It is generally fairly easy to reserve wilderness permits. You can phone the wilderness office in Yosemite and reserve the permit that way. It is good to have a game plan with alternative dates and entry points so that you can "audible" to your next alternative if you find your first one quota'd out. This system is way better than, say 20 years ago when the only way to reserve permits was by mail (and the other alternative was (still is) first come, first serve at the various ranger stations). With snail mail, it took some time to find out whether you got the first alternative, and no matter how many alternative scenarios you put on your application you could never be sure what you'd eventually get.FreddyC wrote: How hard is it to reserve wilderness permits? One of the reasons I stopped backpacking Yosemite about 15 years ago is that I was never able to show up and get the route I wanted. Now they have a reservation system, but I have never used it. How does it work? We will most likely be starting mid-week so that should help, but it is July afterall--high time for backpackers.
FreddyC
As an aside regarding Ten Lakes, it is not a bad hiking destination (some decent fishing in Ten Lakes and Grant Lakes, too), but for a multiday trip, it may be a bit limiting (ie better for a shorter trip) and lacking in variety, compared to some of the other options folks have posted above, especially the Tuolumne-based loop you mentioned as your lead choice (that I think is a superb trip).
