Luxe Yosemite

One of my newest life objectives is to see the Milky Way with the baked eye. I mean really see it, like those gorgeous long exposure pictures but irl. I've been searching for opportunities for a few years, missing optimal conditions and being disappointed by the non-results. The now-ex and I had gone up to Yosemite but stayed at an AirBnB in the hills just outside of the park, which I thought would still be close enough but the light pollution from the small town was still too much. We did enjoy a luxurious hot tub outside and listening to the wild turkey calls, and we hiked around the park and climbed a waterfall, so the trip wasn't a let down by my standards, we just failed to see the Milky Way. We also took a trip to Bryce Canyon and had a ton of good hiking fun in that park. We even returned to the park after dark in hopes of seeing the Milky Way, but it was still much a no-go. This past year as a newly single woman, I camped at Amboy Crater twice and booked a stargazing and astrophotography session at the top of the mountain in Maui, still to no avail. The Hawaii native photographer kept commenting how she has never seen the sky this unclear. I assured her, its me, I'm the problem, its me.

So now I'm attacking my quest with more intention, trying to have plans to be in a dark sky site for every new moon, or at least the weekend closest to the new moon. January was Amboy Crater again. And while the stars were pretty dazzling at Amboy Crater, I didn't get the full effect I expect from a Milky Way shot.

For February, I made plans to go back to Yosemite, this time staying in the park. There are a number of options and I don't mind roughing it usually, but I do get up and use the bathroom a lot so I wasn't too excited about the cabins that had communal bathrooms some distance away outside. Instead I opted for the high end option at the Ahwahnee. And if you've followed some of my adventures before, you know that when I go high end, I kinda go all out high end. So I booked the King room with a balcony. Usually hotels have several of these types of rooms if they have any. Here, not so much it seems. I'm basing that on the comment the waiter said to me when I gave him my room number to charge to. But I'm jumping ahead, let me get to that later.

From my home in Palmdale, CA, the drive to Yosemite was just around 6 hours. So, I could easily drive up there early in the day Friday, do some hiking or have down time, stay over night and hopefully get the view I'm after from my balcony, do some hiking in the morning and head home Saturday evening. That was my theory, anyways. And I was glad I planned it that way, because I ended up taking a business / househunting trip leaving early Sunday morning. The Saturday before my Yosemite trip, I checked the weather forecast for Yosemite for my planned trip dates and it showed snow and overcast. I was extremely disappointed, realizing that meant absolutely no chance of a Milky Way appearance, and snow deterred my desire to hike or even drive there. I tried calling to cancel, although I did notice that the reservation said 7 day cancellation policy. Canceling was a no-go, as the somewhat rude personnel informed me on the phone that weather was not a valid reason. So, knowing I wouldn't get my money back, I debated forfeiting it rather than drive up there in the snow by myself and risking wasting my time having a bad time. But as the week went on, the weather forecast changed from snow to just overcast. Still not promising to see any lights in the sky, but at least the danger of icy conditions seemed to lessen.

I decided to go and make the most of it, as I am prone to do, even if that meant driving to the lodge, bundling up under the covers and enjoying my view from indoors. Nadine advised me that I might need chains for my tires and indeed I saw some warnings to that effect, but nothing certain. I decided better safe than sorry, so the first thing I did after packing my car up was to stop at Walmart and get chains. I had no idea it was so complicated, but luckily I was able to goggle sufficient (I think) info about my car to get the right set and they were in stock. I never had to use them, so I guess I technically don't know for sure I got the right ones, but we'll just assume I did my diligence.

That hurdle seemingly behind me, I headed towards Yosemite. I listened to my audiobook for a good portion of the trip (this is a great way to make use of your time on long road trips)! It occurred to me, and not sure how it hadn't registered in my brain before, that one of the warnings in the Yosemite park's page was about the influx of traffic due to the February "Firefall." I looked up more information and found that yes, this weekend was the first anticipated possible sighting. The phenomenon lasts only a few moments, and conditions would have to be just right. Some websites said the sky had to be completely void of clouds, which I knew would be unlikely given the overcast forecast. But other sites showed pictures of the Firefall with clouds in the background - so clearly it didn't have to be totally, umm, clear.

Not getting my hopes up, I decided to at least try to locate where the possible Firefall would show and do some hiking in and around the area before checking in to my hotel. The websites made it sound like you had to get there really early to "claim your spot" for the viewing, so I didn't want to risk losing my "spot" by checking in to the hotel. Also, I thought there was a good chance that once I was in my room, I wouldn't want to leave my bed.

