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Yosemite Reccomendations
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My climbing partner and my self are traveling from New Zealand to San Francisco in early August. We've planned to spend a week in Yosemite Valley and are keen to climb as much as possibly. We both climb at around 5.9-5.11 comfortably, but it's hard to know how this will translate among North American granite :) Keen to hear any suggestions on climbs, hikes, camping spots and anything and everything in between. We're absolutely frothing........ to the detriment of our studies haha Have you or a friend been in a similar situation? What did you get up to? Yew! |
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Route wise, your grade range will give you a ton of options. (Pending those are trad, not sport grades) Just use the route finder. The main problem here is that in August, the valley is an absolute oven. I once climbed Nutcracker at midnight, in 80° heat in August. If you have a car, definitely head up to Tuolomne. Definitely climb Oz and the Gram Traverse. |
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Like Max said, the Valley is an oven in August. Expect temperatures of 90-100 degrees Fahrenheit / 32-38 degrees Celsius. Climbs worth doing in the Valley include Braille Book (5.8, 6 pitches) and the NE Buttress of Higher Cathedral Rock (5.9, 11 pitches). There are many, many more, but those two are very much worth doing. Tuolumne Meadows is about 4000 ft / 1200 meters higher in elevation than the Valley, and correspondingly cooler. If you can't get a spot in the main campground, there are some excellent campgrounds east of the Tioga Pass entrance to the park. Be warned that campsites (and accommodation of any kind) are hard to come by in Yosemite in summer. Campsites in NPS and USFS campgrounds become reservable 6 months ahead of your planned stay, and they sell out very quickly. Oz and Gram Traverse are every bit as good as Max R says they are. |
mark felber wrote: One Tuolumne complication this year is the Tuolumne campground is closed for renovations. So if visiting Tuolumne you'll need to camp at the Forest Service campgrounds outside the east entrance (ie east of Tioga Pass). Many of these are first come first served (no reservations allowed). This is good for your situation. Show up on a weekday for best chances of getting a site. At this point your chances of getting a Yosemite Valley campsite for a one week stay in August are also pretty much zero. Those all got booked months ago. You can sometimes get a few nights here and there from cancelled reservations, but that's spotty. And as other have said, it's an oven in the Valley in August. You'll also need to get day-entry reservations to get into the park if you are camping outside the park. These are plentiful and easy to get. As you can tell from comments here, Yosemite is a bit of a logistical mess to visit during the summer tourist season since it is such a popular tourist destination and camping is limited. Long story short, your best bet is to camp in one of the Forest Service campgrounds just east of Tioga Pass, and climb in Tuolumne. This would be an awesome trip. Tuolumne is magical. |
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https://www.mountainproject.com/area/classics/105833384/tuolumne-meadows I would start with West Country (5.7) to ease into the Sierra granite (save yourself some trouble and walk off the descent). If you feel good and you're comfortable on runout terrain, try South Crack (5.8R) next. Then West Crack 5.9 (and Blown Away while you're at it). Then take a day to do Fairview Dome's regular route (5.9). All of the above will be crowded. So far so good, move on up to some 5.10's like crying time again and Direct Northwest Face on Lembert, Bombs over Tokyo, maybe Lucky Streaks and OZ. I would suggest that 5.10d at 8000 feet is not to be underestimated for first-timers. If there's a cold streak you might be able to do some north-facing climbs in the valley, like in the Cathedrals. The climbing in the valley is better overall than Tuolumne, but I personally love the high country setting. |
JCM wrote: https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/faq.htm Apparently you can drive in before 6 AM without a reservation. Drive in early, cook and eat breakfast in one of the roadside turnouts, and get on with a day of climbing. Yosemite has been a bit of a logistical mess to visit in summer for years. It seems to have evolved into a complete nightmare. Great place to climb, though. |
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As mentioned the valley is hot in August. However it's Yosemite Valley and must be experienced. The way to do it is get up at 4 AM or so, do the approach in the dark. And be on the climb as soon as it's light enough to see (around 5:30 AM) You'll have about 2-3 hours before it gets warm. So you'll want to pick climbs you can do in that length of time. Then spend most of your time on Tuolumne. Fairview Dome Regular Route is a must do. And since you're used to getting up so early you may have a chance of beating the crowds haha. |
