Yosemite Trip

That's a nice trip. I've done it several times. However, working in Half Dome on either or your days is asking a lot. Take a good look at the elevation gains involved and then make an assessment. You may be a lot more fit than me!

One possible option is to go from Yosemite Valley to the Clouds Rest junction, ditch your pack there, climb half dome, then return and camp at the creek that's a mile or less up the trail from the junction. Still a vigorous day.

it's a beautiful trip, however it's also in the busiest part of the park. And so the bears are the busiest in this area, so leaving your pack anywhere unattended is kind of a bad idea. Even if you remove all the food items and put the bear canister, which is mandatory, far from the pack, bears are still aware that packs often contain food, and so have been known to rip apart packs just to see what's in there.camping in little Yosemite Valley would allow you to leave things in the locker to lighten the load and then day hike to half dome which is what a lot of people do.

The permit is different for Day hiking then it is for backpacking, so don't get a day hiking permit in the lottery and then think you can use it backpacking.

That first day is going to be brutal, especially if you are heading up from sea level. You probably won't get a very early start, and then you are hiking up 5,000 of elevation gain in a single day. IF you haven't done this before, you are in for a bit of shock.

And your second day is VERY short. Why not stop the first night in Little Yosemite Valley, saving yourself a couple of thousand feet of climbing and a few miles on the trail…camp with everyone else…then head up to CLoud's Rest and Sunrise the next day?

You'll have to check your permit to see if it's OK to camp in the backpacker campground in Tuolumne Meadows. Otherwise, you might go past Sunrise to Lower Cathedral Lake, and the to Vogelsang on day three. that's doable.

And yes, you will see a lot of people on this trip. If you want to get away from the crowds, duck into Echo Lake for a night (instead of Cathedral Lake) and have far fewer neighbors…

And if you go down Lewis Creek from Vogelsang, you can head up to Bernice Lake and camp there away from the crowds at Vogelsang…although it would add a few more miles to what is already your longest day.

We have done all of these routes and more. You can check out the trips on backpackthesierra.com, our website.

One year I took the bus from the valley to TM and then made my way down to the valley via Vogelsang and Clouds Rest. May make an easier and more enjoyable trip. If it's not long enough there are a boatload of side trips.

Thanks for the comments! Very helpful.

First I should mention that this is an 8 day trip in total. So Day 0 is flying to SFO, renting a car, driving to Yosemite and camping in Yosemite Valley. Then the next day we head out bright and early. Day 7 is waking up in Yosemite Valley again and then driving out to SFO and heading home.

Lori: Thanks! Yep, I know I'll need a backcountry permit as well as a special permit for the Half Dome cables.

Jeffrey: I've been looking at the elevation profiles and working to adjust… I know that first day is a killer.

Paul:
We won't be heading up from sea level, but it's still a killer… so it's seems like that needs some adjustment. The short second day was a bit of a hedge against that. The issue with stopping in Little Yosemite the first night was due to the fact that we would be getting into Yosemite Park around 5:00 the day before, camping, and then heading out first thing on my Day 1… but that could be adjusted.

I'm less concerned with crowds, but thanks for the advice on alternate campsites! I'll definitely check out your site.

I'm also not married to this loop. I know there's a loop hitting all the High Sierra camps as well. If there are better areas to explore… I'm all ears. Mostly I'd like to get in 5-6 straight days of backpacking and try to do Half Dome… those are my larger goals for the trip.

Like Lori, I'm not seeing a good way to avoid carrying almost everything to the top of Half Dome unless you leave gear in the metal lockers in Little Yosemite Valley. Half Dome is a great side trip to that itinerary, but let me throw out another approach (it's what I'd do):

Do your 5-6 day backpacking trip without going up Half Dome. Have a day permit for Half Dome the day after your backpacking trip. End your trip a day earlier, get to Valley, scarf a lot of food, turn in early, spend a night in a bed, and then start EARLY (6 am at the latest, 5 am is better, 4 am is great) and do Half Dome as a day hike with 4 pounds on your back. I much prefer doing it that way and find that coming off of a week-long high-elevation trip, I'm much more acclimatized to the elevation and the hiking than I was week before.

