The Big Outside Ultimate Guide to

The Best, First Trip to Take in

© 2018 Michael Lanza

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Hiking and backpacking is a personal choice and requires that YOU understand that you are personally responsible for any actions you may take based on the information in this e-guide. Using any information in this e-guide is your own personal responsibility. Hiking and associated trail activities can be dangerous and can result in injury and/or death. Hiking exposes you to risks, especially in the wilderness, including but not limited to: • Weather conditions such as flash floods, wind, rain, snow and lightning; • Hazardous plants or wild animals; • Your own physical condition, or your own acts or omissions; • Conditions of roads, trails, or terrain; • Accidents and injuries occurring while traveling to or from the hiking areas; • The remoteness of the hiking areas, which may delay rescue and medical treatment; • The distance of the hiking areas from emergency medical facilities and law enforcement personnel.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE PURSUANT TO APPLICABLE LAW, NEITHER MICHAEL LANZA NOR THE BIG OUTSIDE, THEIR AFFILIATES, FAMILY AND FORMER AND CURRENT EMPLOYERS, NOR ANY OTHER PARTY INVOLVED IN CREATING, PRODUCING OR DELIVERING THIS E-GUIDE IS LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF A USER’S ACCESS TO, OR USE OF THIS E-GUIDE.

Cover photo: Todd Arndt hiking the cable route up in Yosemite. Frontispiece photo: Half Dome, , and (L-R) seen from the Trail.

Dear Reader,

Congratulations, you have just downloaded the most helpful guide you’ll find to backpacking in the core of Yosemite National Park—the trails and backcountry located between and . This area not only includes some of the park’s iconic natural features—Half Dome, the , Vernal and Nevada Falls, and a section of the —but it’s also the most accessible and least remote. (This photo of me was taken on the summit of , with Yosemite Valley in the background.)

While some stretches of trail entail significant elevation gain—and climbing the cable route up Half Dome is an adventure in steepness and exposure—multi-day hikes in Yosemite’s core rarely take you more than a day’s hike from the nearest road. And both Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne Meadows are served by park shuttle buses—with the Tuolumne shuttle buses serving several trailheads. Those factors become important in an emergency, and convenient if your group simply needs to end a trip earlier than planned.

That makes this a beginner-friendly area to take a first backpacking trip in Yosemite. But the scenery makes it one of the most desirable areas to backpack in this flagship park. In that regard, the abundance of trailheads accessing the trail system between The Valley and Tuolumne translates to multiple options for hiking itineraries, possibly improving your chances of getting a coveted backcountry permit. I’ll delve more into that below. Having backpacked through this area several times, and throughout the park, I confidently predict that this trip will give you an excellent first taste of Yosemite.

In responding to innumerable questions from readers planning a trip they read about at my blog—and through many years of planning my own trips—I’ve learned that you simply want to know what a trip is like, and how to pull it off successfully and safely in a way that allows you to customize the trip to suit your party’s style of backcountry travel. Whether a family outing or a group of friends, complete beginners or hard-core experts, this e-guide will clarify what you must do to properly prepare for this trip.

In the pages that follow, I will describe this trip’s character and highlights, and provide details on its total distance and elevation gain and loss, difficulty, and the degree of solitude you can expect to find along it during the peak season. I give you extensive advice in Section 1 on how to plan this trip, including tips about seasons, getting a permit, travel logistics, gear, and what you need to know regarding safety and other issues specific to this trip. And, in Section 2, I give you my expert guidance on how to execute this trip, including primary and alternative hiking itineraries.

