Nov 4, 2020

November 3, 2020 at 4:50 p.m. November brings good news for those of us ‘pining’ for outdoor adventures. Yosemite National Park is no longer requiring advance reservations. The 5-month policy requiring day passes during peak summer travel ended Nov. 1 as the park ushers in “shoulder season.” A favorite Yosemite Valley fall hike is the pleasant, forested trek to Mirror Lake, which gets no water this time of year but features a vast expanse of sand and rocks and a nearby collection of Hoo Doos, above, on a hillside. (photo courtesy of Ginny Prior)  I experienced the solitude of shoulder season, that sweet spot between the busy and slow seasons, when I visited the park recently. Booking a premium Explorer Cabin at the Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite gave me a cozy home base just outside the park’s south gate in Fishcamp. The luxury cabins are set on 27 acres of incense cedar, sugar pines and colorful aspen trees, and mine had two bedrooms — a living room a with fireplace and kitchenette and a walk-in shower. At sunrise I took my coffee to the back deck and rocked in the red Adirondack chair overlooking Big Creek and its wooded walking trails. At sunset, after returning from the park, the warm cabin lights and outdoor fire rings danced in the evening glow. Yosemite in autumn is a season to bond silently with nature, to take in the last breaths of color on the cottonwoods, dogwoods and quaking aspen. It’s a time when a visit to Mariposa Grove, just a short drive away, lets you experience the giant sequoias without crowds — the way John Muir and Ansel Adams would have seen them a century ago. Yosemite in autumn also lets you explore Yosemite Valley’s floor without the summer crowds that make social distancing more difficult on popular trails. One of my favorite fall hikes is the pleasant, forested trek to Mirror Lake. An easy 3 miles round-trip, you access the trail from the Curry Village parking lot. Into early November, blazing colors of quaking aspen, cottonwoods and weeping willows frame granite outcroppings as you hike along the dry creek bed. Mirror Lake itself sees no water at this time of year but rather a vast expanse of sand and rocks — at least one of which you can climb on for a fine photo with the granite walls as backdrop. A little farther along, you’ll see a collection of Hoo Doos on a hillside. In an eerie aside, I stepped on a wasp nest while taking photos there, resulting in a painful sting and a warning not to get too close. A meal is always a treat at the Ahwahnee, where the grand dining room’s vaulted ceilings let you feel the grandeur of the granite walls that guard the treasured hotel. A tasty but limited menu allows you to order, pick up and take your meal to your table in the dining room, where the staff has been trained in the latest safety measures and is actively disinfecting surfaces before each new diner arrives. Related Articles