David, do you know where your phrase came from: "scarf a lot of food"?

Between 40 and 50 years ago, there was a hippy commune that had started up in an old cabin near Yosemite Valley. The hippies there didn't have much money for food. So, every few days one of them would walk to the Yosemite Lodge Cafeteria, purchase the cheapest item for breakfast (a cup of coffee) and sit down with it in a quiet corner of the place. Soon, some tourist family would enter, purchase their breakfast meals, and sit down to eat. Kids, being like they are, would leave half of their breakfast uneaten on their trays. The hippy person had been checking this out all along. So, as soon as the tourist family got up from their table to leave, the hippy would swoop in with a scarf or bandana, grab up the most portable food like a banana into the scarf, and resume the seating in the quiet corner. Eventually the cafeteria manager would chase the hippy out, but the food made its way back to the commune.

–B.G.–

Bob,

I didn't know the etymology of that meaning for scarf, nor that I was being so location-appropriate with my context for it.

Having gone to Berkeley, I'm used to unwashed people hovering over my plate asking, "Are you going to finish that?"

The half dome permit you need is on the wilderness permit – you tick a box and then wait and see. You may not get it. Which is not the end of the wolrd – clouds is a far nicer experience, in my biased opinion. As is the Diving Board – if I go near Half Dome at all that's where I head. You have to know how to find the route off trail and it isn't easy with a backpack but it is the only legal place to camp within two miles of the dome, and hardly anyone goes there.

I think if you take your canister out of your pack and separate it, you should be fine. After all, everyone leaves their packs out unattended at night with food smells and all, and it seems to work.

Clouds Rest is great, but you don't get to climb the cables. Fact is, logistically, climbing Half Dome creates problems and probably requires a day in itself, especially if you have to wait at the base to climb. Also, it's usually best to get an early start because of the possibility of afternoon lightning, and also again because of the crowds. Perhaps you could get to Little Yos. valley a day early and get an early start, then climb and descend to the valley. People leave their packs out when they do this–they're not allowed in bear boxes.

Anyway, if you miss out on Half Dome you'll still be happy with your trip, I'm sure.

I never leave my gear outside in the heavily trampled regions of the Sierra, of which Yosemite is one. everything from chewed trekking pole handles to holes in packs to tooth marks in gear left by inquisitive bears, to stolen sporks, to nibbled shirts by salt craving deer, make me careful. Gear goes in my tent with me or in a locker with the food. check out the board at the backpacker camp in Tuolumne, where the bears steal empty backpacks, for a great example of why. Also the warning on the board at Lake Eleanor about the pack stealing bear in that area of the park. There are no doubt still shreds of nylon in the manzanita above the trail to Rancheria Falls, where my friend's pack was torn apart by a bear that snatched it and ran when he turned his back to pee.

not everyone gets this lucky…. but it happens more often than anyone thinks. I'm sure it's underreported due to stiff fines for letting bears get food.

Here is a little different way of getting some of the same with little variation. Park your car at Curry Village take the YARTS bus to Mammoth Lakes, spend the night. Get a permit to start at Shadow Creek TH to the JMT. Take that to TM to resupply. Hike up to Vogelsang to Merced Lake to LYV. Depending on how you hike there may be a chance to do Half dome the day you get to LYV, if not you can do it in the AM and then hike out. From Vogelsang it is all downhill. I did this hike without Half dome this summer with my 9 and 11 year old.
Things to consider:
1. Easier to get a permit starting in Mammoth Lakes
2. You get a Half Dome permit from Mammoth Lakes
3. You can resupply at TM
4. Can be a timing issue with catching the YARTS
5. You get to either spend the night at Thousand Island Lakes or hike by it.
6. You will be able to secure the permit earlier that Yosemite.

