Any feedback, or input will be utilzed for a new backpacker

[loach]

Hello.

We will have 3 hikers, 1 virgin to backpacking (moi), 1 with a couple of overnight trips and 1 with many years of experience, including Whitney summit.

With the grizzled veteran and the area we are considering going to I am not to worried about being caught unaware or off-guard, but what I would like to minimize is showing up unprepared. I have spent the last few weeks searching, reading and filtering information for this trip, including reading 9 pages of post's on this forum alone

I would definitely be the weak link in our trio, but I do hike and I have stepped (yeah, I said it) my game the past few weeks and wear ankle weights most days at work, as well as a nifty #12 very petite vest to get some endurance ready. I will have several overnight trips with my pack under my belt before we take off on the trip I am about to describe and ask for feedback on.

Our goal is simple, basic and understandable...scenery, heights with no cellphone, dog or wife

What we are considering is arriving Saturday in the Valley, pick up our permit ( 5 nights, Glacier Point->Illilouette and exit HI) and spend the Saturday night in the backpacker camp in the Valley, ride the shuttle to GP on Sunday and get it on.

1st night would be Illilouette, which brings me to my 1st question...best place to camp the 1st night>?

2nd night would see us go Panorama trail towards Sunrise area MAYBE, would Sunrise be the best compromise for semi-solitude but maintain proximity for a Tuesday (we have permits) HD climb? Would there be a better spot between Illilouette and HD to camp and maybe do some day hiking with the goal of Wednesday to be Clouds Rest and surrounding area?

3rd night would depend upon the answer to 2nd night, ideally we would be able to stay 2 nights in the same camp.

4th night...shotgun, what do you suggest?? Maybe towards Cathedral? I could change our exit to be TM and go from HD/CR towards TM since we would have 2-3 more nights available.

5th night depends upon #3 & 4.


Basically we would for sure do GP to Illilouette,Illilouette to HD and CR, that would take care of 3 nights and still leave us with 2 more wilderness nights. Understanding that I can make our exit EITHER HI, or TM depending upon the feedback and suggestions here.

Thanks for reading, and THANK YOU if you reply

Loach

[RoguePhotonic]

Why is your first day so easy? Glacier Point to the Illillouette Creek area is about 2 miles and all down hill. Most hikers could reach it in under an hour.

If you went over to Sunrise Camp on your second day you would be out of your way for a Half Dome or Clouds Rest Summit. Even Clouds Rest is 7 miles from Sunrise camp. And you will find way more people there! Not a place to go unless you like crowds.

I'd consider spending a night on the summit of Clouds Rest. I have done it twice now and it's a wonderful place to be!

[markskor]

Loach,
5 nights, Glacier Point->Illilouette and exit HI?
"my 1st question...best place to camp the 1st night?"
YNP does not really care where you exit, only that you must start out at one designated TH...in your case - Glacier Point.
Starting GP, No camping Illilouette Bridge, at about 2 miles in. Technically, 1st "legal" camp is a mile or so farther up Illilouette creek, (4-Mile Rule), and if that is your desire, staying up Illilouette Creek, then Mono Meadows a better TH.
BTW, Panorama Trail rules state: GP - LYV, no camping until LYV. (Panorama Trail meets the Muir atop Nevada Falls, LYV about 2 level miles more up river.) Total time GP - LYV, maybe 4 - 5 hours tops. And, just so you know, LYV is a zoo...100 - 200 nightly Domers with little wilderness experience...fun place but not solitude, or wilderness...2-story crapper included.
Bit more: LYV a OK place first night, a great base (leave tent setup) from which to do the Dome and return same day, or a good-enough place to recover on your last night out, but...
If GP start, suggest LYV 1st night (no other real options), then packing up and going on toward Sunrise Lakes second, after HD & CR - agree a night atop CR magic , and maybe even exiting out of Cathedral Lakes (3rd and 4th)...making this an easy 5-day trip. Better yet is starting TM and doing it all the other way but that requires another Permit.
Mark

[loach]

Thanks for the beatdown, er input lol.

The only permit I can see working with hitting HD on Tuesday with a Saturday start, with how I understand the rules, is either the GP starting point and working towards TM. Or start Murphy Creek with the 1st overnight at Glen Aulin, backtrack the next day to Cathedral or Sunrise which would be about 9.5 miles from Aulin to Cathedral or Sunrise? That would leave Monday for CR and Tuesday for HD, with Wed and most of Thursday free time.

??

[markskor]

Bit confused by the Tuesday (only) HD permit restrictions. Is this new...one day only allowed, and you have to stipulate what day before leaving?
Maybe wrong (all too often) but thought the backcountry 5-day Permit enabled you to do HD anytime along any of your permitted days, thus when you pass by second day. Suggest checking on this when you pick up your actual permit in the Valley...see if you can get/they allow any another HD summit day.

[AlmostThere]

What we are considering is arriving Saturday in the Valley, pick up our permit ( 5 nights, Glacier Point->Illilouette and exit HI) and spend the Saturday night in the backpacker camp in the Valley, ride the shuttle to GP on Sunday and get it on.

No shuttle to GP. Just a tourist bus you need reservations for, probably. Specially on a weekend. Going to be about 20 bucks.

1st night would be Illilouette, which brings me to my 1st question...best place to camp the 1st night>?

Four mile limit puts you up the creek a mile or two, or in Little Yosemite Valley - permit needs to reflect the first night so needs to be decided beforehand. If you're going up the tourist bus way you'll probably be late getting to the trailhead so maybe shorter is better.

2nd night would see us go Panorama trail towards Sunrise area MAYBE, would Sunrise be the best compromise for semi-solitude but maintain proximity for a Tuesday (we have permits) HD climb? Would there be a better spot between Illilouette and HD to camp and maybe do some day hiking with the goal of Wednesday to be Clouds Rest and surrounding area?

I would tank up on water and camp beyond the 2 mile limit outside LYV, on the way to Half Dome. There's also a spring part way up the ridge. Going up out of the canyon/valley would also make for a warmer campsite. If I ever wanted to do HD again, that is.

Do you have dayhike permits, or are you going to ask for the HD stamp on the wilderness permit? If you have dayhike permits, give them to friends. You don't need them.

[loach]

You know what? I forgot that with a wilderness permit that we would be allowed HD as a result,l that makes things MUCH simpler now!

I think we might just stick to Murphy Creek to Glen Aulin day 1, check out Waterwheel Falls day 2, cross the road and head towards Cathedral day 3, Day 4 clouds Rest and HD day 4/5 and the valley backpaker camp to rest up at the end before heading home.

I had been hung up on Tuesday for HD due to the cable permit, forgetting that the wilderness permit would get us up top as well.

[tim]

The Glacier Point permits are either for Illilouette or LYV and are not interchangeable (there are far fewer for LYV and they are harder to get). So you have to stay in the Illilouette drainage the first night, though you can be flexible after that. If you have 5 nights and are going later in the season then you could do the Ottoway/Red Peak Pass loop with your current permit and do HD the last day. That would seem better than a lot of backtracking.

[AlmostThere]

What's missing is WHEN you intend to go. If it's going to be soon, you won't get permits from TM trailheads until Tioga Road opens, and you may find the hiking difficult unless you can navigate across snowfields.

Our Tioga adventures are going to begin in late July and continue in August and September - I intend to do some Trailhead Bingo, walk in, get a permit for whatever's left, and go.

[maverick]

Hi Loach

Would you please clarify what your intentions are as of now, and more importantly, when
is your trip planned for since this will make a big difference on what I can recommend to
you.