Yosemite in winter

It was in the beginning of November that Tapan, Heeral and I decided to go on a camping trip over Christmas break. We decided to try winter camping in Yosemite! It was a crazy idea but then it had the promise of adventure and we were all ready for adventure.

Day 0 : Friday, Dec 28 2012.
Tapan and Heeral come over at night. Its around 9:30 pm and we spend 30 minutes discussing what we will be cooking on day 1, day 2 and day 3. We discuss all the possible combinations and decide on this menu : Day 1: Maggi noodles and soup. Day 2: Rice and dal. Day 3: The Trader joes Ready-to-eat Indian curries with rice. And we have pasta as backup! We also have bagels for lunch and oatmeal for breakfast. Little do we know then that we will end up not cooking at all over the next three days!

Day 1 : Saturday, Dec 29 2012.


We head out around 8:30 in the morning with a fully packed car. Our car trips are always fun because Tapan, Heeral and I always have so much to talk about.

Our first pleasant surprise is the view on I-5. The usually bare brown desert has transformed this winter into pretty snow capped mountains.

Snow on the mountains just north of Valencia

Our first stop is Fresno. We decide to check out REI to see if they have snow shoes we can rent. We are out of luck and decide to go to Chipotle to make up for the disappointment. And of course, the veggie burrito (or the bowl in Tapan and Heeral's case) never disappoints!

REI at Fresno

Fresno is the last city before Yosemite. Farmlands slowly make way for the mountains.

Outside Fresno: Farmlands make way for mountains.

As we get close to Yosemite National park, we are surrounded by winter happiness. It is a scene from fairytales come to life - we are entering the enchanted forest.

Entering the enchanted forest

Entering the enchanted forest comes at a price. The roads are extremely icy. We stop and put on snow chains. But even with the chains, driving on the road is very challenging and we take more than two hours for the 30 mile trip from the entrance of the park to our campsite. But the views and the beauty of fresh snow on the trees keeps us entertained. And the icing on the cake is the view from Tunnel View Point. It is the perfect, grandiose entrance to a national park - Welcome to Yosemite!

By the time we get to the Upper Pines campground it is getting dark. The campground is completely snow covered (more than a foot of snow) and there aren't many campers - a stark contrast to our previous camping experience when we did Half Dome a few years ago. Most of the campers present are warm inside their heated RVs. To be honest, we are intimidated. The idea of pitching a tent on snow and spending the night outside is not the way you want to relax after a long day of driving. But we are brave and are ready for adventure (and of course there is Heeral who is not at all intimidated and is ready to hit the snow).

Campsite

Pitching tent in the snow and spending the night outside is intimidating

Our campsite parking spot

We borrow a shovel fromt the RV next to us and start shoveling snow from the bear canister where we have to store our food (Yes, its not just snow and cold we are up against. There are also a few bears that have decided not to hibernate this winter). Then begins our tent pitching ordeal. It is embarrassing how long it takes us to pitch 2 tents. It is sufficient to say it takes us a very long time and we are cold and exhausted at the end of it. Its dark by now and has just started snowing.

We need to get the fire going and the stove up and running so we can make our Maggi and soup as per schedule. Again, I won't go into the details of this process. It shall suffice to say we did not get the stove working (not exactly our fault. There was some problem with the stove), so we couldn't cook, and other than pouring lighter fluid in the fire, we have no way of keeping the fire burning. We have bagels with cream cheese and decide to retire for the night.

Shoveling snow so we can open the bear box

The REI camp stove that drove us crazy by never lighting up!

Three of us get inside Harsha's 3 person tent. We could be in a commercial for the tent company to demonstrate that yes, you can fit 3 adults in this tent. Of course, there is almost no wiggle room left, but we are happy to have each other for warmth. I will not say the night is spent uneventful because well, it was not. None of us slept great that night but at least we are all alive!

Our campsite : One tent where we all squeezed in and the other for our baggage.

Day 2 : Sunday, Dec 30 2012.