Eric: That's an intriguing trip… what's the overall mileage on that?

like the header says

Based on Eric's idea, I've revised the trip. Here it is. Any feedback is appreciated.

Day 1: Fly to SFO, rent car, drive to Yosemite Valley and get shuttle to Mammoth Lakes… camp overnight at Reds Meadow (Yeah, this is a hell of a day, I know)

Day 2: JMT to Thousand Island Lake (~13 miles)

Day 3: Thousand Island to Lyell footbridge (~9 miles)

Day 4: Lyell to Tuolumne (~10 miles)

Day 5: Tuolumne to Sunrise (~9 miles)

Day 6: Sunrise to Yosemite Valley (via Cloud's Rest) (~15 miles)

Day 7: Half Dome or day hikes in Yosemite

Day 8: SFO and home

Your first day on trail will be tough (esp. coming off a hellish travel day!). Perhaps shorten that slightly, and add on a bit to the second day?

Another question would be why you're going all the way down to Yosemite Valley on the second-to-last day; why not spend the night at Little Yosemite Valley instead, which would set you up perfectly for a Half Dome day hike? BTW, LYV has bear boxes, so you could leave your pack there, and just bring a few things for the day hike.

There was some discussion about whether or not gear could be stowed at the LYV lockers so we don't have to lug all our stuff up Half Dome. I need to research that a bit more. Ideally, day hiking Half Dome from LYV would be the best thing to do if we can safely stow gear away from bears.

Yeah, days 1 and 2 could suck… there's some fiddling to do there or just add another day to the trip.

I stayed in LYV overnight with my wife and we left our tent setup, with out packs and bear canisters near by. We left our campsite "setup" and hiked Half Dome as a day hike. Everything was fine, no bears messing with out stuff. And there had been a bear in LYV that night, but it didn't bother us. My guess was that our campsite was neat and clean with bear canisters in plain site. My guess is that bears have learned that those are the sites that do not yield any food so they don't bother.

I don't know if you've already researched your transportation plans or not. I assume you're planning to leave it in Yosemite. That would work but might be a bit pricey.

I would suggest as an alternative you look into flying Mammoth. You'll have a plane change in Los Angeles but if you run the numbers you might find overall that it would be cheaper and more convenient than doing the SF-Yosemite-Mammoth route. You could get back home easy enough by catching the YARTS bus from Yosemite back to Mammoth.

One thing that can put a kink in a tight schedule plan, both going and coming, is that there is only one bus run a day between Yosemite and Mammoth.

http://www.yarts.com/schedule/2014/HWY%20120%20-%20Mono_.jpg

There is always the private shuttle service alternative at a bigger chunk of $'s.

LYV has one bear box per campsite, and the boxes are quite large (we easily fit out 2 JMT packs inside). I'm sure if you camped there, you could leave your stuff in your designated box, day hike Half Dome, pick up your stuff and head down to the Valley before the next people occupied the site. To be extra polite, you could leave a note with your stuff, explaining that you'll be removing it before X:XXpm.

Also, I would suggest having a few alternative stopping points for your first day (from Red's). That way, you can see how you're feeling. Rosalie Lake is a really, really pretty small lake with a few campsites (+/- 10 mile day), or continue on another mile to a campsite by the creek 0.1 miles before the trail to Lake Ediza, or continue another 2.5 miles (up over a ridge, then down) to camp at Garnet Lake (IMHO just as gorgeous as Thousand Island Lake).

Flying in to Mammoth is an excellent idea. Saves you a bundle of time and also the cost of renting a car.
Instead of getting onto the JMT from Reds Meadow you can take the shuttle bus a few miles up the road to the Agnew Meadows TH. The 5 or 6 miles you are skipping are often described as hot and dusty. Your first day on the trail will be that much more pleasant.