NATIONAL PARK IS A WONDERLAND IN ITS SLOWEST TOURIST SEASON.

Byline: Eric Noland Travel Editor

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK - Venturing into the Yosemite Valley in winter can require both persistence and a stout heart, as the weather can turn harsh without much warning.

A visit in early December coincided with a fierce storm that slammed into the Sierra Nevada foothills just before nightfall. As freezing rain turned to snow on Highway 41, the most direct route for travelers from Los Angeles, rangers were requiring that drivers have either chains or four-wheel-drive vehicles with snow tires. We talked to one traveler who braved this route, and he said it was a nightmare of fender-benders, with even the police vehicles spinning out of control.

We opted instead for a more roundabout route, Highway 140 from Merced, because it winds through the mountains at a lower elevation. But even this road was no picnic. A series of rock slides slowed traffic, and a big one just west of the national park entrance closed the highway entirely for a period of about half an hour. When it reopened, our vehicles crept into Yosemite Valley in single file, like a small wagon train, as the storm continued to rage in the darkness.

Potentially harrowing travel conditions may be de rigueur in winter, but the payoff of a visit during this season can be considerable. That was certainly evident the morning after our arrival.

The storm had played itself out, but not before depositing a generous flocking of snow on every shrub, rock and towering evergreen in the valley. Sun glinted off Yosemite's spectacular granite faces. Fog crawled up the mountain clefts like smoke. High overhead were puffy white clouds, set off by patches of an impossibly blue sky.

And here was the most significant reward of all: There was no one around. Or so it seemed. Anyone who has bemoaned the crush of Yosemite visitors in summer will be astounded at how wide-open it seems to be in the dead of winter.

There is no continuous stream of tourists trooping up to the Lower Yosemite Falls overlook. No human stampedes across the meadow boardwalks. Few tour buses (one or two at a time). No traffic jams, no overflowing parking lots or congested turnouts.

There are far fewer activities than in summer, but there's still plenty to do. At Badger Pass, there are ranger-guided snowshoe walks. Cross-country skis and snowshoes are available for rental. Curry Village has an ice-skating rink and welcomes all ability levels, from wobbly beginners to spinning show-offs.

Other visitors gravitate to Yosemite Valley at this time of year for its high coziness factor. Wood-burning fireplaces seem to crackle everywhere - even at the Village Deli. One of the most popular congregating spots in the Ahwahnee hotel, in fact, is the massive fireplace in the Great Hall. Its opening measures about 6 1/2 feet tall by perhaps 15 feet wide, and a maintenance worker said the blaze is kept stoked from 5 a.m. until about 11 p.m. (For all of its fireplaces, he said, the hotel goes through two cords of wood per week in winter.) The comfortable couches and chairs that front this fireplace are rarely empty, especially when reading lamps have been positioned nearby.

Getting around in the valley is easy, whether by private vehicle, free shuttles or on foot. And after surveying the incredible beauty of the landscape, you'll likely conclude that this trip is well worth any travel perils. That was our experience as we wandered daily through a real-life Ansel Adams gallery:

--Half Dome wore a little helmet of white, and clouds backed up against its sheer, chopped-off side.

--Sun gleamed off El Capitan and the other edifices of the valley's north wall, while the south side, in deep shadow most of the day, was a mosaic of white snow patches against gray granite.

--As the sun heated up the snow-covered meadows, an ethereal fog rose from them. In the thick of the forests, the same effect occurred with tree trunks, downed logs and lichen-covered rocks.

--Deciduous black oak trees, dropping brown leaves, stood in among brilliantly green incense cedars, creating a dramatic contrast.

--The Merced River, which courses through the park and is often a fury in springtime, was placid, throwing off reflections of the valley's towering walls. Each and every boulder in it sported a little white dollop of snow - which served notice that you didn't want to take a blundering step into that water.

--Waterfalls froze at the edges overnight and were just wispy mists in the morning, but the sheets of ice eventually tumbled down the cliff faces, intruding on the valley's stillness with thunderous, gunlike reports.

To accommodate pedestrians, the park's bike paths are plowed regularly. A warning, though: These routes are paved with asphalt, and when the snow melt dribbles onto them in the afternoon, there to be frozen solid overnight, it creates some treacherous walking conditions - the unwary can find themselves engaging in some involuntary figure skating.

Another option is to travel along hiking paths and closed roads. During our visit, the snow was too icy and lumpy for cross-country skiing, and not deep enough to warrant snowshoes. So we just tramped about - to the falls, to Swinging Bridge and the chapel, to the village, to Mirror Lake.

It is on the trails that you're most likely to encounter wildlife, or their signs. We saw numerous deer, as tame as cattle. We spotted one coyote. Gray squirrels bounded about. We found numerous paw prints in the snow, and tried to assure ourselves that this one here surely belonged to a dog, not the mountain lion that had been seen in the area.

On this walk, you also might get a crick in your neck from trying to take in the various geologic eminences high overhead: Royal Arches, Washington Column, Glacier Point, North Dome, Half Dome and Mount Watkins (which appears to be a bookend to Half Dome on the other side of the valley).

Stop. Listen. Hear that distant hum? It comes from many miles away, where hordes of tourists are voicing a vow to visit Yosemite as soon as the snow melts.

CAPTION(S):

5 photos, map

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) Yosemite's winter visitors can amuse themselves constructing a snowman on a meadow boardwalk or simply take in the majesty of Half Dome crested with snow, right.

(3) Visitors trek toward a Yosemite Falls overlook on a path that is usually crowded in summer.

(4) A Yosemite National Park ranger guides a snowshoe walk through the wilderness.

Reed Saxon/Special to Great Escapes

(5) At Curry Village's ice rink, some of Yosemite's winter visitors enjoy skating - one of several light recreations available.

Eric Noland/Travel Editor

Map:

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK