Yosemite valley in the fall

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millertime
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Yosemite valley in the fall

Post by millertime »

I'm heading into the valley for 3 nights next week and I'm looking for suggestions on what to do in the valley. I haven't been there since I was probably 13 or so. I'm sure pretty much every trail is worth doing but if anyone has "must do" suggestions for the fall I'd like to hear them.
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BSquared
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Re: Yosemite valley in the fall

Post by BSquared »

My favorite Valley-oriented trail by far is the Panorama Trail. It connects the Mist/JMT trail, which goes up to the top of Vernal Falls, with Glacier Point. A really excellent loop is to hike up to the top of Vernal and then Nevada on the Mist Trail, head down the JMT back toward the valley, pick up the Panorama Trail where it meets the JMT and go to Glacier Point, and then take the 4-mile trail back down from Glacier Point. If your knees are bad, do it the other way 'round. :\
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AlmostThere
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Re: Yosemite valley in the fall

Post by AlmostThere »

The Mist Trail is a lot better now - they did a ton of rockwork over the summer and I was able to walk down the steps from Nevada, instead of doing deep knee bends down. So doing the 4 mile up and Mist Trail down might be nice. :)
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Re: Yosemite valley in the fall

Post by sierramel »

Take a mountain bike. TAKE YOUR CAMERA!
"Some places remain unknown because no one has ventured forth. Others remain so because no one has ever come back."
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AlmostThere
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Re: Yosemite valley in the fall

Post by AlmostThere »

sierramel wrote:Take a mountain bike. TAKE YOUR CAMERA!
Take a mountain bike if you intend to stay on roads where they are legal...
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Re: Yosemite valley in the fall

Post by sierramel »

Sorry I failed to mention that. The park is full of paved trails and roads where riding a mountian bike can be a real joy. It can free you from the tourist bus, and your car. The bike trail to Mirror Meadow which passes by the backpacker campground and the Ahwanee Hotel is nice when the leaves change. You can ride the valley road around to El Cap Meadow (if you watch the traffic) and you can watch the climbers up on the face.
Put on your daypack, grab your camera, and explore the roads and trails on the Valley floor.
"Some places remain unknown because no one has ventured forth. Others remain so because no one has ever come back."
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balzaccom
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Re: Yosemite valley in the fall

Post by balzaccom »

This from our blog:

Just back from a wonderful three days in Yosemite, where we had a lovely time taking hikes that we would normally avoid. Yes, these were trails that had been worn down over the summer by hordes of tourists, but in October we saw only four people a day on these trails. How nice is that?

Our first hike was to Elizabeth Lake, which is just over two miles from the Tuolumne Meadows campground. You might expect that this trail would very popular, and it is in the summer. But on this trip we saw only two people, and had the lake to ourselves. (This is also a fall-back route to get into the back country via Nelson Lake, for those of you who may wonder about last minute wilderness permits.) Lovey hike--a nice climb for the first mile, then ann easy stroll up the valley to the lake, which sits underneath the imposing Unicorn Peak. And yes, there were some nice brook trout in the lake.

Since we had time, we also climbed up to the top of Lembert Dome...and saw a total of four people on that hike. We shared the stunning views of Tuolumne Meadows and the surrounding peaks of the Yosemite high country with a young German couple...and nobody else!

The next day we hiked part of the Pohono Trail, from the trailhead at Glacier Point Road down to Dewey Point and back. We saw a total of six people on this amazing eleven mile hike until we got back to Taft point in the afternoon, where we finally saw about twenty people who were marveling at the fissures and Taft Point. But Dewey Point has some of the best views in Yosemite, and we ate lunch there in splendid solitude. It was a magical day.

On the way back we really enjoyed the various fungi that came out after the recent rains...a real show!

Finally, on our last day. we drove up to White Wolf (closed for the season) and took the short hike to Lukens Lake. Again, this is a trail that attracts a ton of people in the summer, but on this day we met only one other couple--they were on their way in as we were hiking out. And yes, there were fish here too.

The only downside to the trip was our lodging in Curry Village. We agreed to try this as an experiment, and would have to rate it a full-blown failure. Too many people, too close together. The tent sites in the campground have far more privacy...and when a drunken guest kept us up most of the night with her wretching and heaving, we knew it was not our kind of crowd...

Next year, we'll just go camping.

Photos are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/balzaccom/Y ... yHikes2010#" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Check our our website: http://www.backpackthesierra.com/
Or just read a good mystery novel set in the Sierra; https://www.amazon.com/Danger-Falling-R ... 0984884963
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Re: Yosemite valley in the fall

Post by quentinc »

Love the photos from Dewey Point. I've never been there -- just Glacier. The last time I was by Lembert Dome, it was pitch black and 3 guys were coming down (or trying to) by headlamp.
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Re: Yosemite valley in the fall

Post by sierramel »

Shoulda' warned you about Curry Villiage - that place is nearly always a reinactment of "Animal House".
"Some places remain unknown because no one has ventured forth. Others remain so because no one has ever come back."
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