I can send a fax inquiry to the Kings Canyon group sites. If avaible we'd at least have a plan B should we be unable to get enough sites in Yosemite.

Here's the link again to the general reservations info page.

The reservations phone line number is (877) 444-6777.

This is the site for booking Lower Pines sites.

BUT ... I just found out only 2 sites can be booked under one name. So, even if we can snag 4 or 5 sites, we need a different person's credit card for each transaction. Any volunteers?

At 4 people per site, 4 sites will allow for 16 people. A 5th site would be required for a capacity of 20 people.

Well, that was fun.



Lower Pines campground sold out in about 2.6 minutes. The only person who got through on the phone was swanie ... and of course, she was the only one not on our I.M. conference, and so communications did not extend to checking other Valley campgrounds while she was still on the line.

Le sigh.



Yosemite may be a cabin or lodge adventure from now on.



OR: There's the allure of White Wolf camp .... just 10 minutes outside the Valley and populated on a first-come, first-served basis. It's a big campground, and I've never experienced problems getting several adjacent sites there on a just-show-up basis.

Of course that was in the days when it took a ful 16 minutes for Lower Pines to sell out. ;)
Things might be a little trickier now, and in the high season especially. Dunno for sure.



The other avenues we are exploring are:

1) A Group Campsite at King's Canyon. Katiesue is faxing a request this morning, and there appear to be sites available.

2) Regular campsites at Sheep Creek campground in King's Canyon. Not Afraid, €uroMeinke, Nirvanaman and myself scoped this place out at the tail end of last Swank Camp and there are some killer campsites near the river. This is also (as are all King's Canyon campgrounds) a first-come, first-served situation. We'd have the same chance as anyone else, and this campground is vast ... if the coolest sites were to already be taken.


* * * * *

When you try to get a slew of campsites first-come, first-served, you really have to be first-come. You show up at the crack of dawn on a weekday when demand for new sites is lowest, and basically wait in line at the campground entrance until noon ... and then see what's available.


I think that strategy can work almost as well at White Wolf in Yosemite as it can at Sheep Creek in King's Canyon. And I'm alarmed that, absent some fantastic stroke of luck .... camping in Yosemite Valley is apparently a thing of the past. Certainly it's not going to happen for a handful of campsites.

And so, White Wolf will remain the only viable camping option for Yosemite, whether we have swank camp there this season or some other.





What says any of youse??

Disneyland's picnic area?

Nope ... not since they blocked access from DTD. Pfft.

Actually, they swapped the blocked entrances. You now do not need to go through security to get into the picnic area (but you, for obvious reasons, cannot go out the other side).

Sounds like someone is working on King's Canyon. But weren't there some group sites somewhere just outside Yosemite that were being talked about? I remember something about lots of shade and flat ground being mentioned.

Alternatively, we could come closer to home this year, maybe something within easy drive distance?

The remaining Yosemite Group camps are way too far from the action, and - since booking is allowed one year in advance - are likely full-up.

In a nutshell, the remaining options are (more details in the other camping thread):


a) First-Come, First-Served at Sheep Creek campground in King's Canyon

b) First-Come, First-Served at White Wolf campground, 10 minutes outside Yosemite Valley

c) Group Campground reservation at King's Canyon.

My concerns on the FCFS option are:

1. Is site squatting allowed? If we wanted four sites, would we have to have enough people able to go up on Thursday to get four spots? If say, only two couples can go up, would they be able to hold four spots?
2. Is it too much of a crap shoot to hope to get four spots? This concerns me a lot.

If we were all going up at the same time as a single caravan, it might not be as bad, but everybody will be arriving at different times. With as many people coming, I think we are much better off having a set destination.

We'd have to have at least four people and their tent(s) to nab 4 spots. But I don't think 4 adjacent spots would be a problem.

Certainly not a problem at Sheep Creek.

As for the Yosemite option, 2 nonadjacent pairs of internally-adjacent campsites is the best we could have hoped for anyway. I think that's a worst-case scenario at White Wolf, with 4 adjacent sites a distinct possibility.


We should know about the Group site in King's Canyon soon. But, personally, I'd rather take our chances at Sheep Creek if we're going to do King's Canyon.