Jack Evans wrote: Are you renting a car in SF or do you think you are going to manage by public transportation? What is your total travel time (e.g. are you planning to climb for weeks, other places, but have budgeted 1 week for the Valley)? I know Yosemite Valley has these mythical connotations, and it's wonderful, but IMHO it's not worth spending a week there that time of year. Go there for a day or two to see it and do some select routes. As others have said, way too hot. Tuolumne Meadows is logistically easier, because of the many options for camping and eating on the east side of the Park entrance, the climbing is wonderful, the hiking is wonderful, the lakes for swimming are great, and the temps will be much better. |
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Doubling down on a river day. One of the best non-climbing activities I’ve done in the valley is taking inner tubes with my friend and going down the Merced River. Pre-Covid, there was a shuttle that would pick you up at the end and take you back to the start upstream- my buddy and I did it three times in a day. Best way to see the whole valley. Plus if you have a dry bag, you can fill it with beers and tie it to your inner tube and let it float with you- the river is nature’s cooler! |
phylp phylp wrote: Heya, We have a car that we'll be driving from San Fran in so should be pretty flexible with were we stay once we arrive i.e. if we did want to head to Tuolumne Meadows instead of Yosemite Valley. Sounds like that's probably gonna be the move to be honest haha. 30-32degrees (Celsius) sounds interesting. I'm sure it'll add to the adventure! |
Jack Evans wrote:  So glad you will have a car. It gives you so much more flexibility. As a gesture of international good will, I will gift you this old guidebook, if you are interested (I have a newer version). It's from 1983 but contains many of the classic routes in the Meadows. Having the physical thing makes it so much easier to orient physically and for finding climbs when you are using the MP app as a supplement for all the new routes. I've had a party walk up to me, who were using only MP to orient, looking for a route that was on a completely different dome, that they had missed finding. I have a couple of old Valley guidebooks but those are worth their weight in gold right now, so I'm hanging on to them. If you want me to mail the Tuolumne guide, click on my profile and send me a PM thru the "send a message" button. |
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If you stay in Tuolumne ,you can approach some good North Dome routes from the Porcupine Creek Trailhead on Hwy.120. Crest Jewel is a treasure if you start very early.. |
Pro tip - its Oz as in ounce (of pot), not Oz as in Wizard of.... |
Cherokee Nunes wrote: Well, it IS on Drug Dome after all! |
Cherokee Nunes wrote: This seems to be a point of dispute - I've heard both pronunciations fly around the meadows, and this guy in the comments says it was [Wizard of] "Oz" back in the 80s  |
Cherokee Nunes wrote: I always thought the same too, until a climber I know (Karl R), who was around when it was put up, told me otherwise. Some people who would know on the MP page for the route also confirming the original name was the Wizard pronunciation. |
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Very cool, my pro tip is crushed and I stand corrected. Thanks gents! I don't like to be wrong so I appreciate the correction. |
Cherokee Nunes wrote: Either way, the Oz (ounce) pronunciation is good chat! |
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For a trip that big, try and stick to multipitch options as much as you can. Besides above recommendations, I love american wet dream, hoodwink/sting, crescent arch, Phobos/diemos cliff for various options, and third pillar of dana (fun alpine day with a hike) for easy 5.10 days. Climb eichorn pinnacle too, maybe with Matthes crest for pretty views. Oz and lucky streaks for harder 5.10, maybe also one of the 5.10 climbs on Mariloumne dome above Oz if you still have any water to drink after Oz and gram . Sorcerer's apprentice on Fairview at 11a if you feel comfortable on the runout climbing in general. I don't know much about harder 5.11 multipitch routes. Dike route on pywiack for a proper, yet safe, scare. Don't worry, you won't fall. The Yawn for back scabs and a good laugh about "5.7 hands". Bring a set of offset nuts, and maybe a couple finger sized offset cams, in addition to regular nuts/cams. Really, really nice when you need them and it's your only pro for awhile. Runout tamers. |
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Jack check your spam folder if you don’t see 2 emails from me. |
