hi were booked into the View lodge as part of our Honeymoon Thursday(25th) and friday (26th) August. The plan was to then drive on to Vegas via 1 night in Death Valley.
After much advice weve decided to drive straight through D.V. and spend an extra day in San Fran at the start of our trip.
Only problem is it means a re-shuffle and moving our yosemite stay from a Thursday and friday to a friday and Saturday!
Is a quieter day in Yosemite worth sacrafising for another day in San Fran?
Will the Saturday be that much busier considering its the school holidays anyway?
Thanks so much for you help. Allan & Louise

In the spring and fall, the weekends are a lot more crowded than the weekdays and it can start as early as Friday afternoon. I'm not sure about the summer. School will be starting about that time in some areas.

I'm a little confused. Do you plan on driving from El Portal, over Tioga Pass (Hwy 120) and then though Death Valley to Las Vegas? If so, that's going to be one LONG day of driving.

Utahtea

Weekends in the summer are very crowded at Yosemite, on the valley floor. If you are planning on doing some hiking out of that immediate area you will probably be okay. I'm wondering how many days you have planned for SF already and what you would do with an extra day in SF. I agree with utahtea, the drive to Vegas might be long and very tiring. You might want to post a question and ask how long that drive takes. Happy honeymooning.

Good luck

hi thanks for your replies. Yes we intend do drive fro el portal over the Tioga pass then through Death valley, around 10 hours drivin acording to rand mcnalley. We currently have 2 days and 3 nights in san Fran so if we re-shuffle we'll have 3 days and 4 nights.
not sure what we would do with the time possibly a train ride into the wine country...who knows!

Have you checked the availability at the Yosemite View Lodge? This might be a moot point if they are booked solid, which is a distinct possiblity in August.

not checked yet chief. Wanted to make sure it was the right thing to do first.

It might be more like 11 hours driving time between El Portal via Death Valley to Las Vegas....but that doesn't take into considerations stopping for meals, pit stops, scenic overlook stops, gas stops, getting stuck behind a slow moving vehicle, etc.

Utahtea