California Adventure - Intro and Planning

When Easton was 17 months old, we took him to Yosemite for a 6-night camping trip.  To date, it is one of our most memorable family vacations.  We drove, biked, and hiked all over the Valley floor for that week in 2013.  Chris lugged him up to Vernal Falls in the hiking pack.  I can still hear the sound of his giggle as the mist from the Falls peppered his face.  We waded through Mirror Lake   We threw sticks and rocks in the Merced River.  All the while, Half Dome loomed in the distance, calling to me.  May 2013 just wasn’t my time.  Not the right season of my life.  Years passed by.  We had another baby, then we moved out of state, but she was always there, floating around in the back of my mind….

On Sentinel Dome, May 2013... Half Dome in the distance 

As 2017 was coming to a close, I mentioned to Chris that I had been thinking about it more and more.  The time was right.  I wanted to find a way to make it happen during the 2018 season.  He suggested we ask his mom to watch the kids for a few days so we could make the hike.  Grandma agreed and I went to planning.   

Before anything could happen, I knew we needed a permit.  I researched the process on the Park website and looked at the statistical data provided on the website.  The cables are usually up shortly before Memorial Day and come down around Columbus Day.  Chances of winning the lottery are higher on weekdays early in the season and late in the season.  The waterfalls in Yosemite are most spectacular in the spring and early summer, but I didn’t want to go too early in the season.  If you only plan to go to Yosemite once in your life, go in the spring.  Yosemite Falls, one of the world's tallest, dries up by mid-summer.  Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls thunder in the spring, especially after a winter with heavy snowfall, but shrink significantly by late summer.  But we weren’t coming for the waterfalls.  We were coming for Half Dome.  Not only did we need the highest probability of being successful in the lottery, we needed the highest probability of completing the hike.  Weather conditions can cause a delay in getting the cables up.  While thunderstorms can roll in unexpectedly any of time year, there is more rain in the spring.  If it has rained, the granite can be extremely slick, making it dangerous to attempt the cables.  Deaths have occurred when hikers have slipped off the cables and many of those incidents involve rain.  Now that I had eliminated spring and early summer due to the possibility that the cables might not be up and the higher probability of unfavorable weather, I started looking at dates late in the season.  I decided that early September was best, even though chances of getting a permit are better the closer you get to October.  The cables are usually up until Columbus Day, but I didn’t’ want to risk a freak snowstorm that would cause the cables to come down early.  We settled on the Wednesday after Labor Day.

We entered both lotteries, the day hikers’ and the backpackers’ lottery.  They are two entirely different processes.  The day hikers’ lottery is one big pool for the entire season.  Everyone submits their permit application with their preferred and alternate dates during the month of March and notification is given in mid-April.  The backpacker’s lottery is entered into 168 days before the day you want your overnight wilderness permit.  I entered the day hikers’ permit for September 5 and the backpackers for September 4, with the intent of making the summit on September 5.  I was unsuccessful the first time in the backpacker’s lottery.  I re-entered the following day.  Success!  We knew we were going.  A few weeks later, we were notified that we had won the day hikers’ lottery for September 5.  We now had a choice.  How lucky were we?  I’ve known people who have made multiple attempts at the lottery before getting a permit.  But we couldn’t climb it twice and you aren’t allowed to give them away (or sell them), so a choice had to be made.     

We ultimately decided to go with the backpacker’s permit.  Approximately 225 day hikers take to the trail everyday, while there are only 75 permits given to backpackers.  We wanted a jump on all the day hikers.  The backpackers’ permit meant we could hike up the Mist Trail to Little Yosemite Valley, the backpackers’ camp, on September 5.  We would camp for the night then wake up at 0-dark-thirty on September 6 to hike the remaining 3.5 miles to the summit and be there by daybreak, before many of the day hikers had even started their hike.  That was the plan and that’s what we did.  (More on that in my full trip report for September 6.  For now, we’re just talking plans). 

Now that we had dates and we had childcare, it was time to plan the rest of the trip.  We do a lot of camping  and we aren't afraid to rough it, but we also like to treat ourselves every now and then.  I normally like to rough it during the first part of a trip and top off a trip with a bit of luxury, but this time, I decided to do it in the reverse.  From a practical standpoint, I wasn’t sure how we’d be feeling after the hike.  It’s a strenuous hike, widely thought to be one of the toughest day hikes in any national park.  If one of us had gotten hurt or if we were feeling extra broke off, we wouldn’t feel up for a jaunt through wine country or a walk around hilly San Francisco.  Moreover, Half Dome was the reason for the entire trip and I wanted it to be the climax of our week.  So with a hike on September 6, our flight back would be on September 7.  We didn’t want grandma to have to keep the kids too long, so we opted for a flight in on September 3.  That gave us a couple of days to fill  This is the fun part for me.  What to do on those days?  There were a lot of options to choose from.  We could have flown into numerous airports or even in one and out of another for a little road trip.  San Francisco, Napa, Tahoe, even a trip down to Paso Robles or Sequoia were possibilities.  Ultimately, I decided to minimize our time spent in the car.  I booked us round-trip flights from MEM to OAK.  Both of us have been to San Francisco numerous times, so we almost skipped it, but decided to go into the city for a night, for old times' sake.  September is harvest season in wine country, so we scheduled a wine tour on the way to Yosemite.  I’ll lay out our daily itinerary, lodging, dining, and activities in future posts.  Thanks for reading.  Stay tuned for Day 1:  MEM to OAK with an overnight in San Francisco.

Amanda is the owner of Travel Adventures by Amanda, powered by Dream Vacations, specializing in cruises, tours, treks, and custom independent travel adventures for individuals, families, and groups.  For help planning your next adventure, contact Amanda at (901) 901-800-6091 or abiggerstaff@dreamvacations.com.