A few points: • I don’t rate trips for quality or scenery. Instead of a dry, numerical rating, this e- guide will describe for you the trip’s unique character. Plus, every trip that I’ve created an e-guide for is excellent and highly recommendable. • I don’t provide GPS waypoints or tell you precisely where to take photos or pitch your tent every night, because I believe that excessive hand-holding sucks the mystery out of the wilderness and robs you of the joy of discovery. Instead, this e- guide suggests itineraries and, in general, the best camping areas and other highlights, with enough specific tips on how to maximize enjoyment and safety. • I’m a big believer that much of the success of any outdoor adventure is determined before you leave home, so you’ll find abundant information in Section 1: Planning the Trip. • Please be aware of and follow low-impact backpacking guidelines; learn about them at lnt.org. They ensure that we all have as pristine a wilderness experience as possible. Also, respect park regulations, they also exist for good reasons. • Hold down your keyboard’s Control key when clicking on hyperlinks in this e- guide, and the link will open in a new window. Alternatively, open this e-guide twice, to have one copy constantly open while clicking on hyperlinks in the second copy to view them, and using the browser’s back arrow to return to this e- guide and open other links in the second window. • If you find any inaccuracies in this e-guide, I hope you will contact me afterward so that I can correct it. • Lastly, you have purchased one electronic copy of this e-guide for your personal use only. I retain all rights to its content, and I ask you to respect my legal rights and not distribute it by any means or for any purpose, including for profit.

Thanks again for purchasing this e-guide. I hope it helps make your backpacking trip in Yosemite’s core very special—whether or not it’s actually your first in Yosemite. If you would like a more personalized trip-planning service, and have many questions about how to safely and successfully pull off any trip, I would be happy to talk to you on the phone or communicate via email about this or any trip I’ve written about at my blog. See my blog’s Ask Me page for more details.

I believe this trip will excite you to explore more deeply into the park. When you are ready to do that, visit my E-Guides page at The Big Outside and read about my downloadable digital e-guides to two other, longer backpacking trips in more-remote sections of the park: its southeastern quadrant south of Tuolumne Meadows, and the park’s vast wilderness north of Tuolumne.

Please be sure to follow my stories about my adventures at The Big Outside.

Have fun and be safe out there,

Michael Lanza Creator of The Big Outside

Mark Fenton hiking the summit ridge of Clouds Rest in Yosemite.

The Best, First Backpacking Trip in Yosemite

Location: South of Tuolumne Meadows and the Tioga Road and east and north of Yosemite Valley and the in Yosemite National Park, .

Primary Route: 37.2 miles/59.9 km.

Approximate Cumulative Elevation Gain and Loss (primary route): 9,300 feet/2,835m gained and lost.

Difficulty for the primary route, on a scale of 1 (easiest) to 5 (hardest)

3—Sections vary from strenuous to moderately strenuous hiking on good trails, with the possibility of severe weather (mainly afternoon thunderstorms) and extreme temperatures (especially hot summer afternoons), and sporadic drinking-water sources, but no extraordinary navigational or other challenges. Good fitness and beginner- to intermediate-level backpacking skills and experience recommended. See the Need to Know section below for specific details.

Overview The core of Yosemite—from Yosemite Valley and the Merced River north to Tuolumne Meadows and the Tioga Road—has drawn me back several times. My first backpacking trip in the park took place more than a quarter-century ago, when two friends and I hiked a four-day loop from the Trailhead at the east end of The Valley. Absolutely clueless beginner backpackers carrying too much stuff, we nonetheless had a memorable trip, hiking up the aptly named Mist Trail past 317-foot and 594-foot Nevada Fall, following the JMT to Sunrise, and looping back over Clouds Rest—certainly one of the finest summits reached by trail in Yosemite, a narrow crest of clean granite above a dizzying drop-off of thousands of feet into Canyon. I brought my son for his first multi-day hike in Yosemite at age eight, joined by several family members and friends, for a four-day hike from Tuolumne to Vogelsang, Merced Lake, and Sunrise, before finishing at beautiful —where we fittingly concluded that adventure with a swim. I started my John Muir Trail thru-hike traversing this corner of Yosemite. I have been up Half Dome a few times, Clouds Rest a couple, Cathedral Peak once, and backpacked through this area again just a few years ago. In this e-guide, I will describe an iconic primary route beginning at Happy Isles Trailhead in Yosemite Valley and tagging the Mist Trail, Half Dome, Clouds Rest, a section of the JMT, and Sunrise, as well as alternate itineraries beginning and ending at various trailheads ringing this part of the park. My blog post “Ask Me: Where to Backpack First Time in Yosemite” offers a short description of the primary route I’ll describe in much more detail below. Also, my story “Best of Yosemite, Part 1: Backpacking South of Tuolumne Meadows,” describes a longer, 65-mile hike in the park’s southeastern quadrant that begins and ends in this area, and includes photos and descriptions of hiking over Clouds Rest and Half Dome.

