| Messages 1 - 16 of total 16 in this topic |
Rob_James
Ice climber
Aoraki/Mt. Cook Village, New Zealand
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Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 5, 2009 - 11:19pm PT
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I thought a low-down on the basics for first time visitors to the Yosemite Village logistics would be useful. These details/prices are for August 2009.
I’ll post the like for Staying in Chamonix, Arapiles, Squamish and a bunch of other neat spots in the future.
CAMP 4
It costs $5 per night per person. From 01 May till 01 October, you are only allowed a total of 7 nights in Camp 4 – consecutive or whether you come and go a couple times, it’s 7 nights maximum stay. Throughout the rest of the year, maximum stay is no-more-than 30 nights.
To guarantee a spot from May to October, you will need to be lining-up at the Camp 4 Rangers Kiosk from 05:30 in the morning. More often than not, it is booked-out before 10:30 in the morning. It takes the Rangers 5-10 minutes to process each camp booking. So if 6 people are ahead of you in the queue, expect a 30-60 min wait. You will need to provide photo identification to the Ranger – passport or drivers’ license. If you are with a group, ALL members of the group MUST be physically standing there next to you when you book your camp spot – this means you will NOT BE ALLOWED to book a camp space on behalf of friends that may be arriving later, be it in 5 mins or 6 hours.
If you have a car, the Ranger will ask for its’ registration number, and will give you a parking permit at no extra cost. You are not allowed to park your car in Camp 4 if you do not have a permit. Campsites are no more than 5 minutes walk from the car park.
You are not allowed to be in Camp 4 between 22:00 – 06:00 if you do not have a booking/registration.
6 campers are allocated to each ‘camp site’. Camp 4 has capacity for about 180 people. Each site will fit 6 tents. Each site has 3 or 4 steel bear proof storage lockers mounted to the ground. These lockers are roughly 2.0 meters X 1 meter X 1 meter. You are not allowed to put a padlock on the bear proof storage lockers.
Camp 4 has toilets that flush. 2 wheelchair accessible toilets. There are 3 male toilet cubicles, 3 urinals, 3 hand washing sinks. I presume the female toilet space is similar. The rangers provide toilet paper.
The water in camp does not need to be treated – it is safe to drink. There is a kitchen sized sink next to the toilets that supplies fresh cold water. You can empty dirty/grey water down this sink, but you are not allowed to wash your dishes at the sink.
3 public pay phones can be found at the Camp 4 car park.
Each campsite has a fire pit. Gas barbecues are not provided. You can buy firewood in the Village - unsure of the cost, you are not allowed to collect firewood from the surrounding woods.
There is a message board for your use attached to the Rangers kiosk.
Large industrial-sized bear-proof garbage bins are provided 2 mins walk from the camp sites.
Bears are a real issue near Camp 4. Currently, mum and 2 young-ones frequent the car park and garbage bin areas. Rangers walk through the camp constantly throughout the night – checking to ensure food is stored properly, that bears keep their safe distance. Rangers will also check every tent during the day to ensure it is registered to stay at the camp.
Camp 4 is:
5 minutes walk from Yosemite Lodge
1 hours walk (10 minutes drive, 20 minutes bicycle ride) from the base of El Capitan
30 minutes walk from Yosemite Village Store (Groceries, ATM machine, Post Office)
50 minutes walk from Curry Village (Mountaineering Store, Pizza Deck)
INTERNET
It costs $5.95 for 7 days of wireless internet at Yosemite Lodge. You can chill on their comfy chairs, and plug your laptop into the power-supply. They have coin-operated internet computers but these cost $15 per hour.
Computers with internet access are also available at Yosemite Village and Curry Village. But they also cost $15 per hour. Yosemite Lodge is the only place you can buy and receive wireless internet.
