Yosemite Policies
COVID-19 Policy: Due to Covid-19, all reservations made are contingent upon guide availability. Payment will be taken at the time of booking to hold your reservation and charged once your scheduled tour can be confirmed.
In accordance with YNP, the CDC, and the local health department guidelines, our guides will maintain 6 feet social distancing from you and our groups will maintain 6 feet social distancing with other people/groups on the trails. Please be prepared with a mask for each person in your group and hand sanitizer. Masks will be optional when 6 feet social distancing is not possible.
Covid-19 Refund Policy – All refunds during the Covid-19 pandemic will be issued as a store credit for future visits to Yosemite National Park.
Payment Policy: We require full payment via credit card or Paypal for all 1 day tours at time of reservation. This will secure a date, guides, and any necessary permits for your tour.
Cancellation Policy: We run our tours in all weather without canceling. The only way we cancel a tour is if the roads leading into Yosemite National Park are closed due to extreme weather conditions.
We require 14 days advanced notice to cancel a tour for a refund. We will charge a transaction fee commensurate to the amount of charges we incur and will refund the difference. Refunds are not offered to those who cancel within two weeks but consideration will be given based on the circumstances of an emergency.
Although we do rarely cancel tours for bad weather, we would invite you back on a future tour at a discounted price. The size of the discount would depend on the severity of weather and the ability to successfully complete the tour. This clause applies mainly to our Photography Workshops.
Half Dome Tour Cancellation Policy: Because Half Dome Tours require permits obtained through a lengthy process, all sales will be final and cancellations will not receive any consideration for a refund. This is due to an extremely limited supply of permits available.
Bad Weather and Fire Policy: We hike in all weather. If bad weather or fire causes a trailhead or a road inside Yosemite to be closed, we will reschedule a comparable tour in a different location of the park. Tours may be cancelled because of poor air quality due to wildfires on extremely short notice.
Late Arrival Policy – Due to health and safety concerns we’ve instructed our guides to cancel the tour without a refund after waiting for 30 minutes to limit their risk of exposure to Covid 19 while waiting in a public place.
Short Notice Policy: We reserve the right to charge a $150 privacy fee for all groups booking a tour with advanced notice of 3 days or less.
Backpacking Reservation Policy: We charge a non refundable $500 deposit for all backpacking tours. The remaining balance will be charged two weeks prior to the first date of the backpacking trip.
Tipping Policy: We allow our guides to receive tips, and they are greatly appreciated. We have no set guidelines for tipping but can refer you to the FindaLink.net Tipping Etiquette Page if you feel inclined to tip.
Photography Policy: We will photograph you during the tour and will share free copies with you with a link from our website. We sometimes use these photos in our promotional material and share them on our social networks. Please let us know if you do not wish to have your photos taken or shared and we will respect your wishes.
Referrals & Discounts: We offer a 5% discount for all referrals and return clients. We will also apply this discount to members of the military and senior citizens 65 and over.
We occasionally will run a discount special on certain workshops to increase attendance. In this rare event, clients who are signed up for the session will not be eligible for the new discount. If we run a special after a client has signed up for the event, the cost to cancel the transaction and run a new one would be prohibitive and would prevent us from offering the new discount.
Trail Policy: It is our goal to lead you on a trail that is away from the crowds, but we sometimes hike on trafficked trails based on criteria set for each tour. It is more difficult to achieve this goal in months with road closures that limit our choices of trails. Every trail we hike can be found on a map by yourself.
International Tour Policies
Payment Policy: We require a nonrefundable 50% deposit payment via credit card or or check or wire transfer at time of reservation up until the deadline to sign up. The balance will typically be charged 4 months prior to the tour date.
Cancellation Policy: We reserve the right to review every cancellation to determine if any refund will be issued based on conditions for the cancellation.
Tipping Policy: We strongly encourage all guests to tip their international guides. We have no set guidelines for tipping. You can refer you to the FindaLink.net Tipping Etiquette Page.
Travel Insurance Policy: Travel insurance is not included. The international tour companies we partner with do not provides travel insurance for any of its guests. You will be responsible for your own travel insurance.