Solitude This hike begins and ends on the most popular trail in Yosemite, the Mist Trail, and hits the most popular summit: Half Dome. By mid-morning on a typical summer day, both of those trails see a steady conga line of hikers. Sunrise has both a backpackers’ camp and a High Sierra camp, so that’s a busy spot, too. That said, the park’s permit system keeps backpacker numbers—and the number of dayhikers going up Half Dome—at levels that won’t assure you very much solitude, but does ensure adequate campsite availability for backpackers each day. Plus, you can avoid the crowds on the Mist Trail and Half Dome by getting up early and hiking at first light. I can tell you from personal experience that hiking the Mist Trail and Half Dome is far more thrilling and special if you make the effort to start really early. Other stretches of trails within the core of Yosemite vary considerably in degree of solitude, with—not surprisingly—a significant drop-off in the number of people the farther you get from any trailhead.

Section 1: Planning the Trip

Season The peak summer backpacking season in Yosemite generally begins in early or mid-July, when higher elevations and passes become mostly snow-free—although passes can remain snowy into late July—and the prime season runs well into September. On the primary route described below, though, there are no high passes. While Clouds Rest reaches nearly 10,000 feet, its summit ridge gets abundant sun exposure to melt off snow; and although snow can linger into July in shaded forest at higher elevations along trails up Clouds Rest, those snow patches aren’t like to impede you from hiking. The primary route’s other high point, Half Dome, at 8,842 feet, can only be hiked when the park reinstalls the cables, usually by late May or sometime in June. Mosquitoes get quite thick near any water in Yosemite (and throughout the High Sierra) from the arrival of summer temperatures until mid- to late August. Summer days are fairly reliably sunny, although afternoon thunderstorms are not uncommon. Mid-summer afternoons feature notoriously withering heat and an intense alpine sun, from which there’s often little respite, especially at higher elevations; stay well hydrated and wear a wide-brim hat.

Insider Tip For moderate daytime temps and comfortably cool nights, few to no bugs, and few people in the backcountry, late August until mid- to late September (especially after Labor Day) stands out as an ideal time for backpacking in Yosemite, and good weather sometimes lasts into October. But watch the forecast in fall, because a first-of-the-season snowstorm could dump several inches or more. Also, the park shuttle only operates until mid-September (see Getting There section below).

Permit Free wilderness/backcountry permits are required year-round for camping in the Yosemite backcountry. Many trailheads are popular, so make an advance reservation (a reservation costs $5 per confirmed reservation plus $5 per person). The park issues permits based on a quota system, limiting the daily number of hikers starting at each trailhead. You can reserve a permit up to 24 weeks (168 days) before your hike’s starting date; for example, to start a trip in mid-July, you should submit your application in late January. Fax in your permit application early on the first day they begin accepting applications for your starting date; for many trailheads, reservation quotas are filled within hours. For each trailhead, 60 percent of available permits can be reserved in advance, while the remaining 40 percent are available on a first-come, first-served basis no earlier than 11 a.m. the day before your hike begins, as long as permits are available. For this trip, you need to specifically request adding Half Dome to your permit, at a cost of $10 per person. (The park also requires dayhikers to obtain a permit for Half Dome and sets a daily quota of dayhikers and backpackers.)

