These tours are all custom designed to meet your interests and abilities and are examples of the kinds of tours we can design for you. Please contact us for planning and pricing.
FOCUS ON PHOTOGRAPHY
Designed for all levels of experience from beginners to experienced professionals, this tour is customized to your interests and skill level. Your guide/instructor will be a very experienced Yosemite nature photographer who will take you to great locations at the best times of day for obtaining and excellent variety of images during your visit. Digital or film cameras are welcome.
HIKING TOURS:
MIST TRAIL/VERNAL FALL HIKING TOUR
This exciting outing is a moderate, mile and a half hike, up a well traveled trail, followed by steep stairs where we are sprayed in the mists of Vernal Fall. We eat lunch by beautiful Emerald Pool above the 317′ waterfall. A longer option for some is an additional 2 miles to the top of 594′ Nevada Fall.
UPPER YOSEMITE FALL HIKING TOUR
While Lower Yosemite Fall is beautiful, the Upper Fall is beyond spectacular! This strenuous hike is worth all of your effort! You haven’t REALLY LIVED until you’ve stood at the base of this 1430′ waterfall with its mists blowing in your face! A more energetic option is to continue to the top of the fall with its views down the fall, into the Valley, and across to Half Dome and the peaks beyond.
SUNSET DINNER TOUR
From late spring through early autumn when road conditions permit, this tour departs at 4:00 pm from Yosemite View Lodge in El Portal and returns after dark.
After a short tour of part of Yosemite Valley, we begin a moderate walk (30-45 minutes), at a pace that most people will enjoy, to the top of a beautiful rocky dome. On a table cloth we lay out a dinner spread and watch the sun set from the top of the dome. As the evening light falls, we have a star talk option beneath a sparkling sky, far from city lights. We may arrive back in El Portal as late as 10:00pm. Many people report that this tour was the highlight of their trip.
SPECIAL EVENTS
We were approached by a creative guy who wanted to propose marriage to his lady love. “I want to surprise her with some ice skating and a winter hike that is not too strenuous, but gorgeous. It would be just the two of us, and I would like your help setting some things up on the trail – because I am planning on proposing to her. Interested in helping me out and being our guide?”
After discussing several options, we agreed on a location below Lower Yosemite Fall where they would be in the winter sun during the middle of the day. We further agreed that we would provide a small table with a white tablecloth, a red rose in vase, a bottle of his chosen champagne, and glasses. In addition, I would photograph them from a distance and not invade their special place. No posed pictures!
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These are the kinds of custom options that we can offer if you have a small, special occasion in mind.