Is there any good hammocking in Yosemite? ... In April?

[Donfish06]

I found pretty cheap tickets in April to Oakland, and would love to do a trip to Yosemite. Is this a stupid idea? If not, I would be there 3 days and would like to use my hammock if there is enough good trees...

[Nedh84]

Depends where you go but all the campgrounds in the valley that I can think of are full of mature trees with ideal spacing.

Bring your bug spray though. Spring might have a fair few mosquitoes.

[Caminante]

Campground or backcountry? If you're thinking about a campground, your first challenge may be getting any campsite at all. I believe that only the valley campgrounds are open in April (I could be wrong) and they are typically booked six months out. Backcountry permits are a little easier to come by, and would be my recommendation, especially if you can't get a campground reservation. You can a) fax (!!) in a permit request six months in advance, but there may still be some open permits for when you want to go, or b) just walk up to the backcountry permit office once you get to Yosemite and ask for what they have available. I haven't tried that, but am told that it's actually pretty reliable. A backcountry permit also entitles you to a night before and after your hike in the backpacker's camp in the valley which is a nice perk.

There are a lot of trees most places in Yosemite, especially in the valley and the backcountry around the valley (LYV, Merced River, etc.). Three things to note IMO:

1) Trees can be large compared to the east, so I'd lean towards longer straps.
2) Lots of dead and dying trees in Yosemite, sadly. The camp at LYV, for instance, is absolutely full of widowmakers. Look around before selecting your site to make sure you're safe.
3) It's not published anywhere that I have found, but the rangers will require you to "pad" your straps and ridge line (anything attached to a tree). Chocking them with sticks was acceptable to the two rangers I encountered.

[Nedh84]

3) It's not published anywhere that I have found, but the rangers will require you to "pad" your straps and ridge line (anything attached to a tree). Chocking them with sticks was acceptable to the two rangers I encountered.

Oh, very good point! I totally forgot about this. I got called out by a volunteer ranger for my 1" straps.
He instructed that I could do any of the following:
1. Use 2" straps
2. Pad the 1" straps with cardboard
3. I didn't get called out on my previous trip when I was using sticks around my 1" straps but I can't remember if anyone specifically instructed that this was acceptable.

Yosemite Valley is such a high use area that it is best to follow the rules as best as you possibly can. It is a beautiful place but boy is it busy most of the year! Try some backpacking, great way to escape the busy valley.

[kwpapke]

Here's the video I made of a Yosemite backcountry trip that was all hammock camping (for me). Great route, and the video includes a description of where we went.


--Kurt

[HanginEgger]

That trip looks amazing! Definitely on my bucket list. What time of year was that ?

[Urduja]

I'm planning a trip to Yosemite too, but late summer. My co-worker was able to do an entire 5 day route with just hammock in the yosemite valley area.