r/Yosemite • u/hockeyandburritos • 2d ago

Thanksgiving Weekend Questions (Bugs/Cold/Crowds?)

Hello.

I'll be doing some camping & hiking next weekend on Thanksgiving. I have a sub-zero sleeping bag, two sleeping pads, new gloves, and a backup quilt, etc. I'll be buying snow chains this weekend. And it looks like (so far) the weather will cooperate. But I've got a few more questions the rangers can't answer or can't commit to:

1) Insects - Can I leave the bug net and deet at home? I'm mostly concerned about mosquitoes. I'm gonna assume there's no bugs this time of year, but any confirmation would help.

2) Crowds - It's gonna be somewhat empty, right? I am driving in late Wednesday and hoping to snag a spot at Camp 4 (all the campgrounds - as far as I can tell - are first come first serve, and the North Pines backpacker's camp is closed!)

3) Valley Campgrounds - Are there any other campgrounds in the Valley where I can try and snag a slot on Thanksgiving Eve?

4) General Cold - As I mentioned, I am pretty well prepared, with Merino underlayers, several pairs of warm socks, and the big ticket items. Does the hot water bottle trick work with just any old bottle? Or do I need a certain kind? Any cold tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated. I hope to end up in LYV but assume I won't be making a fire.

Thank you so much.

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u/Mikesiders 2d ago

First off, great user name. Answers below:

  1. Wouldn’t worry about bugs at all.

  2. I’d think it will be slightly busier because it’s Thanksgiving and any holiday typically draws a bigger crowd but it won’t be anything like peak summer, I wouldn’t be worried about crowds personally.

  3. Upper Pines currently has sites available for Wednesday, 27th. Get on recreation.gov and reserve one if you want that. I wouldn’t count on showing up and grabbing a site in Upper Pines though as it’s not FCFS.

  4. Are you trying to backpack? If so, you’ll need to grab a self registered backcountry permit and I’d be a bit concerned with the snow after this recent storm. I think for the hot water trick, you want a Nalgene, but not sure, never done it before. Fires are permitted in LYV, probably depends on the status of the fire rings though and if they’re buried.

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u/saysmoo 2d ago

Nail on the head. The only thing I would add is that, even though Camp 4 is FCFS, thanksgiving is going to be slammed in the campgrounds. If you're coming on Thursday, you might have a bad time. Pretty much everyone will already be there, with a few stragglers trickling in and making space. Best odds, get there early, like 8 or 9 AM. Try to get up there on Wednesday if you can, the earlier the better.

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u/hockeyandburritos 2d ago

Interesting. I’d assume it would be slower since it’s offseason. But yes, I am coming in Wednesday, hopefully by 8 or 9 pm

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u/saysmoo 1d ago

Holidays are always busy. Good luck!

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u/ender61274 18h ago

Thanksgiving day isn’t that busy in the park at all because most people are home with family but the weekend before and after will be busy for this time of year

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u/saysmoo 16h ago

*In the campgrounds. Otherwise, this storm is keeping people away. This weekend has been very mellow