Tips to beat the crowds @ Yosemite on May 24th, 2013 (cycle, mountains, bus)

[abpat2203]

Hello!

I, along with a few friends, will be visiting Yosemite from May 24th till May 27th.

We will be arriving at San Jose on May 23rd. The plan is to get some sleep and start early morning on May 24th towards Yosemite Village.

Once we get there, we plan to park our car, hire bicycles and use them to get around all day. At the end of the day, once the crowd has thinned out, we would drive back to Mariposa, where we have booked a cottage.

My questions are:

1. How soon should we be starting from San Jose towards Yosemite village? My plan is to start around 5 AM.
2. Where should I park inside Yosemite Village?
3. Is the plan to cycle around all day feasible?
4. What time should be a good one to get out and head towards Mariposa?
5. For our return, we intend to start for San Jose early morning, around 5 AM. Does it sound feasible?

I would be grateful if you guys can chime in with your recent experiences with Yosemite on Memorial Day.

[scorpio516]

Originally Posted by abpat2203

1. How soon should we be starting from San Jose towards Yosemite village? My plan is to start around 5 AM.
2. Where should I park inside Yosemite Village?
3. Is the plan to cycle around all day feasible?
4. What time should be a good one to get out and head towards Mariposa?
5. For our return, we intend to start for San Jose early morning, around 5 AM. Does it sound feasible?

I would be grateful if you guys can chime in with your recent experiences with Yosemite on Memorial Day.

1. Start a little earlier if you can. Really its fine, you'll beat most traffic, but you'll still hit some in San Jose. You'll hit NONE once you get to I-5
2. Theres only one place to park in the Valley for day use. It's right across the street from the general store, at bus stop #1
3. Maybe if you are a really slow biker. If you are planing on hiking, you'll spend a lot more time hiking than biking, and there isn't much in the way of bike parking. In that case, use the busses.
4. Doesn't much matter, but I'd try to get out before sunset at least on the first day - 120 heads right into the sunset. The crowds don't thin out till a few hours past sunset. If you really want to avoid traffic, plan on getting to your car about midnight...
5. You could leave anytime before noon and be perfectly fine. The rush home from the mountains won't start till ~5pm.

The much bigger crowds to worry about are IN the valley, not on the drive. If you want to leave the crowds, you've got to hike at least half an hour into the back country. Even the difference between lower Yosemite falls hike and upper Yosemite falls hike is intense.

Another thing - a couple years ago, I got snowed on in the valley the weekend after memorial day...

[abpat2203]

Thank you so much for your comment. This is really helpful.

And you know what? With Dallas temperature hitting 90, I wouldn't mind a little snow myself. :-)