5 Night Yosemite Backpacking Trip Help

[rlown]

or there's this. 23.4 miles approx.

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Night 1. burnt at TM.

Night 2 somewhere around Cathedral/Sunrise. (you could swing around to catch Bernice, but..

Night 3 getting in at cloud's rest.

Night 4 getting into HD camp.

Night 5 will probably be back at HD camp unless you change plan.

If you stretch this to 7 days, it would be better and much more pleasant. You can hit some of your side roads to the South. Mark and I are probably implying the same smell here.

[canyonexplorer76]

This is all very helpful so far. I definitely don't want to bit off more than I can chew, that's for sure. I know for sure that we can stretch the trip to 6 nights but not sure about 7 nights at this point. I do a lot of fishing back here at home in Massachusetts and as fun as it would be I think I'll have to skip the fishing on this Yosemite trip. I want to see as much as possible in the time we have and am trying to keep the backpack as light as possible so I think the fishing rod stays at home for this one.

I'm going to look everything over that's been posted so far. I'm sure I'll have questions as well.

Thanks again and I hope everyone has a good New Year's!!!!!

[canyonexplorer76]

Spent some time looking things over and have come up with this so far:

We'll park the car in the valley now and then catch the hiker's shuttle to Tuolumne Meadows. Whether its the morning shuttle or late-afternoon shuttle will depend on what time we arrive. Depending on the arrival time we'll either camp overnight in the backpackers campground in the valley or at the backpackers campground in Tuolumne Meadows. After that first night we'll have an additional 5 nights in the backcountry to make our way back to the valley. What I'm looking at now is something like this:

Start out at the Cathedral Lakes Trailhead to Cathedral Lakes and camp there the 1st night. On the 2nd day we'd head towards Sunrise Lake and camp near there that evening. On the 3rd day/night I'm open to suggestions to something that would be worthwhile to see (not sure if Bernice Lake is too far out of the way here.........). On the 4th day we'd head up towards Cloud's Rest and camp there for the night. On the 5th day we'd head towards Half Dome and camp somewhere below that evening in preparation for the next days hike up to the top of Half Dome. On the 6th day we'd start out early to beat the crowds on Half Dome. After checking out the summit for a while we'll head back down and continue on the Happy Isles Trail to make our way back to the valley and to the car.

Wondering if this is a more reasonable plan of action and also some ideas for the 3rd day/night. Are there other nearby trailheads in addition to the Cathedral Lakes Trailhead so that I can list more than one starting trailhead on the permit application to increase our odds of obtaining a permit???

Thanks for all the great advice so far..........

[rlown]

PM sent.

[sparky]

People like to come to yosemite and hike CR and HD. Of course the view from their summits are beautiful.

I have found for me, it is the little things....the scenes you would least expect that end up the most inspiring and memorable. Scenes big and grand or down on your hands and knees small.

If I am off base, just ignore me

I am not trying to knock you down or anything, it makes total sense to want to hike to the famous and epic summits. I totally get it. Its just....we have all seen the pictures, we already know it is great there is no surprise there. Do not discount the power of the unknown. The west was built on it.

I just feel like there is so much to experience elsewhere, CR and HD consume a lot of precious time. Glacier Point offers a great view that you can drive to.

I cannot really offer much of a suggestion, because the whole area is great. The Cathedral Range is great from any angle, any trail.

[rlown]

What Sparky said!! I think mark even hinted at the grand canyon of the Tuolumne. You have at least 3 trips that you want to do.

This trip focus on your main stuff (Clouds rest, HD).

Next trip you can either pick the GCT, or go fishing around the great loop which catches Bernice and all those lakes you don't know about yet on the big upper canyon sweep.

She can't be a one shot wonder and think you've seen it all.

[markskor]

Just a thought about that "open" day after Sunrise lakes...(FYI, Bernice from there is too far),
Take a zero day!
Never underestimate having a day free in the backcountry.
BTW, at lower Sunrise, while the fishing is, at best, spotty, there is a great swimming/diving area, south side, by the big rock.

Just to add, (I do not know if you have/can read a good TOPO - 7.5 best) but -
After Clouds Rest, a short hop next day to Half Dome. Drop the packs somewhere after that HD junction and bag HD - return to packs, and down to LYV or Sunrise Creek afterwards to camp. Down the Mist next day.

[sparky]

Another good spot for a "rest day" is the Cathedral Pass area. If you are comfortable navigating by map, Exploring around Cathedral/Echo/Matthes area is lots of fun with lots to see.

[oldranger]

Before you set your itinerary and if you are set on HD make sure you get your HD permit before committing to HD. If HD does not work out and If you are younger <50 it is 3 hiking days from TM to the valley and you could even incorporate most of Mark's suggestion by heading up Lyle Fork before heading toward Vogelsang. To get to a great viewpoint you could do a side trip up Vogelsang Peak and Look down on both CR and HD as well as great views to the N and NE part of the park and S into the upper Merced and Clark Range. You Could also visit Bernice. To lighten your load you could even see if you could reserve meals at Vogelsang and Merced Lake HSC. If you were willing to do these 3 long days of hiking you could have 2 or 3 layover days and there are some great fishing opportunities near Vogelsang and at Merced Lake. I personally wouldn't consider this trip without a rod. If you are interested in fishing pm either markskor, rlown, or me and we can tell you where to fish or not depending on whether you are interested in quality or quantity. None of any of the proposed TM to Valley trips proposed will provide much solitude but the scenery, especially near Vogelsang Pass is first rate.

Mike

[AlmostThere]

If I were blessed with that length of time, I would get the permit for my backpacking trip at Tuolumne, day hike Mt Dana, camp in the backpacker camp in Tuolumne. Then do a route from Tuolumne to Vogelsang and Bernice, down Lewis Creek, past Merced Lake, take a right turn up toward Sunrise Creek and visit Moraine Dome, go up to Clouds Rest, come down through Little Yosemite and truck on down to Happy Isles. Mt Dana is by far in my mind vastly superior to Half Dome - second highest peak in the park, no hordes of tourists, views of peaks for miles and miles, no permits, all in six miles of hiking. And then you can get a burger at Tuolumne after the day hike and before your backpacking trip.

But that's just me - I hate bumping elbows with tourists when I want to backpack and enjoy vista views. Of course, my route goes past two High Sierra camps - but those are far less populated than the corridor between Happy Isles and Half Dome.