going up this weekend to Yosemite from Los angeles area. leaving Friday, coming back Monday. Leave mid day friday, so hope to make it there before sunset.
Was planing to stay at Lee Vining next to monolake over night. that way I can shoot Mono Lake on friday Night. would then maybe shoot some of the mammoth lakes sat morning or more of mono lake.
Possibly drive up to Bodie for half a day saturday, then take Tioga pass in to yosemite later saturday to hit sunset.
Never been to the reflection lake. would live to take some shots there. However, this would give me a only the full sunday, bit of saturday, and Monday morning to shoot.
Any suggestions of must shoot Iconic spots? My brother downloaded the iphone app for yosemite photography.
Also, any suggestions of cheap places to stay in Yosemite itself? Not looking for anything fancy.
I will be taking my 5d3, and ultrawide (16-35 II) probably my 24 TSEII, my 24-105, and may be the 70-200. will take a 10 stop nd.
thanks in advance for help.
kevindar wrote:
going up this weekend to Yosemite from Los angeles area. leaving Friday, coming back Monday. Leave mid day friday, so hope to make it there before sunset.
Was planing to stay at Lee Vining next to monolake over night. that way I can shoot Mono Lake on friday Night. would then maybe shoot some of the mammoth lakes sat morning or more of mono lake.
Possibly drive up to Bodie for half a day saturday, then take Tioga pass in to yosemite later saturday to hit sunset.
Never been to the reflection lake. would live to take some shots there. However, this would give me a only the full sunday, bit of saturday, and Monday morning to shoot.
Any suggestions of must shoot Iconic spots? My brother downloaded the iphone app for yosemite photography.
Also, any suggestions of cheap places to stay in Yosemite itself? Not looking for anything fancy.
I will be taking my 5d3, and ultrawide (16-35 II) probably my 24 TSEII, my 24-105, and may be the 70-200. will take a 10 stop nd.
thanks in advance for help. ...Show more →
That is a lot of ground to cover in just a few days! A few random thoughts...
If you have interesting skies, you can certainly shoot Mono in the evening - but Mono is east of the very tall Sierra crest and usually falls into shadow before the most interesting light arrives. To generalize, Mono is often more of a very early morning subject, especially for those who have not shot it before. You might consider that possibility on Saturday morning.
Not quite sure which "reflection lake" you are referring to. Is that the small lake just west of the Tioga summit that reflects Dana and Gibbs, or is it something else? Perhaps you are referring to the lake in The Valley?
If you are going to the Valley and have not shot there before, don't fear icons. They can be a fine place to start.
As for cheap places to stay in the Valley on a high season weekend... and, yes, it is now getting crowded there... your options are pretty limited if you don't already have reservations. You could try to get to Curry Village very early and get your name on a wait list in case any tent cabins become available. If you are willing to camp, a few last-minute sites can become available. Go to the campground reservation kiosk in the Valley near Curry as early as you possibly can to get your name on the wait list - as soon as they open. You'll have to come back at 3:00 to see if you made it.
There are more options outside of the Valley in surrounding towns, and you might be able to snag a site at some outside forest service campgrounds.
thanks Dan. NO reservations yet. I dont mind doing a little bit of driving. I have been to Yosemite before, last about 6 years ago.
thanks for the hints about monolake.
Must do locations:Tunnel View at Sunset. Probably the most "iconic" view of the valley yet the light is always different! Bring your polarizer.
For lodgings, try Yosemite View Lodge. It's outside the West Gate and gets you into the valley in the mornings and afternoons pretty quickly. Most workshops stay there cause it's close. Nothing is really cheap up there however.
interesting, but there were FAR more people at Tunnel during sunrise than sunset, when I was there in February. Perhaps that is because there were 2.6 million people lined up to shoot horsetail?
Dustin Gent wrote:
interesting, but there were FAR more people at Tunnel during sunrise than sunset, when I was there in February. Perhaps that is because there were 2.6 million people lined up to shoot horsetail?
Funny. One reason might be that a larger percentage of winter shooters might be "more serious photographers" who have a "been there, done that" attitude toward Tunnel View on all but the most exceptional evenings. :-)
Morning at Tunnel View is much more challenging than evening, but when it works it can be very special.
This is not a cheap time to stay near or in Yosemite.
Just checked Cedar Lodge, a few miles west of the hwy 140 entrance.
A room is $198/night. Yosemite View Lodge, closer in still, is over $250
Anything in park will be season high.
Mariposa rooms are cheaper, but probably season high too and its about 45 min from the park.
