We spent a quick few days visiting Yosemite National Park in the winter of 2019. It was one of our more, er, interesting trips. From a very rough ascent from the airport, to hikes in the snow, to us completely missing the Firefalls due to our own incompetence – read on for what to do and what not do to when planning a trip to Yosemite in February!
I’m not gonna lie, this was one of the worst starts to a trip I ever experienced. I woke up with what I was hoping was a mild case of food poisoning that would quickly pass. No luck. While it was only two short plane trips from Denver to Fresno, for the first time in my life I can say I was honestly regretting not just staying home and eating the cost of my half of the vacation.
Things didn’t improve once we got our rental SUV and headed up into the mountains. Three things to take note of when driving from one of the airports into Yosemite in the winter:
- Just because you rented an SUV with four/all-wheel drive, doesn’t mean you’ll get one. We ended up with a two-wheel drive SUV, and didn’t realize it until we were halfway to our destination when we stopped to put on our tire chains.
- Tire chains are a necessity – both because the roads really can be that bad, and because it’s the law. There are turn-offs along the mountain passes where you will not be able to pass law enforcement check-points without them. So add in time to your routine to buy a set that fits your rental vehicle before leaving town. (And no, most places won’t let you return them unless they’re not used.)
- Lastly, some roads are better than others – we chose the shortest route from the airport, but it turns out we would have been much better off to take the slightly longer road that didn’t go up nearly as much into the mountains. Elevation change definitely matters here!
In spite of some of the travel issues I ran into personally as well as what we experienced as a group, the scenery along the way was stunning and varied as we climbed. The weather near Fresno was incredibly warm, but dropped steadily as we headed north.
Once we got our chains attached and put our most experienced mountain driver (my husband’s colleague, who crushes 14’ers back in Colorado before she eats breakfast, thankfully took over) at the wheel, it was quite a beautiful ride into the park.
The next day, I took advantage of the sunny weather that followed the fresh snow and head out to hike the Lower Yosemite Falls trail. This is an easy route with quick rewards of the falls.
On the next day with good weather, I headed out to visit the museum and Ansel Adams photo gallery, followed by a hike on part of the Yosemite Valley Loop Trail. This trail has a few spots of unsure footing, so I’d recommend good footwear or even spikes if you have them.
In the evening, it was time for the arguably most important dates to visit Yosemite: the Firefalls. One day each year, the fading light of the sunset hits one of the waterfalls in such a way that it looks like liquid, glowing gold pouring off the cliff. We headed down the road for a good spot to see the falls, and waited, and…nothing. The sunlight turned a pretty shade of peach, and that was it. Disgruntled, we headed back to the restaurant where we ran into some colleagues. Turns out we went too far down the road and should have stayed back at a sharper angle! Long story short – if you’re visiting Yosemite to see the Firefalls, make sure you ask the locals where to go!
Enjoying my “Looking Back” series? Over the past few years, my love for both hiking and traveling has increased almost exponentially, and I’ve been fortunate to have had so many opportunities to travel recently. With the current health crisis, our travel plans for 2020 were scuttled; so I decided I’d take some time over the next few months to write this “Looking Back” series, where I dive into a recap of some of my favorite trips over the last few years. Click the navigation below to read more.