We have people going who have been on the trip before and who are experienced enough to lead the major hike, and others signing up who can teach people to ice skate.
Some of these people will be camping, some already have hotel room type reservations.
The campers got seven campsites in a group in the best part of Upper Pines campground, that they intend to share.
Signups for the Yosemite trip
have things you must do before you come to sign up.
You always need to bring a valid government-issued photo ID
to prove who you are and to prove how old you are
(which could be a drivers license or a clear photo on your cell phone of your passport)
and proof you are a De Anza student to be able to sign up for an event.
(For proof of enrollment you can show us, on your smart-enough phone, your enrollment – winter quarter – at the Portal.)
If you sign up for this trip before winter quarter and it turns out that you are not a student winter quarter (and/or are not a DASB card holder) and therefore can’t go on the trip, you will not get a refund and can not just show up in Yosemite and try to participate.
You can’t just show up for an off-campus event and expect to participate without having signed up in advance in person and having paid in advance, in part because the college has a release everyone who goes off campus must sign before they go off-campus.
The college release needs to be completed for each person for every off-campus event. It covers what should be done in a medical emergency, Rules of Conduct, and an acknowledgement that the college is not providing transportation. You sign, for example, “it is my responsibility to arrange for transportation to and from the activity.” It has to be signed by the student (or by the parent/guardian of a student under 18 years old), then the faculty or staff member leading the trip is responsible for getting it turned in to the administration before the trip.
You will need to write in your eight-digit De Anza College student identification number Campuswide ID (CWID),
(and we have found that some people coming to sign up for events do not remember their ID Number).
In the release you will give info about your health coverage and in the event of a medical emergency, who to notify.
(And we have found that some people coming to sign up for events do not know their type / brand of health insurance).
Take a look at a sample of the required-by-the-college release.
You can’t sign up on-line, by email or at this website, each student must appear in person to sign trip agreements/releases and show proof they are a currently enrolled student.
Your friend or even your spouse can’t sign the required paperwork.
Especially important to note since this is an off-campus overnight event, if you are under 18 years old the college requires that a parent/guardian will need to sign all the documents along with you, in person and must be present on the event overnight with you (and accompany you in all your activities).
There are no waitlists for club events.
Step One
If you carefully read the trip webpage
and the trip agreement.
before you come to sign up, it will go much faster and you will better be able to pass the trip pre-test.
(Most people who read the trip agreement and trip webpage before they come to sign up get perfect or near-perfect scores.)
Sample questions from the test.
Step Two
To sign up for the trip you
must show us your waterproof hooded rain jacket and pants.
because on previous trips the faculty advisor has had to dress people in plastic leaf bags.
Really.
We will not accept a rain poncho.
We will not accept thin, easily torn temporary rain gear like they sell at airports for emergencies.
Your snowboarding gear could be snow-proof, but not actually waterproof out in the rain.
If you can sew, you can Improve your inexpensive rain gear and turn a less expensive set into one with more features.
Read more details about the best (but not always expensive) gear at snow or rain camp must-haves
Step Three
Deciding if your budget can afford a hotel room, cabin, wood floored canvas roofed & walled tent cabin or a campsite is important.
Some club people got seven campsites in a group in Upper Pines campground, for the 2026 trip weekend, that they are willing to share. Some are for the official trip dates Friday, Jan. 30 – depart Sunday Feb. 1, 2026 (and some of them for arrive Thursday, Jan. 29, depart Monday, Feb. 3).
(If you want to have space in one of these campsites, make arrangements when you come to sign up for the trip.) Things to do in advance of the Yosemite trip
has details about choices of where you can stay overnight, (besides camping, there are cabins/hotel rooms/tent cabins) and how to check current prices and make a reservation.
If you choose to camp, we would like to see your tent, and have you pitch it, to be sure it will be adequate. Some people have told us past years they had a great tent but brought one that was not and ended up sleeping in their car.
There are crucial things wrong with each of these tents.
If you do not recognize why they are bad tents (or why the tents were set up poorly)
please read Don’t buy a cheap tent.
Instead of camping,
renting a canvas tent cabin could be less expensive
than renting proper winter camping gear / tent.
If you don’t want to camp (if you just don’t want to camp, or do not have enough experience camping in the winter, or don’t have the right gear)
you can book
a heated-or-not wood floored canvas roofed/sided tent cabin,
wood walled cabin, with a bath or with a nearby bathroom
or a hotel room with a bathroom, most with a small fridge and a big screen TV
– see lots of details about these, and how to rent them, at
Things to do in advance of the Yosemite trip
And check out the page with advice about staying in a Curry Village wood floored, canvas sided/roofed tent cabin, in case weather comes in and you decide to move out of the campground or you are considering choosing a tent-cabin (heated or not) for the trip instead of camping.
Step Four
You must bring your money order payment when you come to sign up.
