Exploring Yosemite in December has one disadvantage and one advantage. The first one is that many of the park's roads are closed for the season. The advantage is that we avoid the hordes of visitors that come to the park every summer. And as a bonus, Yosemite Park under the snow is a beauty we had no idea about!
Sunday, December 19th, 2022
We heard a lot about Yosemite: "You have to go to Yosemite," we were told. And each time we said: "Of course we will!" Yet, as winter arrives, we are more and more nervous about going to the park. It's 1,200 meters high and located in the heart of the Sierra Nevada. Winter is harsh. And we aren't fond of the cold right now, considering our current lifestyle! 😅 But obviously, whatever the season, Yosemite is a must-see! So here we are, braving the cold and snow to discover it!
Our first day in Yosemite started off rather badly. We spent the night on a parking lot in Fresno and woke up at 6:15 am under an opaque fog. At 6:45 am, we're in a sport pub to watch the World Cup Final 🇫🇷🇦🇷 Together with five Argentines wearing Messi's jersey, we settle in front of the screens, ready for 1:30 2 hours of craziness and tension. No need to sum up the whole game. Let's just say that even at 7 am, on a Sunday, in an empty bar and a sleepy and foggy city, we all had some cold sweat. But it ends up in a huge disappointment. Well, at least for us 😢. We hit the road to the mountains. The fog is so dense that we can't see more than 5 meters away. And suddenly it's gone and a bright sun shines. Our day looks like it will be less gloomy than expected! We reach Yosemite National Park from the South entrance. Only around 20% of the park is open. It was to be expected.
🥾 Mariposa Grove – 10 kms
Mariposa Grove is the only place in the park where we can see giant sequoias. Yes, that's true, we just saw a lot of them in Sequoia National Park! But we love them so much that we are willing to walk 10 kilometers to see some more! During summer, it's possible to go to Mariposa Grove with a shuttle, to spare 4 kilometers. But today, no shuttle! Let's go for a long and risky walk through the woods, on a sometimes icy path, to reach the start of the sequoias trail.
Once we reach the beginning of the trail, we set off to admire the giants in their secluded and preserved area. It's funny how the giant sequoias always grow in very localized places. Once again, we are impressed by their size. It's impossible to get tired of admiring them. We walk to the Grizzly Giant, an enormous tree. Some of its branches are as thick as the trunks of the most mature pines around us. It's magnificent, perhaps the most beautiful sequoia we have seen so far.
To go back to the car, we choose another strategy: we take the longest but the easiest way: the road! It takes us 45 minutes to go back to the Jeep. We leave the park to find a place to camp. We settle down in a very muddy Forest Road. The sunset is magnificent, then the cold settles. We eat tacos by 4°C before taking refuge inside the Jeep to spend the evening.
Monday, December 19th
To reach the Yosemite Valley, the heart of Yosemite Park, we drive many kilometers along a winding mountain road. The road is sometimes icy and the car do some sideslips, which are immediately controlled! Only the first 5 km of Glacier Point Road are open. They take us to Badger Ski Station. The station is closed, but it's already possible to rent ski material... To ski, it's necessary to go up the slopes by foot! 😅
Back on the main road, we drive a few more kilometers. We reach a tunnel and then we see for the first time the Yosemite Valley. The view is splendid! The valley is framed by two emblematic rocky peaks: El Capitan at 2,307m and Half-Dome at 2,693m. At the bottom of the valley flows the Merced River, partly frozen. The road to the Village follows the course of the river. The snow coverage is exceptional, and it makes the landscape even more beautiful. We see Bridalveil Fall, a very beautiful waterfall. Then Yosemite Upper Fall. Yosemite is famous for its majestic waterfalls. Even if their flow is very feeble at this season, we are lucky that they are not frozen yet!
We reach the Village at the end of the valley. There is a whole complex here with restaurants, lodges, campsites, service center. In spite of the low season, there are many people. We walk around and visit the service center to get information on the trails. As expected, many trails are closed or required spikes. We still plan a hike for the next day. In the meantime, we go to Curry Village to take a free and super hot shower. It feels very good! That shower is going to see us again tomorrow 😁 Night is already falling, and we still have to drive 35 kilometers to get out of the park and find a spot for the night. It's less expensive to drive 1 hour rather than pay $36 of camping fee within the park!