Tis why I only stay overnite in the off-season times or just make it a day run
There are campgrounds throughout the park and in forest service and some private areas outside the park. In the park you must "check in" and pay a fee that ranges up to $20/night, but which is lower outside the Valley in some less developed campgrounds. In Yosemite, in my experience, all campgrounds at least have pit toilets and most have flush toilets and running water.
If you want an actual shower - as opposed to a dip in an appropriate body of water, without soap, of course - you can get them in various places in the park. At Tuolumne Meadows (with some exceptions) you can pay a small fee and use the showers at the Tuolumne Lodge tent cabin camp during limited afternoon hours. There are pay showers in the Valley, but I can't say that I've used them. There are also some pay showers in surrounding areas, including Lee Vining.
In most cases you'll just take your own tent and other gear. (When I'm there primarily for photography and not other pleasures, I sometimes camp fairly primitively since I'm usually up before dawn and back well after dark. I did a quick overnight in the Valley recently and camped in a regular campground, but just slept in the back of my Subaru Outback.) Most campsites have picnic tables and fire pits and bear boxes in which to safely store your food.
There are "tent cabin" facilities at places such as Curry Village in the Valley, the housekeeping camp in the Valley, Tuolumne Lodge at Tuolumne. (Please note that Tuolumne facilities are NOT yet open for the season and I don't think they will open until some time in June this year.) If memory serves, the cheapest Curry tent cabins are about $90/night and are fairly spartan but decently comfortable, especially in the warmer months. (You can rent them in the winter, typically for half price, and freeze...) During the high season, assume that they are all booked, though there are some ways that you might still get in. More on that next...
During the high season, especially on Friday and Saturday nights, but on every night in the busiest times, expect that virtually all camp sites in the Valley will be taken or reserved. Sites will be very hard to find at popular places like Tuolumne. All of the tent cabins will likely be booked.
If you find yourself there and are willing to strategize a bit, you may still be able to get a campsite or tent cabin. The basic idea is that you go to the campground (or campsite reservation kiosk in the Valley) as early in the day as you possible can - perhaps be in line before they open. They will have a waiting list and they take names on a first come, first served basis. For campsites, at about 3:00 p.m. in the Valley they go down the list and if there have been cancellations and so forth they offer them in order to those who are present. Often not everyone gets satisfied, but those at the top of the list often do.
It has been a long time since I tried it, but I recall that something similar happens at Curry Village and perhaps at some of the other tent cabin facilities.
If all else fails - or if you just to want to go to all this trouble - once the season gets underway you may have better luck with non national forest campsites just outside the park - but later on these can even be full. (This time of year you might stand a better chance... but some of the forest service camps are not open yet.)
Sorry to hijack the thread, but I had a question about Yosemite lodging as well. Does anyone have any experience with the "custom camping" offered by Evergreen Lodge? Looks like an interesting option for those who'd like to "camp" but can't bring equipment for one reason or another (like out-of-state travelers). And is the Hetch Hetchy area of the park (which it's in) reasonably close to the valley and Tioga Pass?
Have a GREAT time at Yose (no matter where you are staying or with whom ) Remember to look up from the cam every now & then. I was there 2 yrs ago for 3 days & am going back this August for 7 whole days & staying in the park (it's only money) It is truly one of the world's most awesome places.
Shower when camping? Nah. OK, there are showers at both Curry Camp and the Housekeeping Camp, IIRC. Most of my recent trips have been in fall and at Wawona and the river was available - if needed. But one can't use soaps, shampoos, etc., in the rivers and any"portable" shower arrangement must also capture any water and not alone run-off to the ground. I wouldn't worry about it on a long weekend.
I tend to allow 6 hours for the drive from "Yosemite" to the Los Angeles area. Kind of depends on where you start/finish of course. Two hours to Bakersfield, two to Fresno and two to the valley. That allowed for a fairly casual, if not always legal, speed, some rest and eating stops, etc. Mapquest puts the L.A. to Lee Vining drive at just under 6 hours. I kind of like a couple of stops along the way so would likely take me longer. I'm not sure I'd back down to the Mammoth Lakes are as I think you'll have equally or more engaging landscape opportunities as you cross over Tioga.
While morning is calmer and seems to be more popular for Mono Lake, sunset isn't necessarily unpleasant. Especially if the clouds or weather cooperates.
I'm not sure what to suggest for camping if you can't make reservations - and some of the forest service campgrounds do make reservations, IIRC. There are a couple of campgrounds along the tioga road which are first come first serve but I might think that they'd fill up on weekends so taking time to catch Bodie before heading over the pass may make that rougher. If you cross over then try to find camping outside the west entrances, that can eat up a lot of time. However, the drive in from Mariposa isn't that bad if you can't get in closer or find something there. I'd burn up the internet now if it was me and I was trying to get a spot.
