Planning a trip to Yosemite National Park? Want to set up your tent below El Capitan with the Merced River meandering by? If so, pay close attention.
When the National Park Service tells you that all campsite reservations — made five months in advance, beginning on the 15th of the month — can go “in a matter of minutes,” trust me, THEY’RE NOT KIDDING.
Feb. 15 was D-Day for getting any campsites between June 15 and July 14, and I was ready with a plan: Log in, get my wife’s preferred site at the Lower Pines campground, book four days and dream of a blissful trip with the family.
Here’s how it really went.
I logged in at 9:35 a.m., made sure I was signed up (I had booked NPS reservations in the past); if you’ve not reserved 
before, you’ll have to create a log in. Do this well before 10 a.m.
By 10 a.m., I had wended my way through the site to the point where I had selected the state (California), park (Yosemite), the dates and the length of stay. You then hit a ‘search’ button to see what’s available. Until they open the reservations, nothing comes up.
So I start hitting ‘search’ at 10. And again at 10:01, 10:02. Nothing. It’s not until about 10:07 that it opens up. Whoosh, the screen fills with options: Lower Pines, Upper Pines, Tuolumne Meadows. Lots of availability.
I quickly navigate to Lower Pines, find site No. 69 — unbelievable! — and click ‘book dates.’
And then…
Nothing. Screen goes blank, then an error screen appears. The government site has termintated my session and suggested I restart. So I do, logging in again, hit search and — everything at Lower Pines is gone. So long, No. 69. Upper Pines is booked, as is North Pines. Tuolumne Meadows is filling fast and, 
damn, now it’s full. We end up in Crane Flat, located outside of the valley. This all happened in well under 10 minutes.
So the dream will be deferred, or at least moved 30 minutes west. That’s OK, I hear it’s beautiful there too.
If you’re going this summer, the next big reservation date (for July 15 to August 14) is March 15. Like the Boy Scouts, be prepared. Have a backup plan and don’t have your heart set on one place; the entire park is spectacular, we’re told.
And you can bet I’ll be keeping a hard copy of my wife’s last email before I went into the reservation system:
‘ Good luck! It will be fine whatever we get.’
I sure hope so.
– Mike Wilkinson
Bear Watch: Check out these web cam shots from Yosemite:
