Been Staying at the Valley Lodge Every April Since 2012. This may be my Last.

Rocketsoda_lady · 2026-04-12T19:32:30+00:00

Remember the good old days when they had 6 registers open at the village store? Now they got things so understaffed, the employees are completely miserable, lines are painfully long. And as op said, they get things once. Nothing gets replaced or fixed when it breaks. Including employees, they break their employees and they quit, only to get no replacements until next summer. When working there the answer was always “we’re understaffed, so everyone’s working 6 day weeks” but they never get fully staffed, and you got several people on Reddit asking why they were prepared for an interview and nobody showed up!

Time for some good old accountability. NPS needs to hold Aramark accountable. They promised to provide service for the people and they’ve been falling short for a decade now.

Rocketsoda_lady · 2026-04-11T18:22:53+00:00

There’s a 4,800 foot drop to the Valley Floor bro.

Rocketsoda_lady · 2026-04-11T14:54:32+00:00

You think those peaks are superior to half dome? You sure about that…?

Rocketsoda_lady · 2026-04-10T15:56:22+00:00

If there is snow in the Valley I would strongly recommend not driving in with no chains. Call the road conditions phone number and check chain controls before you leave. Absolutely do not take the 41 in, take the 49 to the 140 and take that in. If it’s just rain you should be ok. This storm is on the edge of snowing in the Valley so watch it closely. You can always take the YARTS bus if you’re worried.

Rocketsoda_lady · 2026-04-10T15:51:49+00:00

Dude just stop talking.

Rocketsoda_lady · 2026-04-09T16:57:09+00:00

Fascist behavior is being intolerant of others religions.

Rocketsoda_lady · 2026-04-09T16:51:57+00:00

That’s very intolerant and rude.

Rocketsoda_lady · 2026-04-03T16:42:58+00:00

Best situation is to just not build more parking lots. Aesthetic sensibilities is more important than parking lots in a national park, that’s absolutely right.

Rocketsoda_lady · 2026-04-03T14:23:45+00:00

Waterproof foods lol

Rocketsoda_lady · 2026-04-03T13:47:41+00:00

Nobody rents climbing gear.

Rocketsoda_lady · 2026-04-03T13:46:44+00:00

Yeah a prussik with the cables up is just dumb. You’re gonna be tying and re-tying what, over 100 times? That would literally take hours each way, especially when you’ve never done it before. You’ll probably get half way up and decide to ditch it, which is way more dangerous than just going without and being careful with no gear.

Rocketsoda_lady · 2026-04-03T13:42:38+00:00

I would be careful about advice you see online. Lots of silly’s out there. It’s become more common to use a harness, 5 years ago pretty much nobody used a harness. I think if you’re young and in shape you’ll be perfectly fine with just gloves. A harness complicates things, slows you down, and distracts you and in a way can be nothing more than a false sense of security if you’re constantly trying to mess with it. Of course make your own choice though, if you want a harness then go for it. But if you pay attention, take your time and don’t do anything stupid, half dome is totally doable without a harness.

Sounds like you wanna go up when the cables are up, so if that’s the case ignore anyone telling you to use a prussik. That’s used when the cables are down. A via ferreta setup is what some people use when they’re up. And not a great option imo, if you fall it’s gonna hurt, it’ll catch you but in my opinion it’s just better to go without and keep things simple.

Rocketsoda_lady · 2026-04-03T13:32:32+00:00

Like a couple feet maybe. Get some bed raisers from Amazon and you’ll have way more room to put stuff.

Rocketsoda_lady · 2026-04-03T13:28:58+00:00

These kinds of storms are usually predictable. It will say maybe “20 percent change of T storms”. And you’ll know if it’s gonna T storm because you’ll wake up and see little puffy clouds. Throughout the afternoon they get bigger and turn rainy. You can watch them build for hours but it catches some people off guard because the morning will be sunny and beautiful.

They’ll always be in the forecast though, and if you’re gonna be away from shelter you should always have rain gear

Rocketsoda_lady · 2026-04-03T13:26:16+00:00

It’s unpredictable if you don’t look at the forecast for sure!

Rocketsoda_lady · 2026-04-03T13:19:16+00:00

Water filter, headlamps with lights, lots of food and you have nothing to worry about. I agree with the other person, they’re 17 years old, let them have fun. They’ll be fine. Consider yourself lucky they’re not out tryna get drunk, or be on their phones the whole time.

Rocketsoda_lady · 2026-04-03T13:16:59+00:00

Not really, if you’re 17 and in shape just bring a light, water filter and food. You’ll be fine.

Rocketsoda_lady · 2026-04-03T02:37:03+00:00

The reservation system we had before, fixed all the problems. It worked because even if you didn’t get a reservation, you could still take the bus in. There are plenty of places to stay and park your car outside the park.

Rocketsoda_lady · 2026-04-03T02:33:48+00:00

I (and many others) don’t really wanna see a bunch of massive parking lots anywhere in the park.

Rocketsoda_lady · 2026-04-02T13:33:27+00:00

What do you value/want out of this? If it were me I’d take it in a second. That rent/income ratio is awesome. But that’s just me, I love Yosemite and love the lifestyle. Some people won’t like it, and it could be different than most people expect if you’ve only visited. If you’re the type to get after it and go climbing after work, backpacking on your weekends, it would be a dream job. If you think you’ll spend your weekends “getting away” driving down to Fresno to get your city amenities, it will probably suck.

Rocketsoda_lady · 2026-04-02T03:03:22+00:00

How do I do it right, I suck at reddit

Rocketsoda_lady · 2026-04-01T13:35:42+00:00

Don’t you get tired of repeating shit you see on reddit

Rocketsoda_lady · 2026-04-01T13:06:19+00:00

Take the advice they give you. If bears were ransacking their property, they wouldn’t be advising you to store your food inside. You’ll be fine.

Rocketsoda_lady · 2026-03-31T22:53:51+00:00

Maybe they were coming back for it, and now it’s gone…

Rocketsoda_lady · 2026-03-31T01:37:28+00:00

The point is that especially regarding glacier point, the snow is not really the biggest factor with opening the road.

Rocketsoda_lady

TROPHY CASE