Find out more at nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/wpres.htm and read my blog story “10 Tips For Getting a Hard-to-Get National Park Backcountry Permit.”

Insider Tip When applying for a backcountry permit, include alternative routes or starting dates, in case you’re denied a permit for your first choice. That may be as simple as reversing your route’s direction, starting midweek instead of on a weekend, or choosing an entirely different, less-popular route. For example, for this primary hike, you could alternatively start at , or take one of the alternative itineraries described below, starting at the Sunrise Lakes Trailhead (Tenaya Lake), or the Cathedral Lakes or Rafferty Creek Trailhead in Tuolumne Meadows.

Management This hike lies within federally designated wilderness in Yosemite National Park, nps.gov/yose.

Getting There The nearest major airports to Yosemite Valley are San Francisco (165 miles), Sacramento (150 miles), and San Jose (160 miles). Yosemite Valley is accessible by car year-round, but summer days can get so crowded in The Valley that the park entrance there closes until enough cars have departed. Arrive early in summer to avoid that. The park operates a free shuttle bus in Yosemite Valley that stops at numerous locations, including lodges, campgrounds, and the Happy Isles Trailhead. YARTS (yarts.com) provides bus service from Merced to Yosemite Valley. A park shuttle bus runs frequently between several stops along the Tioga Road in the Tuolumne Meadows area from June through mid-September. Find out more about it and other public transportation serving the park at nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/publictransportation.htm.

Map Trails Illustrated Yosemite no. 206, $11.95, natgeomaps.com. Digital maps can be obtained from various online sources, including: caltopo.com mytopo.com/maps natgeomaps.com/trail-maps/pdf-quads nationalmap.gov/ustopo

While planning this trip and reading through this e-guide, consult the interactive online maps of the entire park at nps.gov/hfc/carto/PDF/YOSEmap.pdf, and park trailheads at nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/upload/wildernesstrailheads.pdf, and the list of Yosemite National Park trails and distances of segments of them at nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/upload/trailheads.pdf.

Services Yosemite Valley has basic services, including lodging, campgrounds, places to eat, a visitor center, wilderness center, museum, and a store. The closest town to Yosemite Valley, Mariposa, has several lodging options and restaurants. The tiny community of El Portal, a couple of miles outside the park’s Arch Rock entrance, has a few lodging options. Tuolumne Meadows has a visitor center, campground, wilderness center, and a small café. The nearest town to Tuolumne with lodging, food, gas, and other services is Lee Vining, about a 30-minute drive from Tuolumne via the park’s east entrance at .

Need to Know • A bear canister is required for food storage when backcountry camping in Yosemite. Canisters are available for loan at the park’s wilderness centers in Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne Meadows, where you will pick up your backcountry permit. Shared food-storage lockers are available for backpackers in the designated camping areas at and all , including Sunrise on the primary route described below. Pepper spray is optional and not generally recommended in mountain ranges, like the Sierra, that have no grizzly bears. See my “Review: Essential Backpacking Gear Accessories.” • While water is plentiful along much of the primary route, there is a long waterless stretch of several miles going over Clouds Rest. Estimate your own hiking time and water needs for any section of the primary or alternative routes. See my favorite water-treatment systems in my “Review: Essential Backpacking Gear Accessories” and a menu of all of my reviews of water filters. • Don’t wander close to the Merced River anywhere near the brink of either Vernal Fall or Nevada Fall. The river’s level fluctuates enough to occasionally sweep an unwary hiker off the slabs flanking the river and over a waterfall to his or her death. • High Sierra summer afternoons can be very hot, and high elevation and the dearth of shade magnify the effects of the heat. Wear a wide-brim hat, stay well hydrated, start early to hike in the cool morning hours, and don’t overpack. I also prefer wearing lightweight shoes or boots on trips that are hot and often dry. See my ultralight backpacking tips and my “10 Tips For Making Hiking and Backpacking Easier” and “7 Pro Tips For Preventing Blisters When Hiking.” • Occasional afternoon thunderstorms can be intense. Avoid high ground or descend quickly if one is approaching. • High runoff from melting snow can extend into late June and July, particularly after a winter of heavy snowfall and a relatively cool spring; ask backcountry rangers for current information about any potentially hazardous fords. • Parts of this hike reach altitudes between 8,000 and nearly 10,000 feet. Most people acclimate to these altitudes without major problems. Stay hydrated.