The morning's here. Tapan and I go to the only spot where there is some warmth – the hand dryer in the men's restroom to discuss our plans. We decide that we would prefer not to sleep in the tent another night and consider leaving Yosemite and heading to Sequoia. Of course, this is Tapan and my plan, but we know for sure Heeral's not going to accept defeat so easily. We go back to our tents and all three of us decide that we should check out the tent cabins in Curry village to see if they have vacancies. Fortunately for us, they do! And so the remaining two nights of our trip we get to spend in a heated tent cabin. A welcome change from sleeping on the snow. Well, there was the fear of getting bit by mice and catching the hanta virus. But we are willing to take the risk. It seems better than being frozen in the cold and eaten by a bear.

Path to Camp Curry office

Camp Curry with its heated tents offers us a warm welcome, literally

Tent cabins

The lounge area with its fireplace where we spent the evening playing cards

We have hot coffee and warm muffins and bagels for breakfast at the cafe in Camp Curry. Civilization is pretty nice. We appreciate it more after spending a night outside below freezing. Once we have our breakfast and a pizza for lunch, we are satisfied and are ready to execute our carefully drafted sightseeing plans.

Hot toasted bagels and coffee for breakfast!

Thankfully, the Yosemite shuttle runs frequently all through winter. We don't want to have to drive in the ice and snow till we have to head back.

Taking the shuttle to the Visitor Center

Our first stop is Lower Yosemite Falls. Its a short hike, less than a mile, more of a stroll in the park. But the view of the falls is amazing.

Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls

Lower Yosemite Falls

We then decide to do the Cook's meadow trail that offers a fantastic view of Yosemite's landmarks from a meadow in-between.

View of Half Dome

Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls

Its late in the afternoon and we arrive at Sentinel bridge. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. We get to see sunset over Half Dome.

Sunset over Half Dome: View from Sentinel Bridge

Its getting dark. And this section of the walk is extremely eerie with a snow mist that surrounds us. Feels like we are in a scene from Game of Thrones with the white walkers approaching us.

A church in the woods: scene from a fairy tale

The snow men added to the eerieness

A white mist surrounds us

We are at Yosemite Lodge in time for dinner. We get some warm food and head back to Camp curry and to a warm shower and the heated tent. The rest of the evening is spent relaxing in the Village Lounge with a game of cards. We are not the only ones in the lounge. Its packed with people playing board games. Who doesn't like the fireplace and some warmth on a cold night?

Day 3 : Monday, Dec 31 2012.

After a nice warm breakfast of oatmeal and hot chocolate, we head to hike the Mist trail to Vernal Falls.

Vernal Falls from a distance

We then head to Mirror Lake. The latter part of the hike is particularly memorable with almost no one else on the trail and with layers of clean white snow all around us.

View of Half Dome from the Mirror Lake Trail

Mirror Lake

Surrounded by clean white snow. Yeah, we look like men of the night watch.

We are starving by now and head back to Curry Village for some hot pizza. The rest of the day is spent checking out the skating rink, the Awanee Hotel and a  'movie' on the American wolf at Yosemite Lodge . We were particularly excited to watch the movie expecting a cool documentary on the wolf. I have to admit we are a tad bit disappointed after the 'movie' turns out to be a Powerpoint presentation with tons of text and no videos! We head back to our tent cabin to get ready for new year's eve.

We get our game of cards out, some junk food and chocolate and head to the village lounge all set to welcome 2013. Its funny that Tapan, Heeral and I began 2012 together over a game of cards and ended the year the same way. We are happy to be spending new year's eve together.

Day 4 :Tuesday, Jan 1 2013.

We have one last stop to make before we are back on our way to Los Angeles: Bridal Veil falls. The short 1 mile hike to the falls and back turns out to be more of an adventure than expected. The falls itself is beautiful. But the path to the falls is frozen and extremely slippery. While we manage to get to the falls holding on to the rail, the only way to come down without falling is to sit on our butts and slide down. And that is a lot of fun!

Bridal Veil Falls

Sliding on our butts on the way down!

After several hours of slow driving on black ice, we are finally out of Yosemite and back on our way home, brining to an end another fantastic trip filled with memorable moments.