ktmc

This is to follow up on my topic about Yosemite lodging and itinerary help.
Well - first time to Yosemite and was blown away of course. We stayed at the Evergreen Lodge near the Highway 120 entrance to the park and absolutely loved it. The place really is fabulous (we stayed in a King bedroom cabin w a gas fireplace and were very comfy). We arrived as evening fell on our first night after driving pretty much straight from the airport in San Fran and after settling in had dinner at their restaurant which was very good. The next morning we headed right for the Valley and that day we did the hike up to Vernal Falls coming back via the John Muir Trail to make more of a loop of it. After lunch at Dengan's Deli we did the Mirror lake trail and before heading out we did the Yosemite Falls loop (mercifully flat as we were already feeling the Vernal Falls hike!) Heading out of the park we caught some awesome views (& pics) of Half Dome with the Alpenglow of the sunset hitting it. The next day we headed to Hetch Hetchy which was really amazing - the flooding/damming of the valley may be controversial but it does make for some breathtaking scenery. We hiked to Wapama Falls and back which was beautiful (w tons of bird sightings for my bird watcher boyfriend) - really an incredible place especially w the lack of crowds - we saw maybe 8 people on our entire hike. That afternoon after lunch at Evergreen we drove up to Tuolumne Meadows, stopping at Olmstead Point, and did a couple of low key hikes. The next and last day we checked out of Evergreen and drove down to the Mariposa Grove stopping at Tunnel View (awesome) and then out of the park and on to Monterey.
All in all it was a great introductory trip to Yosemite. We loved Evergreen Lodge but for more then 3 or 4 nights the drive (7 miles) from the highway would have gotten tiresome. I am glad we decided to stay there as the only option in the park was the Wawona and there was a bit of contstruction on that road that slowed things up. Plus it was further actually (or longer I should say - time wise) to the Valley than Evergreen. Hope this is of some use to anyone planning a trip in the future! Thanks again for all the advice!

KTtravel

It sounds like you had a great time and really packed a lot into your time there. Isn't Yosemite such a special place? Thanks for your great report.

Samsaf

Thanks for your trip report! Yosemite is on my list of places I want to see.

maj

You pretty much covered the different areas of the park. We liked Hetch Hetchy and that hike also. Thanks for posting.

mlgb

Thanks for the report. I do find the extra driving a pain in the x#$ and would rather stay in Curry Village if there is nothing available at the Lodge.

volcanogirl

Bookmarking.