--and unexpected--was the fact that it only costs $20 per night!
 |
| Camp Site #143, conveniently right by the bathroom. |
TIP ON FOOD/FOOD STORAGE: If you're a hardcore camper and need your meat grilled at a campfire, by all means, bring all your food and store them in the provided bear locker at your camp site. You can even buy ingredients from the grocery market if you don't feel like hauling everything on the road with you. But if you don't mind buying food, they have restaurants, a cafeteria, and a little pizza parlor on the valley floor. My point is you won't starve if you forget to bring food. Bear lockers are provided at camp sites and trail head parking lots.
We brought a tub full of food thinking we'd cook every meal when we were there. We ended up making oatmeal the first morning and bought food for the rest of the trip. It's so much more convenient, you know.
TIP ON HYGIENE: They have showers there! And a pool! Granted you need to pay to use them. For the price of $5, you can use both the pool and the shower (even if you just want to shower, it's still $5, so you might as well take a dip in the pool). The women's showers were all clogged from a massive amount of hair going to the drain. Other than that, it felt pretty good to go to sleep clean. Toilets by the camp sites are generally pretty clean and toilet paper is provided.
 |
| A pretty good view for a swimming pool! |
TIP ON GETTING AROUND: If you have bikes, bring them. It's so much easier than trying to find parking spots wherever you go. They also have free shuttles, but you know public transportation, it's never on time. They also have bike rentals, but they're super expensive. Bottom line, bring your own bike!
So we drove up Monday and did our tourist bit at Tunnel View.
 |
| Tunnel by Tunnel View |
 |
| There's the view (and the sun)! |
 |
| The unobstructed view. |
After that, we literally did a hike a day. Whatever time we have left after the hike, we would spend exploring the valley. On Tuesday we did the Vernal and Nevada Falls hike, on Wednesday we hiked down from Glacier Point, on Thursday we visited Mariposa Grove before driving down to Sequoia, and on Friday we saw General Sherman, went to Moro Rock, and did a Crystal Cave Tour. I will go into more details on each of these hikes in other posts, but here are some preview pictures:
 |
| Vernal Fall |
 |
| Glacier Point |
 |
| General Sherman's top |
 |
| Entrance to Crystal Cave (Spiderman lives here! No, not really.) |
WEATHER AND WATER CONDITION
The weather was actually perfect when we went. Warm during the day and cool at night. However, because of the ongoing drought and lack of snow last winter, the falls were all pretty dry. The Mist Trail wasn't misty at all. While Vernal and Nevada Falls still had water, although very little as you can see from the picture above, Yosemite Fall was chalk dry. If you want raging water, I suggest going earlier in the summer or late spring.
Overall, I love love LOVE this trip. I love that I get to unplug for five whole days (no cell signal or internet). I felt so refreshed and wholesome once I got back, it's incredible! There are also certain things that I'd like to do next time I visit. I'd like to hike Half Dome in a day, do the Four Mile Trail up and down, and hike to Upper Yosemite Fall. :)
The weather was actually perfect when we went. Warm during the day and cool at night. However, because of the ongoing drought and lack of snow last winter, the falls were all pretty dry. The Mist Trail wasn't misty at all. While Vernal and Nevada Falls still had water, although very little as you can see from the picture above, Yosemite Fall was chalk dry. If you want raging water, I suggest going earlier in the summer or late spring.
 |
| There's Upper and Lower Yosemite Fall for you. You can kind of see the dried water stain. |
Overall, I love love LOVE this trip. I love that I get to unplug for five whole days (no cell signal or internet). I felt so refreshed and wholesome once I got back, it's incredible! There are also certain things that I'd like to do next time I visit. I'd like to hike Half Dome in a day, do the Four Mile Trail up and down, and hike to Upper Yosemite Fall. :)
