Yosemite and the wild winter storm of 2026
Book a Yosemite Firefall Guided Trip 2027
Not one, not two, but three total adventures into Yosemite National Park this year, and all of them were wildly different.
Showed my family around my favorite place
My wife and kids have been to Yosemite before, but never with me during the winter, and never to see Firefall. This year, 4 of us braved a long weekend when the NPS was no longer requiring permits. I was ready for a total zoo.
It was busy, but not as bad as I thought it'd be! It only took us an hour to get into the park on Saturday, and the other 2 days there was no wait at all.
My family isn't into the big vistas or sweeping landscapes. Everyone's favorite thing to do was scampering over logs and rocks, seeing how high they could (safely) climp on the Swan Slab and El Capitan, and seeing the hidden gems like the secret tunnel inside a tunnel.
They saw rocks glow red for a few minutes, but there was no water in Horsetail Fall, so the effect wasn't quite there. It poured our last day, which set the table for my 1st guided group.
A winter storm that shut down the whole park
By the time I shipped my family back home to Chicago and welcomed my next group of 5, tons of rain had fallen. And an intense winter storm was gearing up to dump several feet of snow in the valley.
We had to use tire chains. There was so much snow piling up on the trees they were collapsing and falling. This shut down the whole park for a day.
Luckily, we were staying inside and were allowed to continue enjoying the landscape. It's been a dream of mine to be in Yosemite after a storm like this. The conditions are insane, and the park is all but empty of the most dedicated people.
My group were such good sports. Despite slogging through slush, being wet and cold, and no red glow the first two nights, it felt like they were having a blast.
On the final night, we snagged a spot that's usually blocked off during this time of year. Clouds were completely socking us in. If you had asked me what the chances of seeing the falls light up were, I would have said, "Not good."
And then, inexplicably, it started glowing. Fragile and ephemeral, it was gone almost as soon as it started, but I've never seen it quite like that.
New experiences before we even hit Yosemite
My 3rd group was a little small due to some last minute cancellations and reschedules, which meant we could do exactly what we wanted. I always try to do a thing I've never done with each group, and this year we ticked off two before even reaching Yosemite.
First, we headed to San Fran to see all the hits - Pier 33, Presidio, and Baker Beach for the Golden Gate Bridge. I'd never been to Baker Beach, so this was a treat for me to see the iconic bridge from a new angle. There were boats sailing through the bay and boogie boarders enjoying the surf.
Then, on the way to the park we took a detour to a spot in the Central Valley where I heard you could see Half Dome and El Capitan from 70 miles away. Sure enough, after some scanning of the horizon, there they were. Kind of insane.
There was still snow taller than I was in spots in the park, even though most of it had been knocked off the trees. Again, Firefall didn't show up due to clouds, but there was a sunrise at Tunnel View where mist was flowing through the valley that was absolutely magical and peak Yosemite. Already looking forward to next year!
