Archive for the 'Yosemite National Park' Category
Enjoy a free day at national parks, forests on Veterans Day, Nov. 11
November 4, 2009 8:52am
Next week, national parks and forests will waive entrance fees for one day, Wednesday, Nov. 11, to honor servicemen and women. Unlike past years, when only U.S. veterans, active members of the U.S. armed forces and their families got a free pass, this year’s Veterans Day observance will allow everyone in for free, according to a news release Tuesday, Nov. 3, from the U.S. Department of the Interior.
If the deal otherwise works like it did in past years, you’ll still owe fees for camping, permits and other activities. But you can save a lot anyway because some popular parks, including California’s Yosemite National Park, normally charge entrance fees of $20 or so per car.
The Interior Department earlier this year expanded the number of free days on federal lands, offering three fee-free weekends over the summer. At that time, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar noted that parks provide affordable family vacations “during these tough economic times.”
Yosemite National Park travel: $99 fall cabin deal at Evergreen Lodge
October 8, 2009 5:54am
Does the PBS Ken Burns series “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea” have you itching for a hike in Yosemite? Do you want to see the valley at sunset or sit by the fireplace at the Ahwahnee before it closes for a big remodel? If you answered yes, or were already researching a trip to Yosemite, check out this fall deal from Evergreen Lodge brought to you by Hotwire’s Travel-Ticker.
The lodge has a history dating back to 1921, but the property was renovated and expanded in 2005. This summer they added 24 more cedar cabins spread out among towering old growth trees. Valued for its serene location about a mile outside the park’s northwestern side, near the Hetch Hetchy entrance, it offers numerous outdoor activities. Or you can just relax with the family during a night of s’mores at the Plaza fireplace.
‘National Parks’: Screenings, events and travel deals related to the Ken Burns documentary
September 25, 2009 2:26pm
On Sunday, the new Ken Burns documentary “National Parks: America’s Best Idea” will begin its 12-hour trek (in two-hour segments) through the wilds of American living rooms, coloring TV screens everywhere with the sights and ’scapes of our public lands.
The documentary may have — even before you’ve set eyes upon it — gotten you itching to visit a national park. And that’s likely just fine with Burns. As Times writer Mary McNamara put it in her review of the “gorgeous and exhaustive” film: “The main goal of Burns and his co-creator Dayton Duncan appears to be launching people off their backsides and into the wilderness.”
At the more popular parks, you may want to prepare for lots of company on the trail. But thankfully, since the U.S. is home to 391 national parks, there should be enough love to go around. Below are details to plan a viewing — or better yet, an inspired trip, so you can see for yourself what all the fuss is about.
Where & when to see it
The documentary will start airing on PBS on Sunday at 8 p.m.
And there are plenty of opportunities to see portions of it out and about. Read the rest of this entry »
Help clean up Yosemite National Park during ‘Yosemite Facelift,’ Sept. 23-27
September 21, 2009 1:39pm
Among the wild creatures roaming the trails and roadways of Yosemite National Park are a whole bunch of litterbugs, unfortunately. And in 2008, volunteers with the annual “Yosemite Facelift” cleanup event proved it, by helping in the picking up of 41,631 pounds of trash.
Following the crowds of summer, you can bet there is refuse aplenty to fetch from nature this year too. To assist in their intensive park-cleanup efforts, the Yosemite Climbing Assn. invites you, to lend a hand in the “Yosemite Facelift” on Sept. 23-27.
The areas of planned coverage include the park’s roadways, river corridor, trails, parking areas, campgrounds, climbing areas and lodging areas.
For your time and energy, you’ll get not only the satisfaction of helping to keep this national treasure clean, but you’ll also receive free park admission and possibly a free campsite (details below). Read the rest of this entry »
Yosemite: Ahwahnee Hotel deals this fall and winter starting at $210 per night
September 8, 2009 9:11am
The Ahwahnee Hotel, a treasure within the Yosemite Valley, and recently in the news for both a short closure due to a rockfall into its parking lot and an upcoming top-to-bottom renovation that is expected to take years, has a website that shows specific dates when lower rates are available through the end of the year. If you are considering a trip up to Yosemite National Park this fall or winter, have a look at the calendar. Many guests rave about the unbeatable location and views, but online reviews show many also feel that the rooms are outdated and overpriced at $450 per night and above. During the slower fall and winter season, discounted rates start as low as $209 per night in December.
Cheaper nights: The cheapest nights listed on the calendar were Dec. 6 and Dec. 8-10 midweek for $209 per night when I tested the deal with the reservation calendar. I did find standard rooms within the historic hotel and “cottage standard rooms” located outside the hotel starting at $210 just for the room. There were classic rooms starting at $250 and bed-and-breakfast packages in classic rooms or cottage rooms starting at $305 per night.