Gear No specialized gear is needed, other than a bear canister. During the summer season, given the generally dry weather in the High Sierra and nights that don’t get very cold, you can (and should) use lightweight or ultralight gear, including your pack, tent, bag, rain shell, and footwear. In late summer and early fall, past the bug season, I typically use a tarp shelter in the High Sierra. See my Gear Reviews page at The Big Outside, my “Essentials-Only Backpacking Gear Checklist,” and these reviews for my top recommendations (including a bear canister in the review of backpacking accessories): “Gear Review: The 10 Best Backpacking Packs” “The Best Ultralight/Thru-Hiking Packs” “Gear Review: The 5 Best Backpacking Tents” “The 5 Best Rain Jackets for the Backcountry”

Mark Fenton atop “The Visor” of Half Dome, high above Yosemite Valley.

Section 2: The Hike

The Primary Route: Loop from Happy Isles to Half Dome and Sunrise

This 37.2-mile loop from the Happy Isles Trailhead in Yosemite Valley actually forms something of an oddly shaped figure-8, and offers multiple alternatives for daily itineraries, including hitting Half Dome on various days. You could also hike Clouds Rest from either direction, but I recommend coming from the north (from Sunrise) both because it’s less strenuous and it makes for a more dramatic final approach to the summit. The daily mileages in the itineraries below indicate distances between named places and/or trail junctions; your daily mileages will depend on your choice of campsite location. Bear in mind that trail mileages can vary between different maps, guidebooks, and other sources, including trail signs.

Day one: Happy Isles Trailhead to Little Yosemite Valley 4.8 miles, 2,100 feet uphill

From the Happy Isles Trailhead at the east end of Yosemite Valley, hike up the Mist Trail, passing through the shower of mist from Vernal Fall—which can be very heavy at times of high runoff—and then below thunderous Nevada Fall. After climbing steeply for 3.8 miles, you will reach a junction with the John Muir Trail, near where the Merced River pours over the top of Nevada Fall (with a breathtaking overlook for hikers above the waterfall’s lip). The remaining mile or so to the designed camping area at Little Yosemite Valley is almost flat. Stopping for the day at Little Yosemite gives you a relatively easy first day— although, depending on your level of acclimation and fitness, the steep hike up with a heavy pack can feel more demanding than you might expect, given the distance. But if you have the energy and only if no afternoon thunderstorms threaten, you could leave most of your gear and food in your campsite and dayhike Half Dome— adding seven miles out-and-back and 2,700 vertical feet of up and down to above stats for this first day—instead of waiting for tomorrow or later on this trip. There are pros and cons to that. By mid-afternoon, most Half Dome dayhikers have begun their descent; there are far fewer people on the cables and the summit plateau than during the busy hours of mid- morning to mid-afternoon. If you bring a headlamp and feel confident about descending the cables at dusk, watching the sunset over Yosemite Valley from Half Dome would be amazing. (Be prepared for the temps to drop quickly.) But the most unique Half Dome experience may be to hit the bottom of the cables in early morning, when the low-angle sunlight across the sea of mountains in every direction is gorgeous and there are few other people. Carry all the water you need for Half Dome—there’s none along the trail.