(You can come to one of the signups meetings and get questions answered and/or take the pretest and show us your waterproof rain gear, but you can’t sign up unless you have your trip payment with you.)
see: how to get a money order to pay for an Outdoor Club trip
If you decide to go to Student Accounts and pay for the trip before doing paperwork (and before passing the “test” and getting approval of your water proof hooded rain jacket and rain pants) and then do not get the test done, do not get approval of your rain gear and do not get the paperwork done and in the hands of the faculty advisor before the trip, you will not get a refund and can not just show up in Yosemite and try to participate.
Step Five
Once you are sure you will attend the Yosemite trip, please email the club advisor
donahuemary@fhda.edu and tell her you will be going. Use your name as it is on De Anza College records (not a nickname you prefer). Tell her where you want to stay overnight, which days you will be in Yosemite (the trip is officially Friday, Jan. 30 – depart Sunday Feb. 1, 2026, but people also got campsites for Thursday, Jan. 29, depart Monday, Feb. 3) and what arrangements you have made for transportation.
The sign ups dates / places for the 2026 Yosemite National park weekend trip will be:
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FALL QUARTER
An early sign up (or just come and ask questions, maybe get the pre-test done, maybe show us your tent) Friday afternoon November 14 at 4:30 in classroom S56.
(People who came to the first signup included one who has never been to Yosemite, one who went on the trip last year, a couple of people who participated in the Baylands kayaking lesson and practice paddle in October . One is an EMT. They got reservations for some of the wood floored, canvas roofed and walled tent cabins (one of them heated, one of them not heated, but either way they know to bring a reeeeally good sleeping bag). (This means there is still a lot of space in the campsites that students reserved and intend to share.) Chocolate chip cookies were served.)
Friday afternoon Nov 21 at 4:30 in classroom S56. Chocolate chip cookies were again served.
More signups will be available by appointment for people who have been communicating with the club advisor and have their overnight accommodation and other plans made, Mondays, Nov. 17 or 24 or Dec. 1 2:30 – 3:30 p.m, on campus.
No other December (finals week) sign up days, as the advisor can not be there.
IF you want to pay the early sign up cost, make plans early.
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WINTER QUARTER Sign up (or just come and ask questions, maybe get the pre-test done, maybe show us your tent)
Fridays, Jan. 9, 16 and 23 at 4:30 p.m. at classroom S56. (These Friday sessions are great because we can use the classroom computer & big screen on the wall to look at pictures on trip webpages and answer questions more effectively, and even help you make a canvas tent cabin/ wood walled cabin or hotel room reservation online at the classroom computer.)
To find S56, go to:
https://www.deanza.edu/maps-and-tours/
Look for the S5 building. S56 is in the bottom left hand corner of the S5 building.
Or look at the map with room numbers of buildings at:
https://www.deanza.edu/maps-and-tours/s_quad.html
We will have a booth on Club Day on Thursday, January 22, 2026 (unless Club Day is postponed a week by rain).
Club Day is usually scheduled for 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the Outdoor Club intends to be there at least that entire time, (maybe even as early at 9 a.m.) but coming to sign up the last hour will not give you enough time to take the test and do all the paperwork to sign up for the winter weekend Yosemite trip.
Club Day has previously been in the Sunken Garden. BUT it will likely be in the main quad winter 2026.
To find the Main Quad notice on the mini-map below where it is in relation to the biggest fountain on campus:
You can also find the Main Quad in about the upper left – center of the campus map at:
https://www.deanza.edu/maps-and-tours/documents/Campus-Map-De-Anza-College.pdf
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The last chance to sign up for the Yosemite National Park trip, will be at the pre-trip meeting, noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25 at the De Anza swimming pool, or location To Be Announced, possibly with little notice.
– but if you arrive after 1 p.m. you will not have enough time to get all the paperwork done.
This can be a time people finally arrange carpools or caravans,
or make plans to use public transportation, an Amtrak train most of the way there, then transfer to a YARTS (Yosemite Area Rapid Transit System) bus https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/publictransportation.htm YARTS has said: “Enjoy breathtaking views on your journey to Yosemite National Park without worrying about driving. YARTS over-the-road coaches offer a comfortable ride with plenty of storage space, onboard lavatories, ADA accessible seating, and large windows, perfect for enjoying the scenery.”
and yes, the YARTS bus fits in between the ginormous rocks at the Highway 140 (Arch Rock) entrance station:
or make arrangements to share overnight accommodations. The campsites people got months in advance of the trip with the intent to share might be filled up with people by then, or people who want to camp will be figuring out who shares which campsite.
(Upper Pines campground was full for our 2024 weekend as of December 2024 and the best hotel accommodations will likely be sold out.)
If you miss the signups deadline
you can not just show up in Yosemite and participate.
People on this trip can hike to the top of Yosemite Falls, one of the tallest waterfalls in the world.
and/or take a short walk to this view of Yosemite falls
(photo below taken in February from the far left hand portion of the lower Yosemite Falls walkways/trails.)
