Camping near Yosemite Nat'nl Park

Fish Camp, CA – Again this will be delayed until we have an internet connection. We are at Summerdale, a National Forest Campground 1.5 miles North of Fish Camp CA on Hwy 41. There are only 30 sites here and very few that will fit a 30 foot RV. In fact only 5 sites accommodate rigs of that size. The roads are too narrow for a large fifth wheel such as ours to make the turns with out the wheels going up on the black top burm. I hate doing that as the tires are not made to take that side stress.

We spent Sunday afternoon and overnight with our friends Ron and Becky at their home in Nipomo, CA. Friends Jan and Tom came for dinner. We had not seen them for at least a year so did a lot of catching up.

We arrived here on Monday which was a day earlier than our reservations called for, just hoping that we could get in. As we turned into the campground road the hosts were cleaning the road and informed us that the campground would not open until the next day as snow had blocked the road into the campground until now. They however were nice enough to let us in as we had reservations for the next day. We did have snow on the road and along the edge of the campground. The temperatures were quite low and dipped to 30 degrees Monday night. At almost 6000 foot elevation, summer comes late here in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. None of the cottonwood trees in the campground have any leaves yet.

Ron, Clyda, and Becky at campsite with snow in the background.



On Tuesday we drove to Oakhurst for groceries and waited for our friends Al and Dotty to arrive.

Wednesday we drove to Yosemite and visited and hiked the Mariposa grove of big Sequoia trees. We picnicked in the park and then hiked some of the trails.

Giant Seqouias at Mariposa Grove.



Thursday we drove down to the valley floor in Yosemite and used the tram for transportation to and from different sites. The waterfalls are AWSOME this time of year with cascading water everywhere, especially Yosemite Falls. You can hear its thunder over most of the valley. We hiked to Mirror Lake and stopped at the Visitor Center.

Yosemite Falls.



Friday we drove to Glacier Point, high above the Eastern rim of the valley for spectacular views of the valley floor and the back country. We had planned to hike here but all the trails are still closed because of snow. Even the parking lots still had snow in places. Glacier Point is 7200 feet in altitude. We stopped at Badger Pass Ski area which we all agreed had not changed in 35 years. Rather dowdy.

Glacier Point with Half Dome in the background.



We stopped at Wawona for ice cream and viewed the pioneer village nearby. We had never stopped here before and all of the old log cabins were quite interesting. After a stop at the Wawona hotel, which is old world and pricey we returned to camp.

Wells Fargo building at Wawona.



Saturday was a kick-back day. We sat and talked, the ladies played Mexican Train and we rested. Late in the day we drove to Tenya Lodge nearby for a drink in the Jackalopes Bar before returning to camp for a late dinner.