GROCERIES
You can buy groceries at the well stocked Yosemite Village Store. It has plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. Some price examples
1 kg Bananas $1.00
1 kg Apples $2.95
1 kg Watermelon 65 cents
1 kg Tomatoes $3.00
1 x 12oz bottle of Budweiser 95 cents
1 fresh cucumber $1.09
1 kg of ‘fresh’ red meat (t-bone etc..) $12.00 – meat can be very expensive
400g tin of peaches $1.35
500g pancake mix (just add water) $2.25
600ml Canola Oil $2.95
700g Cornflakes breakfast cereal $2.35
12 large fresh eggs $2.05
1.5kg pre-mixed fresh salad leaves (with shredded carrot) $1.79
500g Mozzarella cheese $2.09
600g baguette $3.69
1 liter Long life UHT Milk $2.00
TAKEAWAY FOOD
There is a very popular Pizza shop at Curry Village. The waiting line is heinous. During summer, you will wait 40 mins in the line before ordering, then about another 30 mins for your pizza.
The super large size pizza (feeds 2 pigs) but is only topped with Mozzarella cheese for $19.00. Extra toppings are $1.80 each – OUTRANCIER!
You can get a hamburger at Yosemite Lodge, Yosemite Village and Curry Village for $5.95 – around $8.00 if you also want fries and a can of coke. The burgers are about the standard cheeseburger size at McDonald’s – they don’t have much salad in them.
There is an all-you-can-eat buffet at Curry Village. Total scam. The food is served in proverbial troughs. Salad manky. Meat/the pork is sweaty for about $15.
GETTING AROUND
You cannot buy petrol in Yosemite. There are mechanics at the Village Store, but no gas for purchase.
100% Free shuttle buses run from 3 minutes walk from Camp 4 to Yosemite Lodge, Village Store, Visitor Centre, Curry Village, and Ahwahnee Hotel – from about 07:00 – 22:00 every 15 minutes.
In addition, during summer, a free bus picks-up at the visitors centre, drops you off at the base of El Capitan between 09:00 and 18:00. The buses and vast majority of people are super climber friendly – so load your gear-up and get around by bus. Use a bike (pretty good bike paths) where such is not possible.
YOSEMITE MOUNTAIN SHOP
The Yosemite Mountain Shop plays things honest. Prices are in line with the recommended retail price given by suppliers. Black Diamond cams cost the same as they do on the Black Diamond website. Gore-Tex Pro Shell jackets cost the same as they do on The North Face website.
It is very well stocked: Black Diamond, Metolius, Wild Country, DMM, The North Face, Marmot, La Sportiva, Mountain Hardwear, Patagonia – all the big brands.
Portaledges, tonnes of cams and biners, coils of rope, camping stoves and gas, freeze dried meals, fleece, waterproof jackets, climbing shoes, hiking boots – EVERYTHING you could need. At least as well appointed as any REI climbing shop I’ve seen. Bummer is they will not give you a discount no matter how much gear you purchase.
If you want your gear cheaper. Order thru backcountry.com .Order your gear to be posted ‘next day delivery’, and it will arrive in Yosemite Village by 14:00 on the next business day (Monday to Friday). If ordering via UPS or any other private courier, address such to
C/ - Administrative Services
Your name and that you are staying in Camp 4
Yosemite Village 94180
Administrative Services is where all couriers deliver to. It can be a difficult office to find at first, so ask staff at the Yosemite Village Store for the Administrative Services office (its 2 mins. walk). Note that the Admin Services staff are paid to look after valley staff, not you. So take them a beer to say thanks, and they’ll be happy to continue helping.
If your parcel is being sent through the standard United States Postal Service, your parcel will be sent to the Village Post office 5 mins walk from the Yosemite Village store. Ask around for friendly directions.
STAYING IN THE PARK ILLEGALLY
It is doable, and safe. Keep a low-profile for reciprocal respect, but do not try to sleep in your car at a car park, or in a designated campground for free. If you have the right spirit for the valley, you’ll figure it out.
