“Magnificent” and “jaw dropping beauty” are some of the many superlatives used in guide books to describe Yosemite National Park. Honestly, I don’t get it.
Yes, it’s pretty! Like most national parks.
Impressive granite formations of El Capitan and Half Dome! They are certainly cool hunks of gray granite. But if you visit on an overcast day as we did, they almost blend in with the sky.
Giant, towering Sequoia trees! But there are many more of them at Sequoia & Kings Canyon parks.
But really, my “meh” attitude comes from the crowds. Because they just ruin the park for me.
I planned this visit to Yosemite for mid-April–sort of a compromise between the busy season but not needing tire chains for the snow. And I knew enough to avoid the weekends. But on a Monday afternoon in Yosemite Valley, it felt like an outdoor shopping mall at Christmas season-the paths and trails were so packed. Forced pauses and dodging other visitors on the trail were constant.
The usual advice for the national parks also does not work here:
- Get out early (only worked sometimes.)
- Hike a trail, getting away from main attractions.
- Go in the “shoulder season”, and avoid weekends.
We were out at 7 am along the river, heading to Happy Isles and a five mile loop around Mirror Lake. It was heaven! Gorgeous scenery and a few other hikers. The lake was like glass, showing the upside down image of the hills above. But by the time we looped back to Mirror Lake, the crowds were out and so was the breeze, ruining the reflection for the late comers.
But getting on a trail did not help avoid the crowds. It’s a two mile hike to Mariposa Grove before you even get out to see the trees. (Shuttles were not running yet.) But there were still hundreds of people who did this hike at the southern end of the park.
The crowds even affect the food options. Base Camp Eatery had a long, unmoving line at 5pm for the grill, so we opted for poke bowls simply because there was no line for them. (Tasty.) And we were glad that we’d picked up groceries in Fresno, so we had breakfast in our room and made our own lunch. (The grab-and-go lunches at the Eatery aren’t available until 10 it seems, ruining your chances to get an early, long hike if you need to buy a lunch to go.)
The thing that is so bizarre about these crowds: a three hour drive south of Yosemite, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks get just a third of the visitors. We visited these conjoined parks six days after Yosemite, and trails were lightly used at any time of day, even at the star attractions such as the General Sherman or General Grant trees.
I’ll note that parts of Yosemite were not accessible yet due to seasonal road closures, and Glacier Point Road is closed for all of 2022. Perhaps if we’d had time to visit the Hetch Hetchy section of the park, we would have found more solitude.