After two-days in Yosemite Valley, we spent our third day on Yosemite’s Tioga Road. The drive takes you to higher elevations than Yosemite Valley so it’s much cooler. The only challenges were the 20-30min road construction delays at places along the road. These significantly slowed our progress exploring this part of Yosemite. But this area is much less crowded and a lot cooler so definitely a nice change from the past two days & worth the trouble. Olmsted Point is a must-stop along the Tioga Road. It’s a viewpoint with a spacious parking lot, docents (the day we stopped), and an easy trail. A short hike will take you to breath-taking views of Tenaya Valley & the northside of Halfdome.
A mile down the road from Olmstead Point is Sunrise Lakes Trailhead & Tenaya Lake, Yosemite National Park’s largest lake. Unlike Mirror Lake, Tenaya Lake water level was not low and refreshingly cold. A 0.35mi hike from the parking lot took us to a rocky beach where we waded & enjoyed the beautiful lake-view. A great place for a packed lunch picnic.
The hike to Soda Springs is an easy hike through Tuolumne Meadows over the Tuolumne River. The Soda Springs ‘cabin’ is an opened-roof square surrounding small, rust-colored carbonated springs. There is a field of carbonate bog surrounding the multiple springs and cabin. There is also the Parsons Memorial Lodge nearby with information and history of the area. A fun easy hike through the meadow with panoramic views of the surrounding mountains. Marmots live under the Tuolumne River bridge and Flycatcher birds nest in the tree by the lodge.
The iconic Yosemite Valley is always a great place to visit. With national park visitation so popular, we are glad they’ve implemented the 3-day pass ($2) requirement. Fortunately, we were able to take advantage of our July pass somewhat last-minute, booking our campsites just a month before traveling.
July can be hot in Yosemite with 95-100°F mid-day temperatures. Starting hikes early, picking shaded trails, and bringing plenty of water and sunscreen can help make the experience enjoyable. The free shuttle buses stop frequently but many riders do not comply with the mandatory mask mandate. So we chose to drive & bike to the trails and lodge for lunch. Parking becomes scarce by noon so biking around Yosemite Valley, once you find a parking spot, is an ideal way to see the place.
Because of the heat, we picked shorter hikes – Day 1: Mirror Lake, which we mostly biked to, was pretty low but Half Dome was reflecting in the pools.
and Day 2: Mist Trail to Vernal Falls, a somewhat challenging 4mi hike because of the 1279ft elevation gain and 600+ often slippery steps. Like Angel’s Landing in Zion, this is a must-do especially during summer since many waterfalls are low flowing. This was one of the few falls in late July to have a decent flow. In Spring, this waterfall is normally much fuller with mist showering the trail & hikers. Here is the website that tells you what the flow rate is: Should I Hike the Mist Trail Today? (yosemitehikes.com) This one is worth the hard upward effort but, like Angels Landing, crowded by noon.
Bass Lake at Yosemite RV Resort is ~372mi from Oceanside, CA. So after a 1-night stop in Bakersfield, we arrived at Bass Lake at ~2pm 15 Jul 2022 – it was 95°F.
Bass Lake RV Resort Map, site 67
Bass Lake at Yosemite RV Resort has both a members-only section and public campsites (RV & tent). The campground is on the lake’s eastern slope so many sites are terraces, especially the non-member sites. We were assigned site 67, a terraced campsite where backing in was a bit of a challenge. It is angled on a curve section of road (see campsite map), and sloped, making the wdh hitch disconnect difficult. Once unhitched and leveled, we cranked up the AC and relaxed in Howie until it cooled down. The wooded campground is beautiful with a short quarter mile hike to the lake. So our 1st evening we did the short hike on the Willow Creek trail to the lake. Mosquito repellent is a necessity and bear spray an extra precaution although the trail is short and well-traveled.
Most of the eastern shore of Bass Lake is private property and marinas. The northern and western shores are US Dept of Agriculture (USDA) property with several primitive campgrounds & day-use beaches. Parking on the shoreline street does not appear subject to the $10 day use fee. On Saturday, we stopped to rent a boat at the Bass Lake Marina but everything was booked so we reserved a pontoon boat for 8am Sunday. Next, we drove the west side of the lake and enjoyed some time soaking in the cool water. Having passed the lakeside Forks Resort cafe earlier, we went back for lunch on their shaded outdoor patio. Turns out we could have rented a boat here. So if Bass Lake Boat Rentals (basslakeboatrentals.com) has nothing available, check around.
Tripadvisor highly recommended the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad Moonlight Special. They serve BBQ before taking passengers on a 100+yr old steam engine ride through the forest, stopping for a campfire sing-along. It was a fun time and the starlit train ride back was memorable.
The Bass Lake Boat Rentals and Watersports marina was adjacent our campground so easy to get to by 7:15am. They recommend arriving well before your rental time so the line queue, paperwork & orientation does not take time from your rental window. Their pontoon boats are very similar to one we rented at Big Bear Lake so orientation went quickly. The lake gets really busy by late morning so boating early, when the lake is glassy, is a more relaxing, pleasurable experience. As we pulled out, a fisherman caught & released a good size bass right by the marina’s dock. The lake is long and narrow so great for water-skiing. I fished near the dam as recommended by the marina host but didn’t have a nibble. Bass Lake was an enjoyable stop on our way to Yosemite.
