So I went with the wife to Yosemite October 7th -11th and stopped in my favorite campsite in Wawona. There is a booth for the ranger at the front but just to the left of it there is an open air booth. Here people leave left over green bottle propane, BBQ lighter fluid, isobutane canisters...whatever someone else might need. I usually look really quick as I was once short on BBQ lighter fluid and I scored some here.

Well...I never saw a whole camp stove sitting there with a rusty can of white gas! It was a Coleman 425F. I grabbed it and took it to camp...and after taking some seals and I pulled the pump and oiled the pump cup and it worked. It was full of pine needles, spider webs and rust but it worked. We brought our own stove but used this one instead to cook all 4 days we were there.

Next morning I talked to the ranger... He said he brought it there and it was indeed free... It was abandoned at another campsite (bridalveil creek) and been bouncing around for 2 years...a few people looked at it but no one ever took it and the camper who was registered never responded to calls or emails for them to go get it.. He was pretty happy it wouldn't sit through another winter haha. It sat for 2 years through rain... summer...snow...and no one took it.

Photos before and after I took it home and cleaned it up... Washed it out and treated the rust. Looks good for being outside in the elements all that time!

Pretty cool huh?

Upon arrival, there was no one to assist with our luggage. When we got to our room (we were in a cottage #710), the cottage was dirty. A large stain on the carpet, cobwebs, dirt all over the baseboards and the cottage was musty. The cost for the cottage…$750/night! I’ve had a better room experience at a holiday inn express! To their credit, the housekeeping supervisor came and gave the room a proper cleaning and took 20% off our first night.

Our last night here, we wanted to eat the the Ahwahnee Bar. We put our name on the list and was told it would be approximately 35 minutes. We were also told that if seats opened up at the bar we could eat there. We stood in line to get a drink when we saw two seats open up at the bar. As my wife went to sit down, the bartender informed us they were no longer serving food at the bar. We asked if we can just sit there with our drinks and he obnoxiously said no he wanted no one sitting at the bar. So we took our drinks and waited in the lobby (by the bar), waiting to be called. After 40 minutes I went up to ask about our status and was told he gave away our table because I wasn’t there. My wife and I were sitting 10 yards away from the bar! He never called our name or texted us even though he took my phone number. He asked me to wait again for a table to open up. I told him the entire experience from the obnoxious bartender to our table being given away, I no longer wanted to eat there. My wife and I ate sandwiches which we bought earlier that was going to be our lunch the next day.

Overall, the furniture and carpet in the room is old, worn out and should be replaced. They have nice chairs outside but most are missing the cushions and the chairs that have cushions, the cushions are old and dirty.

This place IS NOT worth the money they charge. There are better and cheaper options in the park!

Just wanted to share some friends I made during our trip the other week 🥰

Thank you again to everyone here who helped us with alternate locations and ideas for our sunset photos. I am still shocked we were able to actually get to Taft Point (and Glacier Point for the Milky Way photos). This was our first visit to Yosemite, and we had the most spectacular time. We used some of the great ideas we got for the day after in the park! Sure was easier to move and hike when not wearing a wedding dress.

I know it’s normally the second Monday in October, but was wondering if it’s staying open later due to weather?

Can anyone please tell me when would be the best time, if it hasn't already come and gone, to see the Fall colors on the Yosemite Valley Floor?

Thanks in advance for any help with this! 👍

Excited to be coming to Yosemite for the first time at Camp 4 starting next Wednesday 23-28 with an option of extending depending on weather and if it’s nice (is it? 🤔)

I’d be up for connecting to folks who’d like to do some day hikes B-C speed (1.5-2 mph).

My secret plan for getting a good camp site is whipping up a batch of chile with the final summer crop of peppers, tomatoes, and shelling beans from my community garden in Portland, Oregon.

I figure that should assure me that no one gets too close!

Thanks already to this community for the encouragement and good advice.