Yosemite Trip - 2015

(partially plagiarized from Yosemite Trip 2007)
We are organizing a winter Murray Group trip to Yosemite this year. This will be a fun and casual trip for all group members, there will be no special skills or special gear required.

Snowshoes, skis (downhill and cross country), and snowboards are available for rent at Yosemite for those in the group desiring to take part in such activities.

Details

Trip Date

We've selected the trip date based on people's availability and Richard's schedule:

• 13-15 March, 2015

If you are interested in joining the group trip, email Zachary Sun. We will have housing openings up to two weeks' before departure.

Trip Itinerary

• Friday - Meet your carpool from early morning to early afternoon and drive to Yosemite. Check into cabins.
• Saturday - Hang out at Yosemite. There are a couple of possible day activities depending on the snow state, including hiking, cross-country skiing, downhill skiing at Badger Pass, "research" if you're so inclined, or just hanging around camp :) Equipment can be rented at Yosemite.
• Sunday - Open activities (including day hikes or sleeping in) in the morning, return to Pasadena in the afternoon/evening.

Information about Yosemite

• Lodging in Curry Village
• Yosemite National Park
• Gear Rental

Participants

• Richard Murray, +1 - ___ departure
• Zachary Sun - ___ departure (can drive, room for 4)
• Ioannis Fillippidis
• Marcella Gomez, +1
• Samira Farahani
• Enoch Yeung, +1.5
• Yong Wu
• Vipul Singhal
• Sean Sanchez + 1
• Clare Hayes
• Yutaka Hori
• Emzo de los Santos
• Shaobin Guo
• Anandh Swaminathan
• Ivan Papusha
• Victoria Hsiao
• Ania Baetica

Housing

1) The majority of people will probably choose to live in Camp Curry. These are either tents or cabins.

• Unheated tent. If you dare to brave the cold! It will cost the night's low temperature (average 30's)./night + 11% tax. Can sleep 4 comfortably (1 double bed, 3 single beds). *These have cots and sheets, this is not camping but rather low-cost glamping*
• Heated tent. Will cost the night's low + $20. (max $60/night + 11% tax). Can sleep 3 comfortably (1 double bed, 2 single beds). *These have cots and sheets, this is not camping but rather low-cost glamping*
• Cabin w/o private bathroom. $153/night + 11% tax. 2 double beds.
• Cabin w/ private bathroom. $204/night + 11% tax. 2 double beds.

• 

  Non-heated canvas tent. Live here at your own risk of freezing!

• 

  Heated canvas tent.

• 

  Curry Village cabins, heated.

(Images c.www.yosemitepark.com)

2) There is also housing at Yosemite Lodge and the Ahwahnee. These are pricier options though starting at $200/night, and you'll be a drive or shuttle away from Camp. See http://www.yosemitepark.com/the-ahwahnee.aspx or http://www.yosemitepark.com/yosemite-lodge.aspx.

Currently booked housing

• Curry Village Heated Tent: 3 beds, Held by Zachary Sun for last minute stays and modifications, Conf 399SB123372
• Curry Village Heated Tent: 3 beds, Held by Zachary Sun for last minute stays and modifications, Conf 399SB123374
• Curry Village Heated Tent: 3 beds, Held by Zachary Sun for last minute stays and modifications, Conf 399SB123375
• Curry Village Heated Tent: 3 beds, Zachary Sun / Shaobin Guo / Yutaka Hori, Conf 399SB123409
• Curry Village Heated Tent: 3 beds, Conf #: 399SB123664
• Curry Village Heated Tent: 3 beds, Anandh / Ivan / Vipul (Confirmation Number: 399SB123673)
• Curry Village Heated Tent: 2/3 beds, Ania / Ioannis (Confirmation Number: 399SB124221)

Meals

This is old, will update with new information:

John will coordinate the group breakfasts, lunches, and snacks to help save on the trip cost.  We will plan to bring two breakfasts and two lunchs.  For dinners there is a local cafe where we can apparently get pizza and other food items.  The following items are suggested for breakfast, lunch, and snacks.  Please let John know if you want anything added to this list  

*Breakfasts: bagels, cream cheese, butter, orange juice, oatmeal (variety of flavors)
*Lunches: sandwiches (wheat bread, pita, salami/cold cuts, cheese, lettuce, tomatos, mustard, peanut butter, jelly), lemonade, apples, bananas, carrots (peeled)
*Snacks: Granola bars, trail mix, apples, bananas, cookies, lemonade, dark chocolate! (and some milk chocolate too...), oh and Skittles for Richard.

There is supposed to be an eating area at Curry Village with a toaster and microwave, so we will hopefully be able to warm the bagels...

Packing List

Head and Hands

• Winter hat
• Gloves or mittens
• Scarf (optional)

Upper Body Layers

• 2 t-shirts
• Mid-weight long sleeve shirt (long underwear is best, cotton is okay)
• Sweater or sweatshirt
• Fleece jacket or wool sweater
• Winter coat and/or a rain coat or shell if it fits over the fleece jacket

Lower Body

• Underwear as needed
• Jeans are okay for skiing if you're not planning to fall down a lot, fine for wearing at night
• If you're not an expert skiier I'd recommend snow pants or fleece pants/jeans with synthetic athletic-style pants over them
• Synthetic long underwear bottoms (if you have them)

Feet

• 1 pair hiking boots or sturdy sneakers (if you want to snowshoe you should bring boots)
• Socks

Travel Gear

• Small backpack for day hiking/skiing

Sleeping

• The tents come with cots, but to supplment you can either bring blankets or a sleeping bag. (This is not necessarily necessary in the heated tents and cabins, but very much so in the unheated tents)! You can rent both from the Caltech Y for a small fee.

Micellaneous

• 2 quart-sized water bottles
• 1 small flashlight or headlamp
• 1 toilet kit: toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, soap
• Towel for showering (though they should have 1 in case you forget)
• Sunscreen, lip balm, tissues
• Sunglasses
• Any medications you need
• Camera (optional)
• Board games to play at night (Pictionary, Cranium, etc.)
• BYOB
• Money for ski rentals, dinner, food on the drive up

Pictures

These pictures are from the 2003 Murray Group winter trip to Yosemite.

Richard, Lars, and Domitilla

Half Dome