Ansel Adams exhibit to open in San Jose
September 1, 2009 5:58am
An exhibition of work by legendary photographer Ansel Adams, who captured America’s wild beauty on black-and-white film, will open Saturday, Sept. 5, at the San Jose Museum of Art. The museum is the only West Coast stop for this nationally touring exhibition of 50 vintage photographs by Adams.
The show, “Ansel Adams Early Works,” will run through Feb. 28. Photographs are dated from the 1920s to the ‘50s; most are drawn from private collections.
Adams (1902-1984) is known for his iconic images of the American West. He began his frequent pilgrimages from his San Francisco home to California’s Yosemite National Park in 1916; he eventually spent a decade living and working there.
Though many museum visitors are familiar with the large, glossy photographs that Adams printed to order in the 1970s and ’80s, some may not be aware of the warm, richly toned photographs from his earlier years.
Included in the show is a recently discovered 1938 print of “Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite Valley, California,” the earliest known print of Adams’ most celebrated Yosemite view. Also included are “El Capitan” (ca. 1923)” “Monolith: the Face of Half Dome” (1927), and “Yosemite from Inspiration Point, Summer” (ca. 1936).
The San Jose Museum of Art, 110 S. Market St., is open Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., (408) 294-2787.
—Rosemary McClure, Special to The Times
Photo: Ansel Adams, Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite Valley, California, 1938, Credit: Courtesy of art2art Circulating Exhibitions. ©2009 The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust
Yosemite’s Ahwahnee Hotel set to reopen at 4 p.m. Friday after rockfall
August 27, 2009 3:48pm
The landmark Ahwahnee Hotel in California’s Yosemite National Park, which was shut down Wednesday, Aug. 26, after a rockfall showered debris on its parking lot, is expected to reopen at 4 p.m. Friday, park officials said this afternoon. Although no one was injured in the incident, they said, hotel guests were evacuated as a safety measure.
Park spokeswoman Kari Cobb said the reopening time was based on the advice of geologists who examined the site. The time could be changed should there be more rockfalls.
“The last rockfall activity occurred around 4 p.m yesterday,” Cobb said. “Typically, if there’s going to be more activity on the same spot, it generally occurs within 24 hours after the first occurrence. As a precaution, we expanded the caution to 48 hours.”
Yosemite: Lodge-booking tips for last-minute planners
July 29, 2009 2:00pm
You can’t let a whole summer go by without visiting Yosemite, can you? In-park lodging at one of America’s favorite national parks tends to fill up quickly and early, with many visitors booking their stays up to a year and a day ahead.
But for those of you who haven’t planned ahead, is a summer stay in a Yosemite cabin or ready-made canvas tent merely a pipe dream? Not at all. The majority of accommodations run by park concessionaire DNC Parks & Resorts have been sold out this summer, for weekend stays especially, according Kenny Karst, DNC’s public relations manager. But here are some tips to help get you experiencing Yosemite without having to search for your bag of tent stakes:
Book for late summer: If you can spare a few days midweek in the late summer, you may be set. I’m seeing availability in late August and throughout September at Curry Village in Yosemite Valley, as well as at the Wawona Hotel, the park’s oldest hotel, sitting stately about 27 miles from the Valley.
Midweek, late-summer stays of three consecutive nights at the aforementioned, among others, are being promoted via a current special by DNC Parks & Resorts. Read the rest of this entry »
Plan for Perseid meteor shower 2009: Prime spots and camp-outs in California
July 22, 2009 12:31pm
Move over, total solar eclipse (we might have asked more politely if you’d bothered at all with the Western Hemisphere). The glitzy Perseid meteor shower is coming to town. The annual sky-showering event starts in late July and goes into August, with the peak this year expected Aug. 12, according to Sky & Telescope magazine. On this date, we can expect as many as 60 meteors streaking the sky per hour.
Where to Go
Now, you don’t want to be among sorry masses squinting at the fuzzy L.A. skies for this galactic event, do you? For some excursion ideas, see The Times’ photo gallery of top viewing spots in Southern California, like Joshua Tree National Park, Red Rock Canyon State Park, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and Yosemite National Park.
Get yourself a campsite in or around any of those places, and you’ll have a prime perch for viewing if conditions are clear. If you’d like to make a party of it with fellow gazers, here are a couple of other options for you: Read the rest of this entry »
Free entry to national parks on three weekends
June 2, 2009 2:29pm
You’ll get free entry to Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and 144 other national parks on three weekends this summer: June 20-21, July 18-19 and Aug. 15-16. At Yosemite, for instance, that can save you $20 per car, or $10 per person if you arrive by foot, bicycle or motorcycle.
The offer was announced today by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, who cited “these tough economic times.”
Besides free entry, some concessionaires will give away $5 vouchers and free tours, boat rides, shopping bags and other extras. But don’t expect to camp for free; the regular fees apply there.
