Jennifer Oldham

Walletpop.com

March 8, 2010

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.

The concessionaire that operates the cabins, which sit in picturesque Yosemite Valley with a stellar view of Half Dome and during the summer are overrun with noisy visitors, said the promotion is geared to encourage people to try out the park in the wintertime — even though it may be a bit chilly.

“We’re not in Idaho, I’ve been here for eight years and the coldest I’ve seen it is 18 degrees,” said Kenny Karst, public relations manager for Delaware North Companies. “It’s getting below freezing, but very seldom.”

It’s typically warmer in the valley, which sits at about 4,000 feet above sea level, than it is in other places in the park, Karst added.

The deal for the Curry Village tent cabins, which is available on Friday and Saturday nights, requires travelers to put down a $39 deposit when they make a reservation. The fee will be adjusted according to the previous night’s temperature, which at a maximum rate of $39, is still a 57% savings over peak summer rates. If you want a heated cabin you can pay an extra $10 a night.

There are plenty of blankets available in the tents, but no electricity, phone or television to be found. And it does get so cold that operators recommend sleeping bags just in case.

Those who frequent one of America’s most popular parks in the wintertime said because the cabins are small, they typically spend most of their time in the nearby lodge, or dining hall, or the separate shower and bathroom facilities anyway.

“For me, it’s a no brainer,” wrote Manny Aragon, to WalletPop. He added that he brings electric blankets to keep his family warm in the canvas tents, which accommodate two to five visitors.

Christopher Reynolds

LATimes.com

March 2, 2010

Warning, weekend hikers: If you’re planning an assault on Half Dome in May or June, your time has just about run out.

In their first 48 hours of peddling hiker permits, under a new system designed to relieve weekend and holiday crowding on Yosemite National Park’s popular Half Dome Trail, park concessionaires have sold nearly all of the 5,700 available spots. Permits went up for grabs Monday morning. As of 3:19 p.m. Tuesday, park spokesman Scott Gediman said, just 69 were left, all of them earmarked for Memorial Day, May 31.

The permits carry a processing fee of $1.50 each. Park officials turned to this temporary system after four deaths in four years near the top of the trail, where summer hikers use a pair of cables on stanchions to steady themselves for the final 400 feet of ascent on the granite.

The new system limits foot traffic on the Half Dome Trail to 300 day-hikers and 100 backpackers per day on summer weekends and holidays, which means that if you didn’t score a permit on Monday or today, you’re probably not going to be day-hiking that trail on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday or holiday between Friday, May 21 (when rangers open the hiking season by raising the cables onto the stanchions), and Sunday, June 27.

But you’ll soon get a shot at permits for July and August. On April 1, park officials will release another batch of permits, covering the Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from July 1 through Aug. 31. The last batch of permits, covering September and about half of October (depending on weather) will go up for grabs May 1.

“It’s what we expected,” said Gediman of the Monday rush on permits. “Saturdays went first. Then Fridays. Then Sundays.”

Weekday hikers are still free to climb without permits, as are technical rock-climbers, so long as they first summit Half Dome by other means and then descend using the cables.

In the first 12 minutes after permits went on sale at 7 a.m. Monday, Gediman said, concessionaires sold 901 on the Web and 13 by phone. By 7:24 a.m. that day, all Saturdays were sold out and total sales were nearing 1,097. By 8:24 a.m., 16 of the 19 potential hiking dates were sold out. By Tuesday afternoon, only those 69 permits on Memorial Day Monday remained. A sales report shows that 94% of the bookings came through the Web and just 6% over the phone.

Hikers must reserve permits at least one week in advance, either through the National Recreation Reservation Service at (877) 444-6777 or online. Day hikers get one type of permit; backpackers will receive a Half Dome permit with their wilderness permit if their wilderness itinerary includes Half Dome.

No same-day permits or day-before permits will be issued in the park. The limit is four hiker passes per phone call or website visit. Though transfer of a permit from one would-be hiker to another is allowed, resale of permits is forbidden.

The misdemeanor penalty for defying the new requirement is up to $5,000 fine and/or six months in jail. Also, the permits are nonrefundable, so if stormy weather forces closure of the trail, that day’s hikers won’t be able to get a “rain check.”

Half Dome, which looms 8,842 feet above sea level and more than 4,500 feet above the Yosemite Valley floor, may be California’s most familiar mountain feature. Though early accounts called it “perfectly inaccessible,” climber George Anderson conquered it in 1875 by drilling holes in the granite and placing bolts in them.

In 1919, the Sierra Club placed cables near the top, making the summit more accessible for casual hikers. In fact, it lures hikers of all stripes uphill in the same way that the Grand Canyon’s demanding Bright Angel Trail beckons them downhill, which can result in crowded conditions and some unfit hikers trying to undertake the task.

The Half Dome Trail, a 17-mile round trip, gains 4,400 feet in elevation from the valley floor. Hikers typically take 10-12 hours to complete it.

Terry Gardner

LATimes.com

February 27, 2010

If your passion for skiing or snowboarding exceeds your budget or abilities, try this well-priced weekday package at California’s Yosemite National Park, where you you can ski, eat, sleep and sharpen your sports skills. And with the park’s Badger Pass Ski Area boasting new state-of-the-art chairlifts and other improvements, it’s a great time to go.

Deal: Yosemite Winter All-Inclusive Package gives you a room at Yosemite Lodge at the Falls, three meals per day and a range of activities. Spokesman Kenny Karst says it’s the best deal during “shoulder or off-season” that he can recall.  The package for a family of four (two adults and two children age 12 or under) costs $333 per night midweek. (You can also book it for fewer people.) Each person gets three daily meals plus a Stay ‘N Play Midweek Pass good for these activities each day:

• A lift ticket for Badger Pass Ski Area (most slopes are intermediate or beginner)

• An all-day rental (skis, snowboard, or cross-country skis)

• A group lesson

• A snow tubing session

• An ice-skating session including skate rentals at Curry Village

• A Yosemite Valley Floor Tour

When: For stays through March 27, subject to availability.

Tested: I checked dates in March and found the package available. During this period, the room alone normally costs $208 per night for a family of four. So an active family will save money with the package. For instance,  four lift tickets alone would total $102, plus of course everyone gets meals and additional activities, subject to time.

Contact: DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite Inc., (801) 559-4884. Request the “Winter All-Inclusive Package” deal for Yosemite Lodge. For online bookings, the promotion code is: “INCLUSIVE.”