Day two: Dayhike Half Dome 7 miles, 2,700 feet uphill, 2,700 feet downhill

If adding Half Dome to your first day isn’t physically feasible or weather doesn’t cooperate, dedicate your second day to hiking it. I still suggest an early start, for the reasons given above. But the difficulty of getting a permit for camping in Little Yosemite Valley may present the biggest obstacle to spending a second night camping there.

Alternative day two: Hike Half Dome and continue to Sunrise 12.5 miles, 5,000 feet uphill, 1,800 feet downhill

If you didn’t hike Half Dome on day one and did not get a permit for a second night at Little Yosemite Valley, another option is to hike Half Dome early on your second morning and continue on to Sunrise to camp on your second night. It’s a big day, but you can (and should) stash most of your gear and food in some of your group’s packs (and bear canisters) in the woods at the bottom of the Half Dome Trail, and carry only one or two light packs up—making that side hike considerably easier; you won’t want a heavy pack on the cables, anyway. See my tips on that in my blog post “The Fine Art of Stashing a Backpack in the Woods.” Fit backpackers would find this to be a long but feasible day—and this enables you to finish the trip in four days instead of five. But bear in mind that even after Half Dome, you’re hiking steadily uphill to Sunrise, which sits at over 9,300 feet, and that’s tiring.

Day three: Little Yosemite Valley to Sunrise 9 miles, 3,200 feet uphill

From Little Yosemite Valley, take the short spur trail to the John Muir Trail and follow it all the way to Sunrise, hiking mostly through quiet, open forest. The ascent is steady but rarely gets strenuous. The backpackers camp at Sunrise sits above one end of a sprawling meadow at 9,300 feet, with a stunning view of the toothy peaks of the Cathedral Range.

Day four: Sunrise over Clouds Rest to Little Yosemite Valley 11.7 miles, 1,300 feet uphill, 4,500 feet downhill

From Sunrise, hike steadily uphill about 700 feet to the scenic alpine plateau of the Sunrise Lakes, then drop again into forest before starting the climb up Clouds Rest. The final quarter-mile or so to the 9,926-foot summit follows the narrow, granite crest of an alpine ridge with a drop-off of a few hundred feet to forest on your left, and a nearly 4,000-foot cliff on your right that plunges into . (The crest isn’t dangerously exposed, but might be uncomfortable for anyone with a fear of heights.) The view southeast toward Half Dome and Yosemite Valley is one of the best in the park. The broad, flat summit gives you plenty of room to drop packs and soak up one of the best views in the park reached by trail.

The long descent off Clouds Rest is relentless for longer than you might like, then moderates when you reenter forest before reaching Little Yosemite Valley. This is a big day with no water sources between Sunrise Lakes and the Little Yosemite Valley area.

Alternative day four: Include Half Dome 15.7 miles, 3,100 feet uphill, 6,300 feet downhill

As you can see from the above stats, adding the ascent of Half Dome makes this day hiking from Sunrise to Little Yosemite significantly harder. Fit hikers starting early from Sunrise—and carrying enough water—could do it. But it’s really only worth considering if weather or other circumstances prevent you from hiking Half Dome earlier or later in this trip.

Day five: Little Yosemite Valley to Happy Isles Trailhead 4.7 miles, 2,100 feet downhill

Rather than descending the Mist Trail (the way you came up on day one), from Nevada Fall, cross the footbridge over the Merced River and follow the less-steep John Muir Trail down to Happy Isles. Not long after crossing the river, you’ll get a classic view back of Nevada Fall in its foaming white glory, with the granite domes of Liberty Cap and Half Dome beyond it.

Alternative day five: Hike Half Dome and then descend to Happy Isles 11.7 miles, 2,700 feet uphill, 4,800 feet downhill

If you haven’t tagged Half Dome yet, this final day represents your last opportunity. As emphasized above, get an early start. The nearly 5,000 feet of descent makes it a taxing day. But you’ll do more than half of it with a light pack, and it’s the last day of your trip, so what does it matter if you finish this day spent?

