A City Girl's Guide to Yosemite

Our Local Expert Says:

A true classic national park lodging experience, the Ahwahnee is the top lodging option in Yosemite and one of the best in the West.

Description:

The Ahwahnee is one of the classic grand lodges of the Mountain West.  Opened in 1927, the Ahwahnee is situated off by itself in the east end of Yosemite Valley at the base of Royal Arch Cascades.  Impressive in scale both inside and out, the lobby leads to the Great Lounge and the Dining Room.  Both have towering ceilings and tall windows that show off Glacier Point and Yosemite Falls.  Huge fireplaces in the lounge generate warmth to counteract the Sierra winter outdoors.
The Dining Room has a top-notch menu and wine list, and many selections that attend to sustainability concerns.  Sunday brunch is a royal feast every week. 
The hotel tapers up to 6 stories, and includes suites occupied by JFK, Queen Elizabeth and many other dignitaries.  Adjacent Cottages add more space.  The Ahwahnee is full all year so plan ahead to get a room here for a special occasion.

Our Local Expert Says:

Perhaps the best close approach to a classic Yosemite waterfall for many.

Description:

This is the first big waterfall that most Yosemite visitors see.  When John Muir first spotted it from a distance he was delighted to think it might be as much as 70 feet high.  Bridalveil is 620 feet high - even Muir's sense of scale was thrown off by this canyon.
Follow the signs to the parking area or park in the strip parking along Southside Drive, and take the short trail up to the base.  The trail is only a couple hundred yards long, but quite steep as you approach the top.  Bridalveil flows year-round, and creates a drenching experience for those who walk up here April-June.  If it's cold, ice could make this trail very dangerous.  There's a good view of the little known Ribbon Falls across the canyon from Bridalveil's viewing platform.  Lots of people scramble up the slick rocks above the viewing platform, and quite a few bruised shins, skinned knees and bumped tailbones result - be careful if you're tempted upstream.  Swiftwater and the steep gradient make this area a truly dangerous place during spring runoff.

Our Local Expert Says:

A social place for pie and brew with a view.

Description:

The pizza deck is a lively place in the summer, with families milling and sports fans swilling.  Big screen TV's draw lots of folks for basketball playoffs in the spring and Giants or A's games all summer.  All manner of draft and bottled beer and filling pizza is available for recovering from a day on the trail.  The view up to Glacier Point overhead is tasty, too.  The cafeteria is right next door, as is the outdoor amphitheater for evening programs in the summer.  Closed in winter.

Description:

The Lumsden Boat Launch, located along the Tuolumne River (outside Yosemite in the Stanislaus NF) just downstream of the Lumsden Campground, is the primary launch site for rafting down the Tuolumne River. A ranger office is at the launch site to check permits and assist with questions. Restrooms and other facilities are found at Lumsden Campground, approximately 100 yards upstream of Lumsden Boat Launch.

Our Local Expert Says:

Consider doing this hike as a 2-day backpacking trip, camping in Little Yosemite Valley. You'll get a get an early start and have the summit to yourselves, avoiding some of the dayhikers. Plus, you'll enjoy the Yosemite backcountry and won't have to submit to a single 16-mile day.

Description:

Don't try this incredible trail unless you're truly ready for a very challenging adventure.  You can do it as one-day epic or as a backpack trek but either way, you need to be in top condition, with comfortable walking shoes, start up early in the morning and take in plenty of water and food as you go.  If there's any chance of rain or lightning, do not go above treeline. 
This is a tough day not just because it is 16 miles round-trip, but because it is 4800' up and then down.  Large numbers of people are whipped before the top, almost everyone is completely thrashed when they do make it. 
Be aware that you'll need to have a new kind of permit for dayhikes every day of the week in 2011.  Get these via www.recreation.gov.  No one can go up the trail and the cables without either a day use permit or a Wilderness permit for overnighting en route.
The trail starts at Happy Isles and climbs quickly up along the Merced River, past 100m Vernal Fall, then 200m Nevada Fall and into Little Yosemite Valley at about the 4.5 mile mark.  If you reserved a Wilderness permit, or got in line at the Wilderness Center early the day before, you can pitch your tent in the campground here.  The trail then climbs up through more forest until you come out on the steep stone stairs of the 'sub-dome' and the views of the landscape below you are astonishing.  This elevator shaft does in many people, but the legendary cables come next.  There are two steel cables, held up by steel posts every 5m or so; 2x4's across the base of the posts help for resting.  Haul yourself up here and you've earned something special.  Hopefully you've saved some juice for the long descent...

