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el portal/140 bivy

Original Post
Todd Ulz · · oakland · Joined Apr 2015 · Points: 5

usually i come in late on the 120 and stay right outside the park, buuut the road is closed.

anyone know any chill bivy spots close to the park on the 140?

thanks in advance, feel free to PM me if you'd rather

RyanO · · sunshine · Joined Jun 2009 · Points: 145
Jaclyn Harr · · Emeryville, CA · Joined Sep 2014 · Points: 0

Ryan, would you mind sharing with me as well? Thanks!

Jay Bird · · Marin, CA · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 1,136

The sand lot can be a total cluster, especially on weekends. You are good anywhere in one of the pullouts around El Portal that doesn't have a no parking or not camping sign posted. 

Ryan Hamilton · · Orem · Joined Aug 2011 · Points: 5

I slept in my car a couple of times last fall in one of the pullouts in El Portal. Lots of company, people with the same idea. 

Andy Novak · · Bailey, CO · Joined Aug 2007 · Points: 370

I thought Caltrans shut down the Sandlot a few years back? Rumor had it one summer CHP was ticketing people for trespassing. Use with caution. And, look where you step, lest you get a little brown souvenir on your shoe. Place is kinda gross, at least the last time I was there..

everbrad · · Orange County · Joined Sep 2011 · Points: 10

Pray that the camps outside the valley open before July

Cory B · · Fresno, CA · Joined Feb 2015 · Points: 2,577

I heard rumors as well that there is going to be a crack down on the El portal bivy spots. Anyone else heard these rumblings? Its going to seriously blow for climbers, espeically Bay area climbers if true. 

I usually come in from 41, where there are lots of quiet bivy sites, but its a fair drive into the valley. 

Its too bad they don't build the equivalent to the "Pit" in Bishop on the outsirtks of the park. But I suppose the thousands of climbers are a drop in the ocean compared to the millions of non-climbers that visit the park -- no wonder they don't care. 

dylan grabowski · · Denver · Joined Mar 2015 · Points: 95
C Brooks wrote:

Not just rumblings, it seems it is already happening. As recounted by a friend of mine:

"Rangers are busting people left and right with siren and high beam. Pretty disgusting like Blade Runner dystopia. Climbers un-friendly. Mad, even out by El Portal."

Bummer!

Ryan Hamilton · · Orem · Joined Aug 2011 · Points: 5
dylan grabowski wrote:

Are you talking the pull outs just before you enter the park? I got busted inside the park trying to sleep in a parking lot one night and the ranger told us to go to one of the pullouts in El Portal. 

carla rosa · · CA · Joined Mar 2016 · Points: 269
Ryan Hamilton wrote:

Which lot were you in and were you sleeping in a van with curtains or something? I have a friend that says he always sleeps in a lot somewhere in the valley (in front of the falls, Camp 4 parking lot, etc) and has never been or seen anyone get busted... He also told me one time he just walked into Camp 4 after dark and laid down a pad/sleeping bag and left in the morning, no problems... Not sure how much of this I agree with but just a friend's account.

I stayed in the sandlot for a night last week and yeah, it was fucking blasted. Although, I did see signs that said something along the lines of "Camp in designated areas only" there. I wasn't sure exactly where those were, but not sure why they would bust people if they had signs like that there? 

Ryan Hamilton · · Orem · Joined Aug 2011 · Points: 5
Carla R wrote:

We were in the back of a truck w/shell. It's a blur from lots of driving around the park, but it was a fairly empty, out of the way parking lot that we didn't think would be checked. We were wrong. It was a classic start to a classic Nose trip that had everything thing you'd expect: late start, running out of water, climbing through the night to finish, getting peed on by climbers above us, NIAD Germans almost stepping on my face while passing our bivy in the night, etc. I wouldn't change a thing, except maybe getting peed on, definitely the most disgusting thing I've ever had happen to me. 

Marc801 C · · Sandy, Utah · Joined Feb 2014 · Points: 65
Ryan Hamilton wrote:

We were in the back of a truck w/shell. It's a blur from lots of driving around the park, but it was a fairly empty, out of the way parking lot that we didn't think would be checked. We were wrong.

It doesn't matter that someone hasn't been busted or seen anyone nor does it matter how obscure the parking lot - the rangers regularly patrol and they will roust you if they suspect someone is sleeping in their vehicle. They've been  doing this for over 30 years and if anything have ramped up the practice in the last decade. Also, if you just walk into Camp 4 without having a site, it's very likely that your vehicle will be ticketed for not having a valid parking pass. Remember that any tickets  or citations in Yosemite are a federal offense and they will find you, even if you try to ignore it.

Jay Bird · · Marin, CA · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 1,136

So I guess you could just get a dingy and float it in the river tied to shore and sleep in that. Any regulations on that???

Sirius · · Oakland, CA · Joined Nov 2003 · Points: 660

The 120 is set to open May 1, will mean less use of the sandlot and the other pullouts around El Portal

Ancent · · Reno, NV · Joined Apr 2015 · Points: 34

I stayed near el portal a couple of weeks ago. No problem. I don't get how they can bust you if you're on national forest land where dispersed camping is indeed legal.

Aaron Livingston · · Ouray, CO · Joined Sep 2012 · Points: 330

It's because El Portal is actually technically a part of the park service.

Cory B · · Fresno, CA · Joined Feb 2015 · Points: 2,577
Rude Boy wrote:

So I guess you could just get a dingy and float it in the river tied to shore and sleep in that. Any regulations on that???

Nice. 

Ancent · · Reno, NV · Joined Apr 2015 · Points: 34

True, but as long as you pull over in the green land below you should be fine. I have no doubt people are being hassled; I just haven't yet and can't see how they have grounds to do so (not directly in the town of course). There's no label, but the big not-green splotch is El Portal.

RyanO · · sunshine · Joined Jun 2009 · Points: 145

Ancent, good point. There are closer pullouts than the sandlot, I commonly see people parked at the pullout across from the View lodge, stones throw from the park boundary, but it is not in the green.

Rude Boy, I'm not sure about the dingy, but you can sleep on a ledge without restriction (for now..).

Marc801 C · · Sandy, Utah · Joined Feb 2014 · Points: 65
Rude Boy wrote:

So I guess you could just get a dingy and float it in the river tied to shore and sleep in that. Any regulations on that???

You'd have to convince them to give you a backcountry permit. The only legal places to camp in the Valley are in designated sites in campgrounds and big wall bivis (not at the base of the route) .

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Northern California
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