Alternative Itinerary no. 1: Tenaya Lake to Tuolumne Meadows

You can explore basically the same area as the above primary route on a horseshoe-shaped, nearly 41-mile hike from Tenaya Lake—which sits in a bowl amid scores of granite domes and jagged peaks—to Tuolumne Meadows. That’s arguably even more scenic than the primary route, taking advantage of the park’s free, frequent shuttle bus between the starting and finishing trailheads. This route avoids the crowds of Yosemite Valley and the difficulty of getting a permit to start from Happy Isles. However, this itinerary is limited by the park regulation that, with a permit for starting at the Sunrise Lakes Trailhead at Tenaya Lake, you cannot camp at Little Yosemite Valley on your first night, only on subsequent nights—which means you won’t hike over Clouds Rest on day one. So on your first day, hike a moderately difficult approximately six miles from Sunrise Lakes Trailhead to camp at Sunrise Lakes.

On day two, backtrack somewhat and then swing south to hike over Clouds Rest and continue on to camp at Little Yosemite Valley. It’s a big day—13.2 miles—but as described above, it’s amazing. On day three, leaving most of your gear in camp, hike Half Dome early with light packs (seven miles out-and-back), and then walk a mile down the John Muir Trail to see the view down Merced Canyon from brink of Nevada Fall. From there, hike east along the Merced River to camp below Moraine Dome (about 3.5 miles)—for a roughly 10.5- mile day. (The park prohibits camping between the Little Yosemite Valley campground at Moraine Dome.) If you have the energy for it, add a side hike on day three from Nevada Fall with light packs. Descend the steep Mist Trail to Vernal Fall, and then retrace your steps to the JMT (about 3 miles round-trip). Or hike a loop from Nevada Fall down the JMT and back up the Mist Trail past Vernal and Nevada (about 4 miles). You may want to camp a second night in Little Yosemite Valley if you add this side trip onto your day up Half Dome. Day four, hike from your campsite below Moraine Dome up the cliff-flanked Merced Valley for a bit over three miles. Turn north up the Echo Valley and continue to Sunrise to camp—a day of about 11 miles that climbs steadily uphill much of the way. Day four, hike north on the JMT 7.5 fairly easy miles to Tuolumne Meadows, passing Cathedral Lakes and Cathedral Peak. If you basically reverse this alternative itinerary—going from the Cathedral Lakes Trailhead to Sunrise Lakes Trailhead—it arguably gets more spectacular every day. You’ll face a harder climb up the south side of Clouds Rest than coming from the other direction, but your pack will also be lighter. And you can finish the hike with a swim in beautiful Tenaya Lake.

Other Alternative Itineraries

Scan a trails map of Yosemite and you’ll see several other options for multi-day in this core of the park between Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne Meadows. The possibilities include:

• Extend the alternative itinerary no. 1 by continuing up the Merced River canyon to Merced Lake, then hike up the Lewis Creek valley, over Vogelsang Pass— which gives sweeping views of the chain of 12,000-foot peaks forming the boundary of Yosemite and the Ansel Adams Wilderness—and finish at Rafferty Creek Trailhead in Tuolumne. Total distance: a bit over 41 miles. • A roughly 30-mile traverse from the Rafferty Creek Trailhead in Tuolumne to the Sunrise Lakes Trailhead at Tenaya Lake, with nights camping at Vogelsang, Merced Lake, and Sunrise. I’ve hiked both possible routes from Vogelsang to Merced Lake: via Emeric and Fletcher creeks, and via Vogelsang Pass and Lewis Creek, and the latter is prettier. The route could be hiked in either direction, and there are other campsite options along it. • The same route as described above, but instead of finishing at Tenaya Lake, hike north on the JMT from Sunrise to Tuolumne, a total distance of about 32.5 miles.

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Todd Arndt backpacking to Vogelsang Pass in Yosemite National Park.