While I have a pretty good idea of the eastern Sierra - including Yosemite - I haven't been to the Valley in over 10 years. Each summer we spend a few days car camping up in Tuolumne meadows, and in recent years my two brothers have been making it as well. My middle brother is a long time backpacker from the 70s, and is the classic medium-heavy low mileage type. My youngest brother is a corp dude, and followed a more traditional path by focusing on improving his golf game.
Last year (June), I almost had them convinced to do a day hike from TM to the Valley. A couple of things put an end to that "beer talk": my wife didn't want to spend the day alone; we would have gotten into the Valley after the last bus had left, leaving us either hitch-hiking or trying to get an Uber back; low miles bro wouldn't have made it, and younger brother - who is competitive like me - might have screwed up his knee determined to stay on pace.
Now, fast forward to this upcoming summer (August). In discussing our plans, the subject of hiking from TM to the Valley came up again, only this time as an overnight trip. Since this idea isn't suddenly being thrown out around the campfire, my wife is ok if we spend one night away; the daily mileage will be shorter; and we can get into the Valley earlier in order to catch the bus back to TM. Since we now have multiple options, it's not necessarily imperative that we make a beeline down the JMT.
So, I put it to the collective wisdom of the board: if you had two days & one night to travel from TM to the Valley, which route(s) would you prefer? Would you hike up to Glen Aulin and then come down via Clouds rest? Would you hike down the JMT and swing over from Sunrise to Clouds rest? Would you take the trail down to Merced/Echo valley/Little Yosemite valley from Sunrise?
What if we scored walk-in permits for Half-dome? Would the advice be to just slog it out on the JMT? Of is HD even worth it (given the crowds) if we could skip on by a more obscure side route? What a about camp spots? I know you need to be a few miles outside of the Valley in order to disperse camp - I don't think anyone wants to stay in a campground.
Here's a suggested itinerary:
D1 - 15+ miles - leave mid-morning, camp
D2 - 7-12+ miles - leave early, get bus by noon
Thanx in advance for any suggestions, tips, insights or other insider information. For your troubles, here's a shot east of Sonora pass taken on 6/17/2011 - a heavy snow year like this year. We were driving from the Bay area to SoCal, and weren't sure about Tioga (it opened the next day). I recall the W Walker river was completely impossible to cross if there hadn't been a bridge. So, I would expect the Kern, Kings & SJ to present similar obstacles for early season hikers.