But it was also chilly outside - there was snow in parts of the park. I put my snow boots on thinking I'd just meander a bit, not quite ready for a full on hike. I ended up meandering for over 3 miles and, not wearing socks, my feet were starting to get a little sore in the boots. As the sunset drew closer, the clouds hadn't budged so I knew it was really unlikely that the Firefall would show at this point. Still, my FOMO (and frankly, not having anything really better to do other than unwind in my hotel room) kept me out there just in case the clouds suddenly parted.

For those that do want to pursue the Firefall, here are some tips I learned, at least based on the 2024 season.

• Entrance to the park is by reservation only Saturdays and Sundays during the peak Firefall weekends in February. But if you enter Friday as I did and stay at lodging in the park, then you don't have to worry about that.
• It's a 1.5 mile walk (one way) to the designated viewing area from the optimal parking lot. The park had lots of signs stating no stopping along the route to pickup/drop off passengers, but they did make a nice walkway out of half the road.
• The viewing area is a small field so you can bring a chair or blanket to sit on, otherwise you're probably going to be standing for a while and then hiking back the 1.5 miles.

Finally, I made my way to the Ahwahnee. It was valet parking only, so I did my best to juggle all the bags and things I wanted to bring in. I assume, after a 6 hour drive and then hiking and carrying in all my stuff, I must have looked a big frazzled because the front desk personnel did not seem interested in helping me. The keys to the rooms are not like those credit card-like keys that are so common, but rather old-school metal keys which is kind of neat.

Before heading to my room, I stopped by the Dining Hall hostess and asked if I could get a reservation for about an hour out - she said she'd put me on the wait list and it would be about an hour, so that was perfect. I figured I'd go shower and clean myself up a bit and then have a nice dinner and cocktails.

I took the pretty ancient elevator up to the fourth floor and not too far down its own hallway was my epic room 450. The room itself had a lot of old world charm much like the whole hotel. Not particularly my style, but definitely over-the-top, everywhere you look.

It took me a while to negotiate the double dutch doors out to the balcony but that was the biggest surprise. The balcony was GINORMOUS! I mean, this wasn't a 4 x 6 balcony. This was a deck with multiple couches, tables and chairs and gorgeous views 270 degrees. It looked like the outdoor seating area for an entire restaurant or bar. I think it was strangely shared with one other room, but there were no other doors leading to it so at worst it was a giant party balcony shared between two rooms. 

 

I hopped in the shower and got ready to head downstairs, figuring I'd go to the gift shop or bar if the restaurant wasn't quite ready. But in perfect timing, the text came through that my table was ready as I was waiting for the elevator. I assumed I had never been in the restaurant before, but as soon as I walked in I realized that my ex and I had gone there for lunch in our previous trip to Yosemite. Nevermind that, since I wasn't driving anywhere, I intended to have some delicious cocktails and a nice dinner in this gorgeous hall. And that is exactly what I did! For my first cocktail, I ordered the Inspiration Point. Then I went to the buffet and loaded up my plate. While the food was all good, I have to say that the mac 'n cheese had something a little magical about it and was hands down the best mac 'n cheese I've ever had (and I think I am a bit of a connoisseur, so that is a big statement).

I went back to get a few things for dessert, and I got my Firefall after all - in the form of a delicious cocktail. It was a hot chocolate spiked with a chili liquor. It was so sweet it was almost hard to drink, but very delicious.

In the morning, I grabbed a hot chocolate to go from the bar downstairs, and then retreated back to my room. I tried enjoying the breathtaking view on my gigantean balcony, but it was still a bit too chilly to really get comfortable. My windows had fogged up but I was able to wipe it off from the inside, so I enjoyed a not-so-complete view from my bed while I read and did some things on my phone.

When I was a bit more awake, I decided to explore the hotel a bit more. My first stop was the gift shop, and then I checked out the Solarium and the Mural Room. As it got close to checkout time, I packed my stuff up, checked out and called for my car at the valet. I still drove around quite a bit, still enjoying the park, but didn't feel up for any further hiking. I ended up on the other side of the park and exited that way, which was a little weird but seemed to put me closer to home, so couldn't complain about that. 

Anyways, if you want the most baller balcony ever, go for the "Featured Hotel Rooms - King" and book far in advance.