Yosemite?

[Critter]

I have a trip planned mid-May to visit Yosemite area with my mom and 2 of her friends. We fly into SF, are renting a car and spending the first night at the John Muir lodge to see Sequoia/Kings Canyon…then head to Evergreen Cabins for 4 nights…then drop the car at SF and spend 3 nights on the wharf.

Any suggestions of must do things in the area? Friends would love a winery stop to be included in there! LOL

They haven’t opened any entrance reservations on the website yet. My mom has a senior national park pass…she can’t hike due to age/arthritis, so it will be more of a drive to key places and low impact walking trails. One of the other friends just got through chemo/radiation so she also is a bit limited in endurance/balance. So no major climbing…but a nice walk or maintained trail is okay.

I did already book the Alcatraz tickets for one of the SF days. I have the NPS app downloaded and we were going to follow some of the key sights. But I would still love feedback from anyone who has been there and has tips on navigating the area!

[findeight]

Bring a jacket out to Alcatraz…it is as cold as it is creepy even in mid summer. Mark Twain wrote “The coldest winter I ever suffered was August in San Francisco”. He is not wrong with that.

[Maythehorsebewithme]

I’m not sure, but check out if you can drive into Yosemite Valley without a reservation or permit to stay in the park. I thought they were keeping most cars out during daylight hours.

[Critter]

They are supposed to have timed reservations…but they’ve not updated the reservation system for spring yet. I check the website every few days to see if they’ve opened the reservations, but so far it just says “coming soon” and no idea of when it might be posted.

[Callista17]

I was in Oakland in Feb for work (I don’t recommend that​:smile:). We went to San Fran one Saturday. They had a nice farmer’s market on Saturday morning, but that is some walking. Then we took a trolley bus to Pier 39 and saw the sea lions- lots of fun! Very commercialized around there, but they had wooden benches you could sit on by the sea lions. Then we went to Ghirdelli…I wouldn’t recommend that. It was up a large hill and we expected tours/watching them make candy, but it was just a store & ice cream shop. BUT, near that was the cable cars. We loved them! $8 for a ride, but they dropped us off a random place and we took a bus back. San Fran had a lot of trolleys/buses- bring your $1 bills.

[Callista17]

I thought San Francisco was expensive for some things, but you could find reasonable things as well.

[applelover]

Check out Sonoma County for relatively affordable and fun wine tasting! In San Francisco, there is so much more than Pier 39/the wharf…go to Golden Gate Park and the DeYoung Museum, or the Mission District Precita Eyes Mural Tour, or the Academy of Sciences…pm me what you’re into and I can make recommendations

[awaywego]

@Callista17

They had a nice farmer’s market on Saturday morning,

Maybe the Ferry Building? That’s a good one.

Yosemite actually has a number of trails in the valley that are very accessible, including paved paths that you’ll see people pushing strollers and wheelchairs on. The main problem is that you are in the valley so hikes inevitably involve steep uphill sections. Look at Vernal Falls - I think the path to the footbridge is paved the whole way.

My understanding is that the NPS reseveration system is all a mess right now due to Fed funding cuts I hope it does not impact your trip too badly.

[Posting_Trot]

If you’re up for the drive out to Point Reyes (about an hour and a half from SF), it’s a beautiful national seashore and the town (Point Reyes Station) has some nice restaurants and several cute stores. Very low-key walkable.

Point Reyes National Seashore (U.S. National Park Service)