Yosemite Itinerary Need Help
 

Going to Yosemite in August from Sat to Wednesday. Finding it very hard to plan the day to day activities and meals. Staying at Tenaya. Can someone recommend the must-see spots, if here is an order or efficient way to see them and get around the park. Am hoping to work good amoutn of extensive kayaking and hiking into the trip. Any and all suggestions are much appreciated. Thanks

There are upteen numbers of guidebooks that will give information. The National Parks website will also give you info: www.nps.gov.

There are several guidebooks that specialize in hiking, and give much more information than we can give here to suit your fitness and inclinations. In August, you will probably want to be up in the Tuolumne Meadows area for the best hiking, although that's a long way from Tenaya.

I don't think there is any kayaking to speak of in the park , and especially in August when the water will be very low.

Once again, a guidebook will answer all your questions. If you don't have a bookstore nearby, there are many available on Amazon.com.

i have seen people floating down the merced in inner tubes. looks like fun to me. don't know where they got the inner tubes, tho.

You'll definitely want to kayak on the Merced while you are there.There is no kayak rentals at teh park so I assume you'll be bringing your own.

A section of the Merced where both kayakers and rafters ar allowed begins at Stoneman Bridge at Curry Village. You are allowed to paddle to Sentinel Point beach. This is located on the exit side of the Yosemite Valley loop and across from the Four Mile Trail head. The prblem with this section though is that you may end up with a water level that is too low to continuously kayak and you may find yourself walking a bit.


There are a few hikes I like:
In the valley I like Vernal Fall and Mirror Lake hikes but there are others including Half Dome which is hugely popular and grueling. Here's a link:

http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/valleyhikes.htm


Out of Glacier Point I like Sentinal here's alink to that and others:
http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/glacierhikes.htm

Out of Mariposa we did the Mariposa Grove hike but everyone else did the tram. There are others too:

http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/wawonahikes.htm


Hikes out of Tuolumne are good and there are others besides those listed here:

http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/tmhikes.htm



I haven't done any Hetch Hetchy but maybe someone else has and can comment:

http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/hetchhetchy.htm


Also here's a link to a pdf of trail info:

http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisi...trailheads.pdf

I also like this site very much for really good hiking information:

http://www.yosemitefun.com/index.htm

Check out the 5 best day hikes section.

Are you staying at the Tenaya Lodge? If so, you will be a long way from many of the best parts of Yosemite.

In August, the place to be is in the high country - Tenaya Lake and Tuolumne Meadows. There is great hiking up there and kayaking on the Lake. In the Valley, it could be well over 100 degrees and filled with smoke from control fires. And the waterfalls will be almost dry. Also, the Valley is a 45 minute drive from Tenaya Lodge, each way. Tuolumne Meadows would be a 2 - 3 hour drive depending on traffic (which is at its worst in August).

If you are kayakers, you should consider camping in the high country.

Try calling for cancellations at White Wolf or Tuolomne High Camps. If you stay at Tenaya, you can beat crowds in the Valley by getting up VERY early. I'd suggest one day having breakfast at the Ahwahnee Hotel, perhaps the most beautiful I've seen in America, then walking on Valley Floor (west side not crowded), perhaps having a picnic at the Sentinel Beach picnic area. Another day hike the Nevada Falls trail, up the Mist Trail through Vernal Falls and up again to Nevada Falls, back down the less steep and slippering John Muir trail to the Valley. This is perhaps the best hike in Yosemite, but also the most popular. Again starting very early will help you beat both heat and crowds.

cmstraf

Planning a similar trip for August as well.

I believe that you can use a shuttle from the valley floor to Glacier Point. From there you can hike back down to the valley floor.