Yosemite in Jan - how cold?

[niccig]

A parent from DS's school is organizing a long weekend in Jan. at Yosemite. I've never been, neither has DS. We're thinking of going. But I need to know HOW cold - the Dad did mention skiing, so I'm assuming cold. We have a number of accommodation options and I think I'll go for heated cabin with bathroom, so I don't have to go outside in the middle of the night.

Reminder - I'm from a warm, sunny place and I find LA's winters to be cold. I do have a down coat that reaches my calves, sorrell boots, patagonia expedition weight long johns, insulated ski pants and jacket, north face down jacket, a couple of icebreaker sweaters and fleece jackets. So I do have the gear...just not good at dealing with cold....

[dhano923]

Parts of Yosemite aren't open in January. You should find out whats being planned and then look into whether those areas are expected to be open. I believe some areas took longer to open this year due to the extended cold. My DH goes to Yosemite a couple times of year to do photography. We live in LA too.

[maestramommy]

We went to Yosemite in mid Dec a few years back with Dora. I'm assuming it might be a tad colder in January. There was a lot of snow and it was cold, but not uncomfortably cold. We used all the cold weather gear we would've normally worn in Joshua Tree at that time of year. Fleece, hats, our gortex jackets, hiking shoes. We stayed in a hotel so we didn't have to worry about staying warm while sleeping. It was so much fun! Yosemite is gorgeous in the winter!

We did short little hikes from the car. there are a number of trails that are open at that time of the year. Dora was about 14 months old so she was in a backpack carrier the whole time. Unless you're going to do very long hikes, you will just be hopping in and out of the car, so dress in layers.