Tuesday, December 20th
The morning is gray and cold. But we still want to get a better view on Yosemite Valley. Let's go for a hike!
🥾 Upper Yosemite Fall to the bottom of the fall – 6.4km, 425m elevation
At the service center, we were told: "spikes are mandatory!" We don't have spikes, but we go anyway. Spikes are actually not necessary on the first part of the hike as there is no snow nor ice. Just very hard rock. The path climbs steeply. After one hour and a half, we reach Columbia Rock. The view on the valley is beautiful.
We planned to stop here, but we finally keep going. The path is now very snowy and the sticks are useful. Ice blocks fall from the cliff above us, and some chunks are quite big. Better not to get one on the head! We see the Upper Yosemite Fall. The path continues to the top of it and even further. But now we don't want to get going. As Rémi says: "Higher means more snow. And more snow means more trouble!" 😂 Wisdom! So we turn back.
Warmed up by the hike, we eat house-made pan con tomate on the parking lot. It's 3°C! Then we go to the shower house. We said we would come back! It's hot, how great! See you tomorrow! 😁 On the advice of a hiker, we then go to Ahwahnee Lodge. There is valet and red carpet at the entrance. The inside is very welcoming, with its cosy atmosphere, huge fireplaces, soft armchairs and sofas and large windows overlooking the snowy mountains. The Christmas decorations add even more charm. We would love to stay here for the night, but it's extremely expensive! We sit down near the fireplace! No hot chocolate neither, it's probably well to expensive. We're going to work for a while. But the WiFi network doesn't work, because there are "too many people connected"... Well, just for the photo, Rémi pretends to work anyway 🤓
Wednesday, December 21st
Beautiful weather! Great! As soon as we arrive at the park, we go for a short hike. We need to stretch our legs and warm up after this freezing night. The path goes up to Vernall Fall and is particularly icy. The fall appears quickly, but we cannot approach it, because the path is closed.
Back at the Village, we cook and eat carbonara pasta in the sun before sitting down in the cafeteria to enjoy the WiFi. The fireplace is burning brightly, the room is warm, Christmas songs are playing and children are yelling all around us, piercing our ears. At the end of the afternoon... guess what? We go back to take a shower! We are very close to say that the hot, free, clean and unlimited shower is what was best in Yosemite 😂 But let's not go too far! It's 4 pm and the night is falling. It's getting colder. The road is sometimes icy and the Jeep skids from time to time. 4WD or not, we are all equal in front of the frost! We leave the park under a mysterious mist to go back to our usual sleeping spot.
Thursday, December 22nd
It's our last day in Yosemite and we explore the northern part of the park. Among the snow-covered Sierra Nevada Mountains, there is the Hetch Hetchy Valley. There is no one around, except for two park employees working on the O'Shaughnessy Dam. Built in 1923, it created the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, one of the water reservoir for the San Francisco area. We spend a little time walking around before hitting the road.
Christmas is coming, and we don't plan to spend it alone in the mountains! For our first Holidays on the road, we want to gift ourselves a memorable and unusual Christmas. The choice is quickly made: we will spend Christmas in San Francisco!
5 commentaires
J’ai eu très froid dans ces paysages magnifiques qui valaient vraiment le coup !!!
Gros bisous.
Mamie.
27-12 à 13h.22
Quel dégoût cette fin de finale. Moi j’y croyais !!
Magnifique ce parc !! Il me semble que le film “La planète des singes” a été tourné dans cette foret de Séquoias. Quand César monte en haut du séquoia géant, il voit le Golden Gate ….
Je compatis, le camping dans le froid c’est pas top.
Hello ! La planète des singes, c’est plus du côté de San Francisco. On a failli y aller, mais trop de monde !
Hello!
Are there shuttles available withing the National park?
Hello! Yes, there are 2 free shuttles within the park, only in Yosemite Valle area. It was still there in December with lot of snow !