I am planning a 3 day backpack and the first day is 17 miles to Merced Lake High Sierra Camp, so I planned on leaving my car at Sunrise Lakes trailhead at Tenaya Lake on Tioga Road as I want to get a very early start on Sept. 2. So I did not want to take the bus shuttle (not early enough) on the front end of the trip. My concern is will the shuttle bus service be running on Wed. Sept. 4? I have read from two different sources that service stops Labor Day weekend and also mid-September. Also if on a limited schedule, when exactly mid-day will the buses run out of Tuolomne Meadows. I am retuning on Wed. Sept. 4 from Vogelsang HSC and will need to get back to my car. What alternatives do I have if the bus service is not running.
Look forward to hearing from you so I can plan accordingly.
I am allowing 4 hours 8:30-12:30 for the hike out. Is this reasonable? It is mostly downhill and a 2mph pace seems fair and not excessively fast for my group. If I can get back to my car by 2 PM, I figure that should be ample time to drive to SF with a stop for dinner, return car rental, get through security and get on the jet on time. I need to get back to San Francisco for a flight out of the airport at 9:35 PM.