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best route to commute to yosemite from jamestown

PostPosted: Wed Jun 22, 2011 2:08 pm
by jimbo
I am going to visit Yosemite this August for 2- 3 days the first time. Made the mistake of booking a hotel in Jamestown, which means I will have to commute to Yosemite everyday :-(. The hotel is not refundable so I have to stick with that.

What would be the best way to go from Jamestown to Yosemite? I heard that there are bad traffic jam in Yosemite. I tried google map, but it wasn't even clear to me where the entrance is.

Also, I am planning on staying late at night in order to look at the milky way with my own eyes (and hopefully taking photos of the starry night). What would be a good place for doing this (I will have to drive back to Jamestown afterwards)? Thanks!

Re: best route to commute to yosemite from jamestown

PostPosted: Wed Jun 22, 2011 2:29 pm
by AlmostThere
There is only one way that makes sense - go south on 49, get on 120 heading into the park. there are only four entry points and the other three - well, suffice it to say that you do not want to bother as they involve hours and hours of mountain road driving.

There are pullouts here and there along the roads if you want to stay near the car for stargazing. Good vantage points should be fairly obvious - I think it would be cool to stop at Olmstead Point on the way back from tuolumne meadows (i hope you intend to spend a day out there walking around, if not you should) after dark and kick back on the granite or the concrete staring up at the sky. That's a treeless area and would give you a broad view of the night sky, plus Half Dome.

The traffic jams you hear about happen in the afternoon, and the worst place to be between noon and 5-6 pm is between Curry Village and Yosemite Lodge - that corridor sucks for traffic! The rest of the valley floor roads get congested but at least move slowly, unless it's a bear or deer jam where everyone's stopping because an animal is standing in the meadow and they want to see. Make plans to get to the valley floor early and park in day use area near Yosemite Village (not the lodge, that's not day use parking, it's for lodge customers only) and take free shuttles around - you'll be happier that way. There is always a lane reserved for shuttles so they make better time from one destination to the next.

Re: best route to commute to yosemite from jamestown

PostPosted: Thu Jun 23, 2011 5:53 am
by jimbo
Thank you for the information, AlmostThere!

Re: best route to commute to yosemite from jamestown

PostPosted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 11:39 am
by jimbo
I just got back from our yosemite trip. Thank you all for the information. Managed to spend a day and a half in Yosemite valley floor, survived the 5-mile spaghetti driving on CA120 at night, didn't run into any bears, and no serious illness from the mosquito bites. Breath-taking place. Didn't get a chance to go to the tuolumn meadow or the glacier point though. Saw some ugliness, including one blue truck from Missouri hijacked another guy's park spot at the bridal veil fall and the two got into some nasty argument.

I will definitely visit yosemite again, and will stay in yosemite instead of jamestown. The hotel in jamestown is run by a money-hungry couple.

Re: best route to commute to yosemite from jamestown

PostPosted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 3:07 pm
by dan
Yosemite Valley is expensive--especially during the Summer season. Off-season is more reasonable. If the prices are more than what you want to pay, consider staying in El Portal or Mariposa. El Portal is closer, but a boring roadside development. Mariposa is an interesting town with a old-west feeling.

That said, nothing beats waking up in the morning in Yosemite Valley and seeing Half Dome and Yosemite Falls and walking around.

Re: best route to commute to yosemite from jamestown

PostPosted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 8:22 am
by jimbo
Thanks Dan. Next year I will see if I can get an off-season trip. I can perfectly accept the fact that yosemite is expensive in summer, but my complaint against the inn in jamestown is not just monetary. the couple that runs the inn are not there to provide service at all - they have a very late check-in time (4pm) and won't watch after anyone's luggage, so we had to haul our stuff to yomesite the first day. the owner also installed camera everywhere to spy on the guests and harasses you and demand for money when you have an extra person in the room. they don't serve breakfast until 8:15 which consists of next to nothing.

Re: best route to commute to yosemite from jamestown

PostPosted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 9:29 am
by dan
Interesting. Personally I would write a review at www.yelp.com and www.tripadvisor.com. Include good points, if any.