Gary and I spent most of our time in Yosemite Valley walking the easy trails to Lower Yosemite Falls, Bridalveil Falls, Mirror Lake Trail and at Tunnel View (just up a few hundred yards on the trailhead for a better view). But we did one major hike to Vernal Falls. This is a hike Carol & I did in 2022 and it’s pretty steep, rated hard on Alltrails. I think it’s moderate if you stop at the Falls and hard if you continue to the top. We wanted a challenging hike after such an easy time so far. Plus Gary said the top of the falls were worth the effort although he wasn’t feeling up to it today. So I continued up the trail and he headed back down. The trail above the falls is narrow, steep, and wet this time of year. Vernal Falls were flowing full force so there was a lot of mist. I used my iPhone and GoPro and kept my camera bag under my rain jacket. I felt quite the accomplishment making it the top. It has an amazing view of the valley.
Yosemite National Park is a ‘dark skies’ area, which means there is little light pollution from nearby city lights. This makes it a great location for star gazing and astrophotography. Since we’ve been having clear skies during the past week, I checked PhotoPills for the Milky Way position and its rise time. I wanted it rising over Half Dome and found I could setup on the pedestrian road (red X), near our campground at 1am. I e-biked over to the pedestrian meadow road which, when facing east, has a clear view of Half Dome. Setting up in the middle of the road was easy and level.
Gear used: Nikon Z8, Leofoto tripod w/ Benro geared head, Move Shoot Move star tracker, 14-30mm f4 & 20mm f1.8 Nikon Z lenses. The Benro geared head is great for fine tuning the star tracker position. Pointing the star tracker laser at Polaris is accurate enough for wide angle astrophotography. The Z8 has a ‘starry sky live view’ setting so I could make out Half Dome and compose my foreground easily in the dark. There were very few people out and I was spooked by the occasional noise in the nearby brush. We had seen a bear earlier in the day in Yosemite Valley although miles away. But using my headlamp, I did pan around from time to time. I used the 14-16mm at f4 and tried ISO settings from 1600-12,800. With the excellent noise reduction software available these days, I wasn’t too worried about high ISO noise. But most of my favorite photos were taken with the 20mm between f1.8-2.2 from 10-60secs, varying the ISO. I did not take flats, blacks, or biases which I regret when processing with Siril and Sequator. Next time, I’ll be sure to take some exposures with the lens cap on (blacks, biases) and with a white screen on my iPhone (flats).
I spent about two hours, doing a variety of ISO, shutter speed, and focal range combinations. In hindsight, I think I should pick one focal range, composing for Half Dome. Take several long exposures for the foreground without star tracking. Then readjust the composition to mostly sky, use the 20mm and one ISO setting. I can vary the exposure by changing the shutter speed from 60-120secs using the star tracker for multiple exposures to stack. After processing the foreground and stacked Milky Way images separately, I’d composite them into a final image. Overall, I had a great time and I am happy with the photos, but they can definitely be better.
Tuesday we drove to the Ahwahnee Lodge and had a wonderful breakfast in their historic dining room. Afterwards, we hiked to Yosemite Falls. It was busy, being one of the most accessible and beautiful falls in Yosemite Valley. Plus it was flowing full volume so picturesque. Again, we had beautiful blue skies and warm weather, great for hiking but not for photography. When you have such conditions, you have to be a little more creative with your camera. Long lens photography is a good option to isolate the wonderful detail in the falls and granite cliff walls. Gary also wanted to visit the Ansel Adams Photo Gallery. It was inspirational and is a must-visit location when visiting. Hiking both Yosemite Falls and especially Bridalveil Falls was a wet experience. Since we went straight from breakfast, I did not have my rain jacket. Also, I preferred not to test my Nikon gear weatherseals even though they are supposed to be great. So much of the waterfall photos were iPhone and GoPro shots & video.
Near Lower Pines Campground is the west-east traffic-free pedestrian road facing Half Dome. Gary and I had spotted some wonderful reflections of Half Dome next to the road. We figured the late afternoon light and sunset hitting Half Dome would make for some excellent photos. We were right, although again, the clear blue skies did not add to the compositions. Gary said the wispy clouds were plane contrails but at least they added some texture and color.
Gary and I broke out the bikes – his aluminum 28lb German folding conventional bike and my new Maui 40lb folding e-bike – and headed to Mirror Lake. It was a clear, warm, virtually cloud-less day so we were thankful we had some clouds the day before. Gary likes the workout of biking uphill; me, I enjoyed using the e-bike assistance on the steeper part of the road to Mirror Lake. Blue skies and bright sun are not the best conditions for photography but it’s great for biking and hiking. When Carol & I visited Mirror Lake in July 2022, the water level was really low. It was hard to find a reflection in the water during that visit as we cooled off in the shallow lake under Half Dome. This trip, all the waterfalls were flowing full volume and the lakes, rivers, and creeks were cold & clear. There were waterfalls on every cliff wall with snow melt flowing in every crevice.
We took a lunch & beer break at the campsite after a leisurely bike/hike to Mirror Lake. Then we drove up to Tunnel View in hopes of an epic sunset. Tunnel View was busy but we found parking and setup an hour before sunset. Unfortunately, the evening before, the beautiful clouds covered Half Dome. Tonight, Half Dome was visible but the sky was not very interesting. Still, with the great flow of all the Yosemite Falls this visit, we took photos till the sun set.
Since we got into the park around noon and setup camp quickly. We took advantage of the great afternoon light and drove through Yosemite Valley. Because it was the last day of the free National Park entry week, Yosemite Valley had a lot of visitors. Gary and I were anxious to get out and scout Yosemite Valley. The light was good and so were the clouds – the sun ducked behind large clouds frequently so the exposure changed quickly. Light on the valley walls changed every few minutes so if the light wasn’t good, I just waited several minutes for it to change. With this mottled, late afternoon light and limited color range, I found processing these late afternoon images as black&white to work particularly well. Black&white Yosemite photos are always a homage to Ansel Adams to me. He set the standard and his images are some of my favorite landscape photographs.
I was fortunate enough to be invited to Yosemite National Park by Gary Wellwood, a friend from the UCSD Photography Interest Group. He had a reservation for Lower Pines Campground for 4 nights and he was looking for another photographer to join him. Other than a couple nights in Anza-Borrego earlier this month, I have never taken our travel trailer on a solo adventure. Yosemite in late April is a perfect time to visit. The weather is ideal and the place isn’t as crowded as during the summer. It did take an extra long time to get into the park because April 28th was the last “free National Park entry day”. Many people in the queue were turned back because they had not made an entry reservation. Although entry into the park for the past week was free, the weekends still required an entry time reservation. I had made one just in case I didn’t meet Gary before entering and his documentation didn’t get me in.
Lower Pines Campground is a great location in the shadow of Half Dome by the Merced River. Campsite 1 is at the entrance and has room for two vehicles. As it turned out, with the travel trailer, we took every foot of the small parking area. We managed to squeeze in without issue since Gary was car camping in a tent. I had Howie, our 20ft travel trailer. This is dry-camping without hookups so I had to fill the fresh tank with ~10gals of fresh water. Electrical power was provided by a 1200w Anker battery pack I brought. I also brought a 500w Jackary power bank which Gary used to keep his camera charged. My Anker bank powered the Starlink, my coffee machine, and all my electronics and camera gear with no problem for the 5 days. Since our site was shaded, the solar panels did not keep the batteries topped off. But they were able to keep the fridge running and the beer cold.
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.
