2021 Summer Trip to Yosemite
This content was automatically generated by gpt-4o-mini (No human review). The original post is in Chinese.
What to Do Before the Trip
Actually, I don’t remember the details of this summer’s trip very clearly now. Fortunately, we always make detailed travel plans before heading out. We use Google Docs to write down our itinerary, including specific routes, where we will stay at night, places to refuel and eat, what fun and interesting spots there are at each attraction, and which trails are suitable for hiking. This time we brought a Camping Cooler, so we could take frozen food with us, and I also planned the menu for the trip. In addition, we print out important information (like hotel reservations and attraction tickets) and keep them in a dedicated folder. We also print out the itinerary (two copies: one for the car and one for a friend at home, for safety reasons), since there is often no cell signal outdoors. Furthermore, we download maps of the trails we might hike in advance and import them into my Garmin watch. We also download offline maps of the places we will visit on Google Maps for easy navigation. We go to REI to buy some travel gear we need.
In summary, it looks like this:
- Make travel plans (Google Docs document)
- Book hotels, tickets, etc.
- Print important documents (itinerary, reservation confirmations, etc.)
- Offline maps on Google Maps
- Download Trail Routes from AllTrails and import them into the Garmin watch
- Purchase travel gear, food, etc.
- Pack luggage
This blog mainly serves to summarize the previous information and share it with everyone. The itinerary has been adjusted according to our actual plans, as reality often differs from the original plan.
Itinerary
Day 1
Transportation: Home -> Kings Canyon NP (Sunset Campground)
- Depart at 8:30
- I-5 N -> CA-99 N -> CA-63 N/S -> CA-180 E (6h30m, 352mi)
- Arrive at Kings Canyon NP around 16:00, first go to the Campground to store food
Attractions: Grant Grove Area
- Panoramic Point (good for sunrise, sunset and stargazing)
Accommodation: Sunset Campground
Social media update:
We’re off!! Setting up a cooler is really such a hassle!
Got stuck in traffic for an hour near Gorman on CA 5… it looks like a very serious accident, a big truck was burned to ashes, and the hillside next to it is charred.
Day 2
Attractions: Grant Grove Area
- General Grant Tree Loop trail (1km, 14m)
Attractions: Cedar Grove Area (~1h, 35mi from the Campground)
- Roaring River Falls trail (0.5km, 8m)
- Grizzly Falls (0.2km, 3m)
- Hume Lake
Hiking:
- Zumwalt Meadow loop trail (2.6km, 38m)
- Mist Fall trail (14km, 3h29m)
Accommodation: Sunset Campground
Day 3
Attractions: Giant Forest & Lodgepole Area (~1h, 32mi from the Campground)
- General Sherman Tree Trail (1.9km, 29m)
- Tunnel Log
- Moro Rock Trail (0.8km, 11m)
Hiking:
- Congress Trail (4.8km, 1h33m)
Transportation: Sunset Campground -> Fresno
- CA-180 W (1h10m, 56mi)
Accommodation: La Quinta Inn by Wyndham Fresno
In Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, every giant sequoia bears the marks of wildfires.
The Mist Fall Trail is the most beautiful trail I have walked in the forest, so beautiful that I couldn’t move, always unable to resist stopping to enjoy the scenery and take photos.
The bear safety policy in the national park has made packing our bags very inconvenient, and so far we haven’t seen a single black bear.
There are too many photos to choose from…
Day 4
Transportation: Fresno -> Yosemite NP (Housekeeping Camp)
- CA-41 N (2h21m, 92mi)
- Fill up gas in Oakhurst or Wawona
- Store food at the Camp first
Attractions: Yosemite Valley
- Tunnel View
- El Capitan Meadow
- Visitor Center
Hiking:
- Sentinel / Cook’s Meadow Loop (3.6km)
- Lower Yosemite Falls (0.8km)
Accommodation: Housekeeping Camp
On Tuesday morning around 10, we were stuck in traffic at the Yosemite entrance for nearly two hours… surprisingly, there was 4G signal inside the park…
Today we are staying at Housekeeping Camp, which is quite nice. I actually saw three groups totaling eight climbers on El Capitan, along with three tents on the rock face. It was very impressive because at first, we couldn’t see the people with the naked eye, so we thought there was no one on the rock. But when we looked through the telescope, we found many climbers, looking so small (there are three people in picture 9). Our group spent a long time looking through the telescope, occasionally sharing our discoveries. There are a lot of visitors in Yosemite, very many, and the recent temperatures have been between 20-40 degrees… I looked at the temperature in San Diego, which is 19-24 degrees, and thought it wasn’t the right time to come.
