Our little "adventure"...

To make a long story short, my wife, daughter and I, along with another family, took our motorhomes on vacation.  Most of you would say, "Yeah, so...", but keep in mind, we were venturing forth in a 31' Mini-Wini, that hadn't been used in a little over seven years.  It had been sittin' idle, in my driveway, with only minimal maintainence being done for all that time.

I'll refrain from boring you with the details, but luckily, the only "major" fixes that needed to be done were yankin' out the old microwave, puttin' in a new one and replacing all six tires.  The rest was catchin' up on all the delayed maintainence...

Our "break-in" journey took us from sunny Southern California to Yosemite National Forest, a round trip of a bit over 1,300 miles.  I don't know if we were the witless beneficiaries of dumb luck or what, but we made it with no break downs or snafus... our 2001 Mini didn't even hiccup once the entire trip.

We spent a week in the Yosemite high country, "dry camping" at Tuolumne Meadows Campground (a little under 10,000 ft).  Now, I'm not an experienced "motorhomer', in fact, I'm a "city-fied" bloke, so take my blathering over the beauty of Yosemite with a grain of salt, but I can honestly say, I didn't think places like this really existed.  "Awesome", a word I've come to detest, is the only word to describe what I saw... It's difficult to take it all in.  It's kinda like experiencing "nature overload"!

I'll quit blabbering and post up a few photos I took.  I snapped what seemed like "thousands", but won't make anyone suffer through the "family vacation photos" thing... I'll limit it to the four I like the best.

This is the Tioga Pass, or at least part of it...
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii36/honu_2008/Yosemite%202012/DSC_0600copy.jpg

These are a couple from the river next to the campsite...
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii36/honu_2008/Yosemite%202012/DSC_0568copy.jpg
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii36/honu_2008/Yosemite%202012/DSC_0578copy.jpg

And the last, I promise, is one taken by my beautiful bride, as we were headin' home on 395, south of Lone Pine...
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii36/honu_2008/Yosemite%202012/DSC_0621copy.jpg

Hope you enjoy them as much as I do...

Staff edit: Make links live

Wow! Nice! I wish we would have made it out there this year! Nice pictures.

-Roni

Thanks for the shots.  We do need a new word that is above "Awesome".  These are "double awesome."  I don't know how many times in our travels we have found places we didn't know existed.  Keep traveling and you will find many more.

We visited Yosemite for the first time last year and the views were absolutely amazing. We are going there again in September to spend a weekend for the first time in our new MH. It's nice that it is only about four hours away from us so I plan to spend a little more time there this time to enjoy the comfort of the waterfalls.

Thanks for sharing the photos.

Josh

Where we stayed, Tuolumne Meadows, is quite some distance from "the Valley" and as a consequence, it was a little less crowded, except over the weekend.  It's also at a much higher altitude, so those with respiratory issues might take that into consideration.  In addition, there's little "development", so you'll find no restaurants and/or snack shops around.  There is a tent store nearby that has a small grill serving a limited menu of burgers and that sort of thing...

One day, we took a trip down, into Yosemite Valley, where the most recognizable sites are.  It was more crowded, but the sights, Half Dome... Bridal Veil Falls... El Capitan, more than made up for the additional folks... plus, it was interesting to see and hear the reactions of people from other countries, as they took it all in.  I met a couple and their family from Switzerland who said the Alps couldn't hold a candle to Yosemite for beauty!

This was our first visit to the park, but certainly not our last... this trip just whet our appetite for more.

As probably most folks know, to my knowledge, there are no full hook ups... or hook ups at all... within Yosemite proper, it's all boon-docking.  In Tuolumne, there's a dump station with fresh, potable water, within a mile or so of the campground. 

Reservations go fast.... really fast, so it's best to reserve a site 6 months in advance (the soonest it can be done). 

I've probably just rambled on, stating the plainly obvious, common knowledge, but just in case you're like me and haven't visited Yosemite, I thought my limited info might be of some help.

It's been a few years since we were there, but I immediately recognized Tuolomne Meadows. Attached is one of my photos.

Winter changes Yosemite and it takes on a whole new character when covered in snow; Well worth a visit at that time of year.

Nice photo Tom. We were in the desert for so long; water looks so nice!

-Roni

tstumpf said:

Nice photo Tom. We were in the desert for so long; water looks so nice!

-Roni

Click to expand...

So true. We treasure every moment we can get out of the desert to be around water. Water is just one of those things we tend to miss in the browness of the deserts.

I thought I read something a while back stating that you can drycamp for free in National Parks as long as you pull off the road a certain distance, is this true or just a myth? If this is true, are there any locations close to the Valley of Yosemite?

Josh

mojavesky13 said:

I thought I read something a while back stating that you can drycamp for free in National Parks as long as you pull off the road a certain distance, is this true or just a myth? If this is true, are there any locations close to the Valley of Yosemite?

Josh

Click to expand...

We paid $20.00 for a week pass that allowed entry to the park.  We "dry camped" in Yosemite and paid seperately for the site.  It's my understanding that camping outside of the established campgrounds is frowned upon, in the extreme.  That may be in this particular park... or I could be completely wrong, but we saw no one set up, outside the campgrounds.  I did see one vehicle wander off the road, into a meadow... the rangers were all over the guy within minutes and he didn't look to happy.

Wilderness permits are required, and must be purchased, even for those backpacking into the back country.

National PARKS are different from national FORESTS. (Yosemite is a national park) You generally can only camp in designated camping areas within national PARKS like Yosemite, Gand Canyon, etc. National FORESTS used to allow camping anywhere outside of recreation areas, although congress changed that recently and now all national forests have very specific zones that are open for camping - all the rest of the forest lands outside these zones are closed to camping. In many national forests this new policy is probably not enforced yet, and my never be - it is just way too expensive to enforce and kind of unrealistic to begin with. Where I live in Arkansas there are thousands and thousands of spots where deer hunters have camped for generations, and I have a feeling that will continue. But it really depends on the local forest service folks where you are at if they enforce this or not. So when in a national PARK, you should stick to designated campgrounds. When in a national FOREST, you are going to have a much easier time of boondocking.

Tim Ernst in Arkansas (I've worked for the forest service since 1973, I live within a national forest, and have a national park just 1/2 mile away)