YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — The first time I stayed in Curry Village, it was a hot July a few years back and the place was packed with people — and bears.
I was staying in one of Curry's tent cabins, which have wooden frames and platforms, but canvas walls and no electricity. Inside are two cots.
I've slept in tents among the grizzlies of Yellowstone, but hearing people bang on pots and pans every night shouting "bear!" had my nerves jangling at bedtime. One evening, we saw a cub ambling past our tent. And another night my husband ran into one standing up at the lockers outside the communal bathroom.
I slept with a flashlight in one hand and a pair of my daughter's craft scissors in the other, which, I explained to her, I would use to cut us out of the canvas wall if a bear came through the front door (because bears always use the door, right?).
This did not go over well and we all decided we should stick with Yosemite Lodge, our usual lodge, next time.
But when I called to see if I could swing a room anywhere in the valley during spring break, Curry Village was the only spot left. Someone had just canceled their stay in one of the real wood cabins, it turned out, so I could get three nights there for $169 a night plus tax. (Tent cabins are $124.)
I'm so happy I took it. It's my new favorite sleeping spot in Yosemite Valley. Of course, the bears are just waking from hibernation (as are the crowds), so summer might still be noisy.
The wood cabins (there are 56) are on the opposite end of Curry Village from the 319 tent cabins, so it felt sufficiently woodsy. In fact, other than a boy beating a giant mound of snow with a stick next to our cabin one afternoon, there were few human sightings.
Our cabin was cozy and clean with antique, iron bed frames, no TV, and, most importantly, a private bathroom. That meant no cold, late-night walks through the pitch dark. (Visitors in tent cabins have to trek to communal toilets and showers.)
The cabins are tucked into a stand of ponderosa pines in the shadow of Glacier Point and Half Dome, and when the light slants softly through the branches, it's fairly magical.
In the morning, it's a five-minute walk to a decent buffet breakfast in the cafeteria ($11.50 for adults and $7.50 for kids). I found a fire roaring in the stone fireplace, surrounded by sofas. Even in the summer, the early hours can be cold.
Next to the cafeteria is the Pizza Deck, which is where we ordered a large, satisfying-enough cheese pizza for $19 every night to keep dinner costs down. There's also a small bar on the deck with a good selection of draft beers and cocktails, plus burgers and fries.
The deck has tables and chairs and amazing views of Glacier Point and the Royal Arches. Next door is a gift shop/grocery store where you can buy items to make your own picnic.
Across from the Pizza Deck is the unofficial Curry Village hang-out, a wooden building with a porch lined with rocking chairs. Inside is a stone fireplace (lit in mornings) with framed photos on the wall above the mantel of Jenny Curry (Mother Curry) and David Curry, who started Camp Curry in 1899 with a handful of tents.
The room is full of sofas, chairs and tables. It's kept toasty warm. The place was packed at night with people Facebooking, as it's one of the rare places in the park with a Wi-Fi connection. Others were playing cards and chess, sharing pictures from the day, eating snacks and drinking beer. We played Crazy Eights and watched a college-age kid do the Rubik's Cube with a sweatshirt over his head in 2 minutes and 18 seconds, then behind his back with one hand.
Curry Village is also where you rent rafts (starting Memorial Day weekend) to float down the Merced River, and bikes. My husband, daughter, nephew and I picked out some beach cruisers in the morning and kept them for the day ($26.50). We biked the valley floor, which has 12 miles of trails and spectacular views at every turn.
It's something we do every time we visit Yosemite. The scenery is unreal, no matter which way you turn your head; no coincidence that Yosemite Valley was the muse of naturalist John Muir and photographer Ansel Adams.
Because of massive snowfall this year (the snowpack is 175 percent of average, according to one website), waterfalls seem to be running down every massive rock face, and the most famous ones — Yosemite, Bridalveil, Vernal — are raging, making the panorama even more amazing.
For lunch, we splurged, spending $111 on cheddar beer soup and burgers at the grand Ahwahnee, which opened in 1927 and is now a four-diamond hotel with 34-foot beamed ceilings and floor-to-ceiling picture windows. Afterward, we took a stroll through the meadow out back, to the sandy shores of the Merced, where we found some fallen logs to walk on.
Later we parked our bikes again to walk the 1-mile loop trail to Lower Yosemite Falls, which were going off like I've never seen it. Just one crossing of the bridge at the foot of the falls and we were soaked from the wind-blown spray.
Bridalveil Fall was glorious, too. The path that you walk along up to the falls actually had a steady stream of water, wetting our shoes. The sun was shining when we got to the foot of the falls, making multiple rainbows in the mist. There was so much water blowing around we were afraid to get our cameras out.
Another day we hiked straight up the side of Vernal Falls on the Mist Trail, a nearly-4-mile round trip that's a must for Yosemite visitors who aren't afraid of a hamstring workout; steep, slippery steps; or getting wet. The trail had been closed for winter but opened the day we arrived. If the sun is out on the Mist Trail, so are the rainbows. It was overcast the morning we went, but nevertheless worth about 100 pictures.
Back at the trailhead, we hopped the shuttle (they hit every major stop in the valley about every 15 minutes throughout the day) and headed to Happy Isles, where we got off to trek a mile or so through the trees up to Mirror Lake, where we climbed a giant boulder at the water's edge and dozed on top in the warm sun.
Then it was back to Camp Curry and a good night's sleep.
CURRY VILLAGE
For reservations at Curry Village: Online at www.yosemitepark.com/accommodations or by phone at 801-559-4884. Curry Village tent cabins currently cost $124 a night, while wood cabins go for $167 a night. You can book one year in advance but there are always cancellations so you can sometimes swing one only a few weeks before you want to go.
For information about accommodations and attractions in Yosemite National Park, go to www.yosemitepark.com.
For information about Yosemite National Park, go to www.nps.gov/yose or call 209-372-0200.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.