I planned to spend 4 days in Yosemite this coming week before a 4-day trip to San Francisco. But the weatherman is predicting highs of 93 degrees in Yosemite--and I don’t do heat.

Landscape photography and hiking are my main interests. There’s no way I can hike or enjoy being outdoors in those temps and I’d be miserable.

So I’m looking for a Plan B and I’ve got to decide quickly because tomorrow is the last day to cancel my reservation at Yosemite. I’m thinking of Lake Tahoe (where the weather will be perfect for hiking) but I’m getting overwhelmed by all the options of different areas to stay--North? South? Truckee? -- and which airport to fly into. My current flight goes to San Jose. Being on Southwest, it is changeable, but the cost of flights and rental cars has more than doubled since I booked. So if I fly into Reno, I’m adding about $600 to the cost of the trip. (But I’m willing to bite that bullet if it’s the best option.)

If staying in (or near) a casino was the best option for quick drives to the Lake Tahoe highlights, I’d be open that. But casinos and fine dining have no appeal for me. I’d prefer to stay someplace with a kitchenette, but that’s not mandatory.

Our main goal in choosing where to stay is proximity to the most scenic areas.

FYI, as part of the trip to SF we’ll be visiting Muir Woods and Muir Beach, and Pt. Reyes. So we don’t want to spend our additional time in those areas.

So… where to go for cooler temps, beautiful scenery, hiking or nature trails??? Tahoe--or somewhere else? And if it’s Tahoe, what area??

Thanks so much for your help.

>> is predicting highs of 93 degrees in Yosemite--and I don’t do heat.

What location are you using that you are seeing highs of 93?

I put Yosemite Village into the weather.gov site and it shows highs in the lower 80s and upper 70s for the next week.

LOL - we posted at the same time.

Look at flights to Sacramento (SMF). If Yosemite is too warm, come up to Mt. Shasta or even Crater Lake.
Crater Lake had a little snowfall this week but the south entrance is open all year long.
If you do fly into SFO, you can take the Amtrak California Zephyr from San Francisco (Emeryville) to Reno.
Rent the car in Reno. It will be much cheaper than at SFO.
If you go with Crater Lake, There are several small cabins with kitchenette at the Diamond Lake resort.

We just got back from a week in Tahoe Vista--on the north side of the lake. It was fabulous! I really liked the location because various areas in and around the lake were pretty easily accessed. We were able to get to Truckee in 20 minutes, the hikes around Donner in 30-35, Mt. Rose in 20 minutes, Sand Harbor for great kayaking in a half hour, and Emerald Bay/D.L. Bliss in 40. There's a road closure on 89 that makes it harder to get from certain points south to points West (like Emerald Bay and D.L. Bliss). We also weren't into the casino scene, so the north side fit the bill for us.

We stayed at the Fire Lite Lodge. Very quiet and clean (but basic) rooms with a kitchenette. The staff was nice as well. We would happily stay there again. It's popular though, so you may not find a vacancy.

We flew into Reno from Indianapolis and got a rental through National. Join their Emerald Club if you can; the rates might be lower. Have you looked at Sacramento as an option? If you do fly into Reno, consider taking the Mt. Rose Highway into Tahoe. Spectacular scenic drive.

Lake Tahoe far exceeded my expectations in terms of beauty. I knew it would be pretty; it just didn't know just how pretty. The elevation did get to us a bit, but we're flatlanders.

The hikes we did:

Rubicon Trail (we started in DL Bliss and walked to Emerald Bay). Gorgeous views nearly the entire way. Good hike for getting acclimated to the elevation.

Mt. Judah near Donner Lake. Great views; not strenuous.

Lola Montez Lakes, also near Donner. We did this on a cloudy/rainy day. Some of is on gravel roads and you can hear road noise. But we otherwise liked the hike, mostly because we didn't see anyone.

Mt. Rose. This one hurt, in that it started at over 9k feet. Views are great. Very windy summit. It's a popular hikes, especially the first few miles to a waterfall.

I can think of another 10 hikes we wished we'd had time for. We were scared off from some because of the elevation gain.

The highlight for me was kayaking in Sand Harbor. Oh, so pretty and relaxing.

Landscape photography and hiking are my main interests. There’s no way I can hike or enjoy being outdoors in those temps and I’d be miserable.

I'd go south to the Monterey Bay area. Visit the Big Basin or Henry Cowell redwoods, then visit the boardwalk amusement park in Santa Cruz.

Then visit Monterey and Pacific Grove, Carmel for its Spanish mission and twee shops, then spend a day or more visiting Point Lobos for stunning scenery, wildlife and walks. Even though some of the parks are closed due to the fires, the Big Sur coast is still visible and gorgeous; this can easily be visited as a day trip from Monterey or Carmel.