Our last RV trip was in February so by mid-June, after our new grandson’s Jun 2nd arrival, we were ready for a road-trip. Fortunately, Carol made a July reservation for Yosemite and accepting the $6/gal fuel costs and 90-100°F temperatures forecast. We found a campsite available for a week at Bass Lake at Yosemite RV Resort so we decided to go. All campsites inside Yosemite National Park were booked and with hot weather expected. We wanted full hookups or at least electric so we could run the A/C. Bass Lake is ~18 miles from the south entrance, and 90mins from Yosemite Valley. A bit of a drive but doable, plus we could drive through the sequoias at Mariposa Grove.
Washburn Fire – change of plans
Unfortunately, the Washburn Fire (see map below) started the week before we were to leave. This resulted in the closure of highway 41 and the south entrance to Yosemite for civilian traffic. To avoid driving 2hrs via highway 49 & 140 from Bass Lake to the west entrance three times in three days. We found an opened campsite at Yosemite Lakes RV Resort and rescheduled only 2 nights at Bass Lake and added 4 nights at Yosemite Lakes (on the Merced River – no lake). Our 3-day pass into Yosemite National Park started Monday so we used the three days at Bass Lake to enjoy the lake & surrounding area.
Bakersfield One Night Layover
This was our first road-trip on I-5 over Tejon Pass aka the Grapevine, so I was concerned how difficult our tow was going to be. We packed lightly as usual, had empty tanks, brought our lighter Zizzo folding bikes (vs e-bikes), and the inclines turned out to be no problem. This was our 1st trip after installing Sumo Springs to the rear of our Tacoma. They helped reduce the Tacoma’s hitch sag when hooked to Howie, our 3400# travel trailer w/ 420lbs tongue weight. Plus these taller ‘springs’ improved the tow angle and ride. We stopped midway at Bakersfield River Run RV Park. A Good Sam RV resort w/ full hookups so we could run the A/C and keep cool during our 1-night layover in 104°F heat. River Run is a convenient location close to highway 99, Starbucks, Costco (fuel), & Temblor Brewery so we stayed here on our way home too.
Bass Lake at Yosemite RV Resort
We enjoyed three days at Bass Lake RV Resort: beating the heat in the cool but boat-busy waters of the lake; renting a pontoon boat and doing a little early morning cruising & fishing; and taking the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad Moonlight Special Saturday night. Sunday we moved to Yosemite Lakes RV Resort, driving the switch-backs of highway 49 then 140 for 90mi (~2.5hrs).
Yosemite Lakes RV Resort – 1000 Trails
Yosemite Lakes RV Resort is a 1000 Trails campground with campsites available to anyone, not just members. But since a new annual membership was roughly the same price as the cost of 4 nights, we decided to join. Figuring we’d end up ‘ahead’ if we booked an additional stay at a 1000 Trails campground, like Palm Springs, within a year. There were prime sites on the Merced River but they are closer together than other sections of the campground. There is the ‘Sun Valley’ section, which has no trees, so great for Starlink reception but unshaded & hot during the day. We opted for site 57, on the end, across from the river, partially shaded. Starlink worked okay although partially obstructed. Still we were able to watch the Home-run Derby and All-Star game after spending the earlier part of the day in Yosemite Valley. There was zero T-Mobile or Visible cell reception (July 2022) and wifi costs $6/day. We were told by the office the wifi wasn’t very good but their only option. So having Starlink was a wonderful solution and worked fine, although we did not stress the bandwidth. This campground is only 5mi away from the west entrance and ~40mins to Yosemite Valley. Expecting long lines to get in since the south entrance was closed due to the fire. We were pleasantly surprised that at 9ish am, there wasn’t a queue to get in.
Washburn & Oak Wild Fires
Other than fire fighters in town, fire engines on the road, aircraft in the sky. We never smelt smoke or saw any signs of the Washburn Fire. Another wildfire – the Oak Fire – broke out the day after we left Yosemite. The Yosemite area is extremely dry and with the heatwave & strong afternoon winds, it is easy for a wildfire to spread. We were fortunate to not be affected and had a great trip.
Our GeoPro G19RD has a tongue weight of ~420lbs. When the truck bed is loaded for a RV trip, the weight of cargo plus the GeoPro causes hitch sag. There are a variety of solutions to improve the truck’s rear suspension but Sumo Springs are easy to install and simple. I opted for the black ‘1,800lb’ version There are two others colors: blue = ‘1400lb’ light-medium duty; and yellow = medium-heavy duty (not designed for the Tacoma). For everyday driving & light duty, the blue would typically replace the stock bump stops. But if you tow a trailer, the black higher density is better at reducing hitch sag.
I installed the Sumo Springs using a socket wrench to remove the nuts holding the bump stop u-brackets. Tip: turns out you do not need to completely remove the u-brackets, just loosen, since the stops only need 1/2″ of foot clearance to be removed. The Sumo Springs replace the (surprisingly small) stock Toyota bump stops. I did not need to jack my 2020 Tacoma TRD Off-Road 4×4 up since there was enough clearance. I did the installation on level ground with tire blocks to insure the truck didn’t roll over me.
Since the hitch will dip ~1″ before contacting the Sumo Springs, the difference isn’t clearly perceptible in the sideview photos. But I did see a difference in the rear fender clearance of Tacoma when loaded & hitched to the GeoPro. Plus the tow ride has definitely improved with much less ‘porpoising’ and less overall tail bounce. It is a firmer ride but since there’s less bounce, it’s a worthwhile improvement.
