Looking for a 3-4 day hike in Yosemite Park

[Sinisa]

Hello,

I need help finding a 3 to 4 day backpacking hike in Yosemite Park.
I'm planning a trip to Yosemite Park in September, 3rd to 11th.
This is a group of four people and none of us ever been to this park before.

Our preliminary plan is as follows:
1. Sept. 3rd arrive at SFO 11pm and drive straight to Yosemite park.
2. Sept. 4th spend first day at a campground (Hodgdon Meadow Campground) and go checkout the Mariposa Grove - giant sequoias
3. Sept. 5,6,7,8th backpacking hike - NEED HELP HERE!***
4. Sept. 8-9th campground X - do a day hike to Clouds Rest
5. Sept 10th campground X - do a day hike to Half Dome
6. Sept. 11th say our goodbyes to Yosemite and head back to Milwaukee WI

Feel free to comment on any part of the trip and thank you for your comments and advice!

[hiker97]

For the backpacking section of your trip, do you have an idea of how many nights in a row you would like to stay in the wilderness and how many miles you would like to hike each day? Before folks on the forum make recommendations, it would help to hear your expectations so that our suggestions are more in line with your hopes.

[Sinisa]

Response to hiker97:

We are planning to backpack for 3 nights and we would like to hike about 8-10 miles a day. I kept the miles conservative since I assume we will be dealing with high elevation and some rough terrain.

[AlmostThere]

I would plan a backpack that passes Clouds Rest and Half Dome, and day hike them from your camping spots along the trail, instead of doing two strenuous day hikes following a three day backpack. You will have a more leisurely backpack that way and not be coming to the peaks from opposite directions (I am assuming you would do the 14 miles of moderately difficult hiking to Clouds from Tioga rather than the strenuous 22 miles from Happy Isles. Going on a dayhike from Tioga involves a long drive or relying on a bus schedule.)