The weather will be in the 70s or low 80s, and it's way, way closer from SJC than schlepping across the central valley to Yosemite. Plus, it's likely that some or most of the Yosemite waterfalls will be trickles or nonexistent; IMO September/October isn't the best time for Yosemite, although of course it's always stunning.

Map - https://goo.gl/maps/p3hB6KXQCDs

Just an FYI -- Yosemite Valley will only be maybe 5 - 10 degrees warmer than Lake Tahoe.


Tahoe is fabulous - I am going up there myself in a couple of weeks -- but Yosemite is absolutely amazing and I wouldn't change plans based on an (incorrect) weather forecast.

Now, If you actually prefer to go to Tahoe instead -- fine.

I see temps of 77-81-81-78-76-74-71 for the next 7 days.

Thank you all SO much for your super-helpful responses. Our Yosemite hotel (Yosemite View Lodge, where we stayed previously and liked it very much) is in El Portal which is ten minutes from the park entrance. Here's the Accuweather link stating highs of 93. I promise I'm not imaging it ;-).

http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/el-...recast/2143076

Yesterday, when I searched under "Yosemite Valley" I found the exact same temps predicted -- but now, I'm seeing highs of 87 degrees. 87 is still wayyyy too hot for me to be hiking. For strenuous hiking upper 70s is my limit. I'm seeing highs for Lake Tahoe from the upper 60s to lower 70s.

http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/sou...t/337257?day=6

We know the waterfalls will be mostly dry and the Merced river that runs past the hotel is a trickle. But there would still be lots of opportunities for dramatic photos. FYI, I was at Lake Tahoe about twenty years ago and thought it was stunning, but I don't remember much else about it.

We are now considering plan "C." Leaving things "as is" with our reservations and remaining on Central Time--which, being early risers, means we would be awake and ready to leave by sunrise. We're thinking the light would be great for photographs in the early morning. When it starts to heat up (around 11 AM) we can head back to hotel and venture out again when it begins to cool down toward sunset.

Where are you all seeing these lower temps??? That would be awesome.

OK. I think the mystery is solved. I've been checking temps for Yosemite "VALLEY," as opposed to "Yosemite National Park." Most of the trails and sights we are planning on visiting are indeed close to, or originate from, Yosemite Valley: El Capitan, Half Dome, Mirror Lake...

But, we can do those early, and spend additional time elsewhere, where it will be cooler.

I think it'll work! Again, thanks so much. This forum is so awesome. Without your help I would have incurred a lot of expense and headaches rescheduling everything!

The YNP website has links to National Weather Service forecasts for different areas within the park. The NWS site shows the latitude/longitude (and elevation) of the weather reading which you can locate on maps.google.com.

High temps are predicted in a few spots, but all you have to do is visit those early and then head to higher elevations during the middle of the day. You don't have to retreat to your hotel.

Wherever you go, take a jacket or fleece. Once the sun goes down, the temps drop like a rock.

https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/weathermap.htm

I would still go. The aspens are beautiful. Go to the higher elevations where it snowed yesterday.

Monocounty.org

This seems totally do-able--and I would LOVE to photograph some areas with snow!

Songdoc: when I saw your post I couldn't believe the temps you quoted. So to be sure I googled before I posted the first time. Every site EXCEPT accuweather had the same range - low70's to low 80'. Weather channel, national park service, the local TV weather sites, weathet.gov, etc. Accuweather is the only outlier . . . I cannot even imagine Yosemite being 90+F at this time of year. In July or August it can get that hot for sure. And when it is that hot there are typically thunder showers in the late afternoon.

It will be quite cool after the sun sets behind the granite walls in the Valley and up in the back country it will be cooler because of the altitude.

If you do fly into SFO, you can take the Amtrak California Zephyr from San Francisco (Emeryville) to Reno.
Rent the car in Reno. It will be much cheaper than at SFO.

Even factoring in the $64 value or $101 flexible price for the train ride? And of course, the OP has to return the car in Reno to avoid a hefty cross-border drop-off fee.

No way will it be that hot. Chill. It will be lovely. Something else to keep in mind. The heat is never as intense in the fall as it is in summer. It also cools down quickly in late afternoon and mornings are cool.

Thanks so much. It's so strange that there would be such a big discrepancy between the weather forecasting websites. I like your websites much better than mine! ;-)

Whenever I check the temps on Kauai (where I spend a lot of time) there's one website that is consistently several degrees higher than any of the others, and of the two Nashville TV news shows I watch, one always predicts temps 2 or 3 degrees higher than the other.

travgirl67: "Chill." Nice choice of words! HA!

Again, thank you all so much for your help with this.

PS. I'm not addressing the train issue because I won't be going to Tahoe.