This is pretty much our itinerary for the trip. I don't really have Santa Cruz mapped out yet so we will figure that out together.

Friday-June 29th

• Mandi and Jeffrey leave for Convict Lake, drive through the night

Saturday-June 30th

• Mandi and Jeffrey meet up with and Colin at Convict Lake, Play around, camp

Sunday-July 1st

• Leave Convict Lake and buy provisions in Mammoth
• Check in and set up camp
• Make lunch
• Meet James, J.J. and Karla
• Get comfortable with the park
• Short hike to Lower Yosemite Falls
• Drive to Glacier Point before dusk to take scenic photos of Yosemite during magic hour : )
• Eat dinner

Monday-July 2nd

• Make breakfast
• Head out on The Mist Trail-7 miles round trip and probably about a seven hour hike. Probably the more strenuous of the two big ones we will be doing. 
• Rest late afternoon at the camp after the long hike
• Eat dinner
• Set up telescope for some astrophotography, probably at Glacier Point. Most digital cameras have the ability to capture stars so if you need advice I will be happy to show you the best settings to use. Hell, you may be better than I am

Tuesday-July 3rd

• Make breakfast
• Take shuttle to Glacier Point and hike the Panorama Trail all the way down to Yosemite Valley. 8 mile hike, about 6 hours long. This hike is mostly down hill so it won't kill you.
• Rest late afternoon at camp
• Eat Dinner
• Maybe do some more astrophotography close to our campsite

Wednesday-July 4th

• Make breakfast at camp
• Pack up and head to Santa Cruz for the 4th of July

Thursday July 5th

• 6:30 am, Dawn Patrol, Surfing at Cowell's
• Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk at Night

Friday July 6th

• 6:30 am, Surfing
• Zipline Mount Hermon? Still haven't heard the go ahead on this.

Saturday July 7th

• 6:30 am Surfing

Sunday July 8th

• 6:30 am, Surfing
• Say goodbyes

Itinerary for Yosemite Camping

I've decided on a couple of hikes that will be kind on our skill level. I didn't want to push anyone to extremes but these hikes will be challenging enough to make you feel accomplished at the end of the day. I strongly suggest that you start taking your hikes on a steady incline right now so your legs don't hurt the next morning. Remember, we will be carrying our lunches with us. Try doing a 7 mile hike in your area and see how you fare at the end of the day. If you are winded or your legs are killing you in the end, then you won't be ready for this trip. Even I have a slight case of asthma so I have been working out for the past 2 months to get my endurance levels up. There will be plenty of time to take breaks along the way as well. We want to enjoy this. Taking these hikes is the only way to see the park in its full beauty.

Sunday

• Leave Convict Lake and buy provisions in Mammoth
• Check in and set up camp
• Make lunch
• Get comfortable with the park
• Short hike to Lower Yosemite Falls
• Drive to Glacier Point before dusk to take scenic photos of Yosemite during magic hour : )
• Eat dinner

Monday

• Make breakfast
• Head out on The Mist Trail-7 miles round trip and probably about a seven hour hike. Probably the more strenuous of the two big ones we will be doing. 
• Rest late afternoon at the camp after the long hike
• Eat dinner
• Set up telescope for some astrophotography, probably at Glacier Point. Most digital cameras have the ability to capture stars so if you need advice I will be happy to show you the best settings to use.

Tuesday

• Make breakfast
• Take shuttle to Glacier Point and hike the Panorama Trail all the way down to Yosemite Valley. 8 mile hike, about 6 hours long. This hike is mostly down hill so it won't kill you.
• Rest late afternoon at camp
• Eat Dinner
• Maybe do some more astrophotography close to our campsite

Wednesday

• Eat breakfast
• Pack up and head to Santa Cruz for the 4th of July

North Pines Campsite Reserved

We have our North Pines Campsite reserved and paid for. For our three days of camping the fee came out to $60. That's $15 per person, not bad at all.

Mandi and I will be joining Colin's family on Saturday for their fishing trip. We will probably arrive around 7am. I was wondering if Cell Phones work in that area because if not, we will probably have to pin point a rendezvous around a specific time.

We can arrive at Yosemite the earliest at noon on Sunday the 1st of July. That is when our campsite will be ready. This means we will be eating Breakfast at the Jennings campsite and then heading into Mammoth to buy our provisions for Yosemite. We will have plenty of room in our vehicle to take any camping equipment that you guys can't fit in your car. Colin says that we should plan meals together to save on cost and cook some tasty meals.

We have three nights in Yosemite so there will be plenty of time to take some hikes, see the sights and take some beautiful pictures. We can figure out what hikes we want to do as we get closer to the date. I'm still researching that.

We will be heading over to Santa Cruz on the 4th of July. It's about a 5 hour drive. James has confirmed that the Beach House is available for us to use. It's going to be a lot of fun celebrating with the Roddy's and we are always happy that they are willing to accommodate us. As usual we will be surfing, playing at the beach and hitting the boardwalk. If you guys have any other ideas in mind just let me know. It's going to be another amazing trip for all of us.

Campsites

Alrighty,

So I've done my research on campsites and I've narrowed down some of our options.

Your choices within the park are Upper Pines and Lower Pines campgrounds. All of the campgrounds within the park have very cramped sites and it can be kind of noisy. The plus with camping within the park are the amenities. You'll have flushing toilets, running water, a shower and near by stores. You will also be camping around the iconic scenery with easy access to the trails . This would be a lot like the camping we did at Morro Bay, flat and no real barriers between campsites. There are some campsites that sit right next to the river which can be a little more calming. Photos of Lower Pines and Upper Pines campgrounds.


Crane Flat is a nice campground located about 25 minutes outside of the actual park. The sites are more spread out and the trees between sites give you more privacy. There is running water and toilets but there are no showers. You also have to either drive or take the shuttle 25 miles down to Yosemite to do your day hikes. There is a near by store and gas station if we need it. The nights are more peaceful here and there is still a nice view of the outdoors. This would be my choice if it were up to me. Here is a site with some photos Crane Flat campground

There are also a number of other campgrounds outside of Yosemite but they are on a first come, first serve basis. Most don't have running water and toilets so if you want to shit in the woods that is your deal. Bring a shovel if we decide to do that. Bridalveil or Tomarck would be my choices if we for some reason decided to do that.


Either way the camping will be fun. It all depends on what everyone wants. Ease of amenities or more seclusion. The price of Camping is around $20 per night and that covers up to 6 people, so if we camp for 3 days that will be $15 per person if there are only four of us going. Not bad at all.

Dates for the Trip

So we have our dates for the trip. July 1st-3rd at Yosemite and July 4th-8th in Santa Cruz. Celebrate the 4th with a big party. Should be fun : )

Merry Christmas to our trip

Hey Guys. Look what I got for our next California trip. Full 1080p HD, Waterproof and rugged.

Hope to Bring the Telescope

Hello everyone. I'm hoping to bring the telescope on this trip. I know we will be in a valley with a bunch of high mountains around us but there should still be some objects we can look at. Here is a photo of the Orion Nebula I took through my telescope and a Photo of Me at the Bryce Canyon astronomy festival. I think it would be pretty fun. James, I can teach you how to take some awesome photos of the sky with your camera as well.