Yosemite camping

Just got back. We spent 2 nights in El Portal at Indian Flat then 3 nights in the Yosemite valley at Upper Pines. Wow. About 2 feet of snow in the campground at Upper Pines. No hookups and burned a lot of propane. What a great trip, about 25-28 degrees during the day until Friday when it rained and we left. My grey tank drained okay but I think I might have frozen a chunk of something in the black tank as it didn't drain. No problems with the fresh water tank but it has a little insulation. What a great time for us and the kids. The snow was like powder and in quite a few places it hung in the trees like flocking. I will try to attach pics.

I can see why persons who go to Yosemite in the winter skip visiting in the summer. Very uncrowded and the scenery is spectacular.

First trip w/ the Smary Jr. Loaded #2 towing and it handled great. Smooth power and makes towing more of a pleasure. Mileage averaged 10. 5 (hand calc)which is what I averaged before Smarty Jr. I drive about 60-65 usually on the highway and slow in the mountains. HOWEVER, to have the power (lots) and the same mileage is awesome.

One of our best trips ever. Even the dog had a good time. Quite a few people camping there. An interesting side note is about half of the trucks pulling campers were Dodges w/ the Cummins. The others were Chevys and hardly any Fords.

 

Thanks for posting those beautiful pics!! Now I'm going to really have to start planning a similar trip...



Regards,

Louis

 

Nice pics!! Did alot of camping in Yosemite when I was a kid... . Only during the summer! This was about 50 years ago and my Dad and mom had a 1958 Chevy NOMAD stationwagon with the 348 engine. Somehow they stuffed ALL our camping gear and us 4 boys in it and we tent camped for 2 weeks at a time.

Looks from the pics that you had a good time!

 

My apologies to the moderator. I was concentrating on attaching the pics and didn't realize this was not the camping/towing area.

Moderator: Please move this to the camping/towing if possible.

 

TBees,



Thank you for posting it in this section... I would have missed the towing section and therefore missed those great pictures. Please feel free to pm me as many as you wish. What amazing God country! I noticed you said, Dog. Where do you put the dog when you tow? We are contemplating getting a 5th wheel toy hauler and don't know where we'll put Momma, three kids and two dogs. I know, it's a blessing to have these type of problems. Drive safe and enjoy the "wild west".



David

 

David,

We have a 55 lb Australian Shepherd that rides in the middle of the front bench seat and a 95 lb wife that sits next to him. The dog lays down and stays put for hours, I wish the baby would do that. For the back seat, we have a 5 y/o in a car seat, a 2 y/o in a car seat in the middle and an 8 y/o.

Leather seats are fantastic because they don't collect dog hair and repel kid spills.

A megacab would be great but not in the cards right now.

I had video screens put into the headrests so the kids can watch movies. The DVD player is inside the center front armrest thingy and faces out to the kids in the back seat. Yes it tips vertical when the armrest is folded up. Works okay though.

I suppose the dog could ride in the 5th but he likes to be w/ us.

Hope that helps.

 

Good looking dog. I've got two 65 lb dogs so they won't sit at Momma's feet. Having the dogs in the 5th wheel is legal, but my dogs are extentions of my family. I wouldn't put my kids back there, why would I put my dogs? Maybe I just need to get over it and make everyone comfortable. Still pondering this problem.



Thanks,



David

 

Yosemite is the best in the winter we stayed there two years ago and have been several times in the fall and spring.



Never go in the summer... way too many dumb people. Best views were in the spring when the falls were going full tilt.