Correction: For sending parcels to Yosemite, the zip code is 95389 NOT 94180
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
the ground up
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Thanks 'Geraldo' . . seeing as your living on pure stipends .
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Dapper Dan
climber
Menlo Park
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"Yosemite Lodge is the only place you can buy and receive wireless internet. "
Internet is free at the Ahwahnee. It is also free at the lodge if you ask nicely
Bro you forgot the beta on how to get in the pants of the the sexy south american DNC workers...
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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Times change and I understand the need for new rules. Still, reading all this made me sad for how things have changed and nostalgic for the days when anyone could show up and camp out in Camp 4. I'd rather have fewer amenities and less supervision myself.
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altieboo
Boulder climber
Livermore, Ca
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I wish I could have been a part of that time. I'll I've known is paying. Though I haven't done much of that.
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sanarteaga
Trad climber
Bogotá
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Hey ya... planning to go to Yos next May and have some logistics questions.
1. Where can you leave your stuff while on the walls? (ive heard there are some food lockers at curry village... but is there any other better option?)
2. If I reserve one week at pines campground, can I stay another week in camp 4?
3. What if I reserve one week at pines, then my partner reserves another week at pines, then we stay on week at camp 4?
cheers! thx
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Russ Walling
Gym climber
Poofter's Froth, Wyoming
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I would check on that shipping zip code.....
the Valley is 95389. The USPS has no record of 94180 that I could find.
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KitD
Trad climber
Vista, CA
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1. Where can you live your stuff while on the walls? (ive heard there are some food lockers at curry village... but is there any other better option?)
Food lockers in Curry are usually a good spot, as is the food lockers near the Zodiac pullout. If you need to leave tents/etc you can leave that in your car (make sure it doesn't look like food). If you don't have a car, maybe find some super trusting individual who can look after it for while you're gone?
2. If I reserve one week at pines campground, can I stay another week in camp 4?
My understanding is from 01may to 01october, the limit is 14 days IN THE PARK, with only Camp 4 having a single week limit. so you should be able to do this. October/early november is, in my opinion, the best time to climb! Stay the whole month!
3. What if I reserve one week at pines, then my partner reserves another week at pines, then we stay on week at camp 4?
This works, I have stayed in the pines several times with friends who made the reservations, and never once had to give my ID. So, there is no way for the park service to have checked to see that I was staying there.
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sanarteaga
Trad climber
Bogotá
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Thnx... I guess we'll reserve at different times at the pines and then look for peep to share the spot (its only two of us may to june 2010).
Thats kinda the issue... We wont have a car. Arent there any normal non-food lockers around?
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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The article should really be titled "Staying in Camp 4".
(Still a worthy topic, as many visiting climbers want to check out Camp 4).
There are other campgrounds as well. To use them, you have to make reservations on the website about 6 months in advance.
Other options are camping outside the park (fine if you are just up for the weekend), and going up on El Cap or some other wall and bivvying on the route.
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nutjob
climber
Berkeley, CA
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Tuolumne meadows campground... many first-come first-served spots. Show up well before 8am (6am?) to get a spot during popular days, then can stay through your intended duration without re-registering. If it's already full, you can also get your name on a waitlist and come back at 2pm to see if you got a spot. If they call your name and you're not there ~2pm, they immediately move to the next name on the list.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Close enough, with Russ' zip code cavaet.
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hooblie
climber
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usually, the details of an autopsy report are left out. it's enough to know that extreme measures were taken.
still the intervention was heroic, and as is customary in these cases, i offer the "beautiful corpse" remark.
it is sweet to see the children playing thru, unaware of the loss. nature's way
i remind myself that we were always managed, and this is only a matter of degree.
the spirit, as ever, resides in the hearts of the faithful
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scottpedition
climber
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Heard that Curry Village also has WiFi now... and that it's free until they figure out how to charge for it.
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| Messages 1 - 16 of total 16 in this topic |
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