Day 5
Hiking: The Mist Trail (Vernal & Nevada Falls) (11.6km, 4h, middle)
Accommodation: Housekeeping Camp
Today we hiked the Mist Trail and saw Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall. We walked all the way to Little Yosemite Valley Campground before turning back. The only regret is that we didn’t hike Half Dome. To avoid hiking in the heat, we got up at 5:15 AM, arrived at the trailhead by 6:30 AM, and finished the trail by 12:30 PM. A few days ago, I didn’t get the permit for Half Dome, and I had been hesitating whether to go or not. In the end, I gave up due to the high temperatures, so I only applied once… Today, seeing hikers heading to Half Dome made me envious; I felt like I could have completed it… Back at camp, we made lunch, took a shower, napped, and did laundry until around 5:30 PM when the temperature finally became a bit more comfortable. I was surprised to find that Yosemite Valley has free shared bicycles, so we rode to Mirror Lake. We returned to camp at 7:30 PM, planning to have a campfire tonight, only to discover that our two bundles of firewood were missing, along with a shovel and grilling tongs. I felt really disappointed and searched around but couldn’t find them. I spoke to a staff member about it. To my surprise, after a while, he brought us two boxes of firewood, which was so touching. We can have a campfire tonight after all. Tomorrow, we plan to hike the Four Mile Trail.
Day 6
Hiking: 4-Mile Trail (14.8km, 6h9m, hard)
Accommodation: Housekeeping Camp
No more tough hiking… Today we hiked the Four Mile Trail, with an elevation gain of 1000 meters. Cuihao said we are here to suffer, not to vacation… Right now it’s hot, and we’re playing on our phones in the cabin because it’s 40 degrees outside… For the past two days, we’ve been hiking every morning, organizing our things in the afternoon (resting…), and then going out for activities in the evening. There are still 2 days left in the holiday, and the goal of walking 100km in 8 days is about to be achieved.
Day 7
Hiking: Upper Yosemite Falls (12.2km, 4h, hard)
Attractions:
- Tenaya Lake (~1h20m, 49mi from the Camp)
- Tuolumne Meadows
Transportation: Yosemite NP -> Salinas
- CA-140 W -> CA-152 W -> US-101 S (3h52m, 187mi)
Accommodation: Super 8 by Wyndham Salinas
On the last day in Yosemite, we hiked the first half of the Upper Yosemite Fall Trail, then went to Olmsted Point and Tenaya Lake, with an elevation of 2500 meters. Staying in Salinas tonight, I noticed that the air pollution here is quite severe… I can’t even see the mountains in the distance… Tomorrow we will drive home along Highway 1.
Day 8
Transportation: Salinas -> CA-1 -> Home
Attractions:
- Big Sur
- Partington Cove
- McWay Falls
Finally home… Today’s drive along California’s Highway 1 was foggy from Big Sur to the SD coast… what a letdown.
Travel Menu
Sharing the meals from the past few days. I basically cooked 1-2 meals every day and spent a lot of time preparing and packing the camp cooler before heading out. After leaving Sequoia and Kings Canyon, I bought 2 bags of ice (totaling 14 lbs) to add in. I was surprised to find that by the third night out, the ice on the bottom had hardly melted, while the frozen dumplings and shrimp were mostly thawed. They still tasted fresh enough. For this 8-day trip, I prepared a lot of food, and with the park’s bear safety policies, storing and transporting food was a bit of a hassle, but the meals were good, similar to what I have at home.
Take out need vegetable
Vegetables (17 servings, 1 serving is for two people per meal):
- Tomatoes *2
- Onions *2
- Carrots *4
- Celery *4
- Broccoli *2
- Bell peppers *3
Meats (10 servings):
- Shrimp *3
- Beef dumplings *2
- Wontons *1
- Scrambled eggs with onions *2
- Scrambled eggs with tomatoes *2
- Eggs *16
Driving Route
Here is our actual driving route, created from memory after returning home: Google Map Link
Hiking Record
Below is the GPS record of my hike from my Garmin watch.
Total Expenses
