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“No temple made with human hands can compete with Yosemite,” wrote John Muir, whose crusading led to the creation of the California park in 1890.

Yosemite was on my mind for a long time. I was planning to visit the place but it is hard to get reservations(camping or lodging) unless you book way ahead of time. So, I was waiting. It was a regular weekday in early Jan 2018 when at work I was looking to reserve a campsite/lodge for my spring/summer trip and found Half Dome Village lodge available for the next weekend. Yosemite weather in Jan is usually 40-60F and booking a lodge sounded perfect.

What I packed:

• layers!! yes dress in layers because it gets warm during the day
• a hat/beanie!! because its usually cold when you are in shade
• track pants/shorts
• hiking shoes
• flip flops
• portable cooking stove, which I wasn’t able to use since its not allowed in the lodges. You can only do that in campgrounds and designated picnic areas
• protein bars, oatmeal, and other food items

We started driving Friday afternoon and its a 3.5 hours journey for me since we live in the bay area. We took 140 East from 5 South that goes directly into Yosemite. We arrived there ~7:30 and it was dark, very dark. I looked out of my window and up in the sky, I saw millions of stars ⭐️ ✨ 🌟, galaxies and constellations. It was a beautiful clear starry night.

On our way to the lodge, we stopped by Mountain Room Lounge at Yosemite Village since it’s the only place open that time. They lounge had bonfire in the cold night and since I was hungry I ordered some potato bread bowl soup with some coffee.

I was very excited for the next morning, couldn’t wait to see beautiful gigantic granite mountains of Yosemite. And nothing to my surprise, I woke up to a sunny frosty beautiful morning.

Reception at lodge has maps and information about the hikes around. Don’t forget to pick those up! I wanted to do a lot of hikes but since we only had so much time, we decided to do the John Muir trail that goes to Vernal Falls -> Nevada Falls -> eventually to the Half Dome. Half Dome cables are down in winters, so we could only hike up to half dome base. Don’t forget to pack for your hike:

• lots of water, I had coconut water also
• energy bars (I like these)
• a sandwich

View of the vernal falls:

This hike is steep!! You are climbing the elevation of 2000 feet. From the above view to the top of Vernal falls, there are pretty steep stairs. Be careful while climbing up since the area is wet due to waterfalls.

Top of the vernal falls:

From vernal falls to Nevada falls, the hike is moderate to difficult. The views are amazing on the way!

View of the Merced river, which runs along the trail and also view of Nevada Falls.

Another one:

We didn’t go all the way to the base of half dome but went all the way to the Nevada falls. It was 7 miles roundtrip and took us ~3.5 hours.

Rest of the day we walked around Yosemite Village and

• ate at Denagan’s kitchen
• hiked to lower Yosemite falls
• visited the village store for bananas and avocados

Next morning, we drove around to see:

• Bridalveil falls
• El Capitan/Cathedral rocks/Sentinal Dome

Some tips to keep in mind:

• For lodge reservations, click here and click check rates on the right
• For campground reservations, click here
• Make sure you book in advance. It is a very popular park and gets filled very easily. For lodging and campground reservations, you can book unto you 6 months in advance
• There are walk-up campsites. For that you have to be in the park as early as 6am. I have seen long lines there to get into the park.
• Don’t leave anything visible and scented in your car. It is because bears have the tendency to break-in into cars if they smell anything. NPS Rangers at Yosemite are very strict about it. There are warnings signs everywhere. So abide to it.
• You can only cook in the designated areas. These are to prevent any fires. Fires designated areas are in the campground or the picnic areas along the Merced river

Yosemite National Park is one of the most visited national park in the world. There is so much to explore there and you can’t see that in one visit. I just can’t wait to go back again.