Our Local Expert Says:

A true classic national park lodging experience, the Ahwahnee is the top lodging option in Yosemite and one of the best in the West.

Description:

The Ahwahnee is one of the classic grand lodges of the Mountain West.  Opened in 1927, the Ahwahnee is situated off by itself in the east end of Yosemite Valley at the base of Royal Arch Cascades.  Impressive in scale both inside and out, the lobby leads to the Great Lounge and the Dining Room.  Both have towering ceilings and tall windows that show off Glacier Point and Yosemite Falls.  Huge fireplaces in the lounge generate warmth to counteract the Sierra winter outdoors.
The Dining Room has a top-notch menu and wine list, and many selections that attend to sustainability concerns.  Sunday brunch is a royal feast every week. 
The hotel tapers up to 6 stories, and includes suites occupied by JFK, Queen Elizabeth and many other dignitaries.  Adjacent Cottages add more space.  The Ahwahnee is full all year so plan ahead to get a room here for a special occasion.

Description:

The park's concessioner runs a series of good quality bus tours, from the popular 2-hour Valley Floor Tram Tours, with rangers narrating, to the all-day Grand Tours.  The Valley tram is fondly known as the 'Green Dragon' for the greenish flatbed trailers which drag tourists around the loop.  You'll learn a lot and many people ride the Green Dragon year after year.  New for 2010 will be special subject (climbing, birds, geology, etc.) 3-hour Valley Trams.  Longer tours go to Glacier Point, Mariposa Grove and to Tuolumne Meadows.  Details are at the Delaware North website, or the tour desks at Curry Village, the Ahwahnee or Yosemite Lodge. 

Our Local Expert Says:

Along with Yosemite Valley, Abraham Lincoln protected these trees in 1864; the first time in history that a national government preserved land for the citizens simply because it was beautiful.

Description:

This grove was part of the world's first 'national park,' protected by the US government 8 years before Yellowstone.  It's open all year, but you can only drive in during the summer and fall.  In winter it's a couple mile walk, ski or snowshoe along the access road -very worthwhile.  These trees are huge, up to 300' tall, and 25-30' across at the base.  The Grizzly Giant is a main attraction, a mile's walk from the parking area.  The famous Tunnel Tree fell down in 1969, but there's a second tree with a tunnel cut through it next to the Grizzly Giant. 
Walking trails lace the grove of several hundred trees, and a small museum in the upper grove makes an informative and scenic stop.  Those who don't want to hike on these slopes can take a 1.5 hour tram tour for $26, with headset narration in 6 languages.
Parking is limited so for much of the summer, plan to park at the Wawona Store and take a free shuttle every half hour.  Trailers and RV's should not go up the narrow road into the grove. 

Description:

A Yosemite tradition this huge and elegant dining room somehow feels intimate, despite its 34-foot ceilings. For breakfast, you can choose from frittatas or omelets, or enjoy a variety of salads or sandwiches for lunch. The dinner menu features entrees such as Salmon Ahwahnee served with Dungeness crab with bearnaise sauce and wild rice. The restaurant has an extensive and award-winning wine list. Reservations are essential for dinner, and the evening dress code calls for jackets or sweaters for men older than 12 and dresses or pantsuits for women.

Our Local Expert Says:

A true classic national park lodging experience, the Ahwahnee is the top lodging option in Yosemite and one of the best in the West.

Description:

The Ahwahnee is one of the classic grand lodges of the Mountain West.  Opened in 1927, the Ahwahnee is situated off by itself in the east end of Yosemite Valley at the base of Royal Arch Cascades.  Impressive in scale both inside and out, the lobby leads to the Great Lounge and the Dining Room.  Both have towering ceilings and tall windows that show off Glacier Point and Yosemite Falls.  Huge fireplaces in the lounge generate warmth to counteract the Sierra winter outdoors.
The Dining Room has a top-notch menu and wine list, and many selections that attend to sustainability concerns.  Sunday brunch is a royal feast every week. 
The hotel tapers up to 6 stories, and includes suites occupied by JFK, Queen Elizabeth and many other dignitaries.  Adjacent Cottages add more space.  The Ahwahnee is full all year so plan ahead to get a room here for a special occasion.