RuthMc

We spent 3 wonderful days in Yosemite in September and greatly enjoyed it. But a word to the wise about the shuttle bus. We stayed at the Lodge and had dinner reservations at the Ahwahnee on Saturday night. I realized that the shuttle bus would probably stop running before we finished dinner (8 pm reservations and the bus stopped at 10), so I inquired at the Lodge desk about alternative ways to get back. The Lodge told me that it would be no problem, just to go to the Ahwahnee desk and ask for a ride, that security would bring us back. About 1-1/2 hours after we asked for a ride, we finally got it. Had we known, we could either have driven ourselves or made sure to finish dinner to make the last bus (although that might have been an issue since it seemed that they diverted a number of buses from the normal schedule to take folks to an evening star watch program--we found this out after waiting over a half hour to transfer from one bus to another on our way to dinner and then getting picked up by a small van going to the Ahwahnee only). It was a downer on a beautiful evening and a lovely dinner, but we did eventually get back to the Lodge. But given how you're encouraged to take the shuttle, the system should work better.

jlm_mi

Gee - That was a pleasant response.

Who really cares how many miles you walked in a day NJriverchick? I don't think it's remotely relevant to anything here.

And why shouldn't someone be wearing stiletto heels (or any other shoes unsuitable for hiking) to dinner just because they're in Yosemite? If you're counting on promised rides both ways, why would you dress as if you were going to be walking?

RuthMc - Thanks for the warning. I'm sure others will benefit from it.

Eeva

Yikes, that was a nasty response, I though tthe OP was on target with the post--not slamming the place for the inconvenience while giving the rest of us a heads up.

I teach middle schoolers with more maturity and respect for others than riverchick displays in that response!

Thank you Ruth as I am hoping to make it to Yosemite soon and riverchick, chill out and accept the fact that you are obviously smarter and in better shape than every one else on this board.

Catbert

Oh my, you reminded me of a very dark cold night years ago when we went to the ice rink. We didn't realize that the last bus left before the rink closed. It was a LONG, DARK, COLD walk back to the Lodge. We couldn't even see our hand in front of our face. I remember trying to be cheerful for my young daughters, singing while secretly wondering what wild animals were in our path.

It took an hour for our cold places to warm up.

I'm betting if you were at the Awhanee on a Sat. night you weren't wearing shoes you wanted to walk back in.

emd

NJriverchick, go hang from a rock and yell somewhere else. Yours is exactly the type of slam post that Fodors Travel Talk editor Peter kay has made it abundantly clear he is trying to get rid of (check the News and Announcements postings by him if you want to verify this).

emd

and BTW, Ruth, thanks for the heads up. We are going to Yosemite next year and will be celebrating our 20th anniversary there so appreciate your advice regarding dinner transportation. We are hikers but won't be hiking that night.

J_Correa

I agree - good heads up for the shuttle situation.

FainaAgain

Thanks for the heads up!

NJ: you don't know how old everybody in Ruth's family is. I was in Yosemite with my then 76-year-old father. We wouldn't feel comfortable walking in the dark.

Surfergirl

I missed the riverchick post -- already deleted, I guess.

Ruth, thanks for the heads up. I had completely forgotten about that problem, but we encountered a similar experience last summer trying to get back to the Ahwahnee after dining (so to speak) at Curry Village. A nice bus driver picked us up and took us back, as it was on her way to the garage. We could have walked it, but forgot to bring our flashlights and were tired anyway.

je

Even during the day it's not reliable. We were staying at the Ahwahnee and were going skiing at Badger in the AM. The bus arrived on time but labored up the valley and finally broke down at the tunnel and we waited for a half hour for replacement transportation. We had a car but chose to rely on the shuttle that day. Not again!

RuthMc

Well I didn't get back to this thread in time to see njriverchick's answer, but guess it was pretty nasty. No, we weren't in shoes to walk back in and we didn't have flashlights with us. I've had enough sprained ankles in my life not to want to walk distances in a dark national park without a flashlight. But the good part of this thread is that Fodor's is apparently deleting nasty responses.

cabovacation

Of course the snide in some of us would just love to have seen riverchik's post

CAPH52

You're being too hard on yourself, cabovacation! It's only natural to be curious in these situations! And, believe me, it was a doozy! Couldn't help but make you wonder about the other side of the story in another thread started by that poster. But, anyway, I'm also glad to see that Fodor's is deleting nasty posts without taking the whole thread.