The new permit system limiting the number of day hikers and backpackers ascending Half Dome on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and holidays has been sold out for tourists interested in a May or June hike. Yosemite National Park implemented the temporary system after four deaths in four years plagued the mountain. The day permits will limit the number of hikers to 300 per day and backpackers to 100 per day.

Reporting from Yosemite and Big Sur – Last year, in the middle of the recession, my husband, Paco, and I pondered our fall vacation, weighing an ever-growing travel wish list with an ever-growing urge to save. Instead of Greece or the Great Barrier Reef, we chose a California road trip. By avoiding international airfare and the weak dollar, we were able to splurge in a few key places while saving in a handful of others, a high-low budget journey without the jet lag.

Adventurous vacationers who don’t mind sleeping in the cold can save at least 60% over peak season rates on weekend nights through the end of this month at one of Yosemite Valley’s most popular attractions.
Travelers’ wallets would be $34 lighter, for example, if they spent a recent night in one of Curry Village’s unheated canvas tent cabins. The cabins go for $92 a night during peak summer months and sell out for this period within minutes when they become available a year and a day in advance.
But if you’re willing to rough it, the canvas tents with a wooden frame can be had through March 27 through an unusual offer that bases the fee on the previous night’s temperature.