Unfortunately the nearby forest fires meant views in the park weren't great, but it was still amazing scenery and worth exploring, despite the long drive. En-route you stop off midway after about two-hours at Oakdale, where there is a supermarket with cafe and deli counter and you are advised to get sandwiches here for lunch to maximise time in the park. You also stop here on the way back. Our guide pointed out sites along the journey and told us about wildlife and geology of the park. The journey there is long with some steep windy, roads, but the mini-bus is comfortable and air conditioned. The park is huge and in a few hours you only have chance to walk around Yosemite Valley but there are some great views from the bus en-route. You have about 3 hours in the Valley as free time to explore. This gave us chance to take the free shuttle bus between sites there are 20 stops in a loop and the bus comes round every 10mins and it takes 50mins to do the entire loop as well as walks to lower yosemite falls, the swinging bridge and the visitor centre. There is no time for longer hikes. Your guide gives you a couple of maps I didn't find signage in the park that easy to follow, but the shuttle bus was good if quite crowded. You can hire bikes in the area. We then drove on to the base of El Capitan with our guide for photo stop and then onto Bridalveil Falls for photos, which were amazing despite the smoke from the fires. Temperatures were warmer in the park then at the coast so I would advise wearing layers.