When I was doing research on San Francisco and things to do in and out of the city I came across a day trip tour to Yosemite and was immediately intrigued. While we love a National Park and the sights we're not the kind of people who are going to go spend a week at a National Park hiking and camping (it's just not us!) so this kind of "highlights tour" was perfect for us. We probably won't be back in the Northern Carlifornia area again (for a while at least) so this seemed like a great way to use some of our time there.
I also got super overwhelmed looking into going ourselves and researching park passes, wait times to get in, different gates, etc. so this was kind of a one and done deal which I appreciated! And no rental car needed!
We were up before the sun (literally!) but still excited for the day ahead.
The tour company bus picked us up at 5:30 a.m. and we hit the road to Yosemite! We drove for probably 2.5 hours before we got to a grocery store in a smallish town where we had about 30 minutes to use the bathroom, grab some breakfast, and buy some food to bring with us to "picnic" that afternoon in the park.
We drove for probably about 2 more hours (honestly I don't remember! hahaha) and then we arrived at Yosemite! Our park entrance passes were included/taken care of since we were in a tour group and we didn't wait in any sort of line to enter the park. As we drove through our guide told us lots of cool history about how the national park came to be, different important things that happened at various points in the park, etc.
Our first stop was Tunnel View....
Which was absolutely iconic!
What I'll add about these photos is that it was PACKED up here. Like it really wasn't this reverent awe-inspiring nature moment because of the crowd - it was still breathtaking but I can only imagine how incredible it would be to see it when there weren't 500 other people trying to do the same ;) BUT we knew we were coming during a peak time so it was to be expected and was still absolutely worth it!!
We probably stopped there for about 20 minutes and then we got back in the bus and headed down to the meadows area for our next stop at Yosemite Valley Lodge.
Our tour guide dropped us off and we had about 2 hours do do as we pleased. We were VERY glad that we took his advice to purchase food at the grocery store and bring it with us since it was SUPER crowded at the food area by the lodge so we pretty much immediately walked to the falls...
... and found a shaded spot to relax, eat lunch, and take in the views.
It was MAYBE a 15 minute walk from where our bus dropped us off to the base of the lower Yosemite Falls. SUPER easy but, y'all.... we were NOT prepared for it to be like 97 degrees that day. Even when our guide picked us up in the morning he was talking about how the high was about 80 and it was going to be gorgeous and then when we got there it was close to 100 and SO SO SO HOT.
We hung out at the falls and ate our little picnic lunch, stuck out toes in the water and honestly just took in the views. IT WAS STUNNING!
After this we walked back toward the lodge where Mason and I chilled for a bit while Dave, Luke, and G went off to check out a couple of trails. I really hadn't been worried about Mason until this point in our trip. He'd been keeping up fine while obviously dealing with some sinus issues but MAN he hit a wall at this point in our day. He HATES missing out on things so when he asked if he and I could just sit for a few minutes and then catch up with the others and he literally passed out I was concerned. We were about 4.5 hours away from the city with no way to leave the tour early... I was stressed OUT and I felt so so bad for him.
Mason napped in the AC (I asked him about this pic before posting by the way - hahahaha) and tried using the super spotty wifi to google San Francisco urgent care clinics.
Meanwhile....
CAN YOU EVEN?!?!?!
We loaded back into the bus and then drove about 10 minutes to a spot where we could get out and see El Capitan...
We got to see climbers which was SO COOL! And while our guide had binoculars it was actually easier to zoom in and see them using our iPhones. hahahaha
We loaded back into the bus and enjoyed more gorgeous views for about an hour and a half until we reached....
.... Tuolumne Grove. This hike is about 2 miles in and out but our guide talked it up A LOT as being super difficult because it's a mile downhill and then the way back is completely uphill the entire mile is something like a 12% grade (you gain 500+ feet) so it didn't take much to convince G and I to enjoy a picnic table journaling moment with cooler temps and a PERFECT breeze ;)
By this point Mason had rallied after a bus nap (what in the actual world!) and decided to do the hike with Dave and Luke...
All three of them said it was worth doing and I'm so glad that Mason didn't have to miss out!
Back in the bus and we made one last pit stop at the Yosemite sign which couldn't have been cuter...
.... and then we loaded up to head back to SF. We stopped for dinner in the same town that we stopped in on the way there and then it was back on the bus for the last leg of the trip. We got back to our hotel around 9:15ish and apparently we made really great time that day.
So here are my final thoughts....
- All three of my kids ranked this HIGH on their list of favorite activities from the trip.
- It was A LOT of drive time, but the bus was comfy and we came prepared with some card games, the kids had movies on their devices, I brought a book, etc. but if they had been younger this trip would not have been ideal because I think the drive would have done them in. My kids were the only kids in our group of about 30.
- It was the perfect way to get to see some of the highlights of Yosemite - if you're going to be in the bay area and want to check Yosemite off your bucket list it's absolutely worth it.
- G and I both wore inappropriate footwear (Birkenstocks) - but, honestly, we weren't doing a ton of hiking or anything (it was more just walking) so they were fine. I did somehow get a blister which was weird since I wore these Birks OFTEN in the Fall and G had to take her socks off so I could wear them (it was a whole thing). hahaha So the smarter move would absolutely be to wear actual tennis shoes. Don't be dumb like us!
- Be better prepared for the weather than we were! It was weird though because it was way hotter than even our guide said it was going to be!
- If you go.... definitely take advantage of the grocery store stop to pick up food to bring into the park. I do wish that we had brought a big tote bag or packed a cooler bag with us to bring the food in because we had to tote it into the park in paper bags which felt weird (but worked).
- It was CROWDED. Like TONS of people. It didn't really bother us because we were prepared for crowds and were just there for a highlights tour but if I was there to really "escape" I wouldn't visit this time of the year. It was kind of nuts. We didn't have to deal with parking (another perk of being on a tour!) but it appeared to be an absolute nightmare.
- We booked through Extranomical Tours and the tour was exactly as described - I'd definitely recommend!
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