Panorama for newbie family day hike?

[mockingbird]

My family will be visiting Yosemite for 4 days July 28-Aug 1 for our first real outdoor trip together, other than some weekends with Scout troops. My wife and I are almost 50, and our 2 boys are 13 and 16. I would love to hike down the Panorama trail from Glacier Point as everything I've learned about it sounds like something we will remember for a long time. I think we could take the Hiker Bus to get up to GP in the morning and then hike down. We don't do much hiking and are rather sedentary, but healthy, so I am wondering if we should tackle it. I think if we do short hikes in the Valley and maybe Mariposa in the first days, we would know if we are up to it. Questions:
Do you think it will be too strenuous for us newbies?
Would we need poles or anything besides lunch and water?
Do we need permits for day hikes? Thanks!

[balzaccom]

Do you think it will be too strenuous for us newbies?

Nope. It's MOSTLY downhill. Take very comfortable walking shoes, and lots of water. Don't ruch it, but keep moving.

Would we need poles or anything besides lunch and water?

Only if you really like hiking with poles. I never use them, and I hike about 200 miles a year. But others swear by them. You don't NEED them, at any rate. Don't forget your cameras!

Do we need permits for day hikes? Thanks!

Nope. Only if you are going to spend the night on the trail.

[sierranomad]

Re Hiking Poles

I often use hiking poles, but the only time you "need" them is to aid in stream crossings (you won't have any) and if you have bad knees and are doing a lot of downhill.

You will be doing a lot of downhill, so if you or your wife have bad knees you might want to consider them.

[adrianhoff]

Poles might help going down the (more scenic) Mist trail. My wife, at just over 5 feet tall, needs them to comfortably navigate the "steps" cut into the granite. If you take the John Muir Trail, it's not an issue. If you're out of shape, you might want to eat an Alive pill, or a couple Advils before starting. A muscle relaxer before bed that night might help too. Ask your doctor.

[mockingbird]

Thanks for all the replies. We're gonna do it! I'll let you know how it goes.

[KC]

I vote for taking the poles. Every time I don't take them, I always wish I did. Day hiking or backpacking, they always seem to come in handy.

[balzaccom]

Just an FYI--and this is yet another example of why it is really, really foolish to take medical advice from people on the internet--most physician do NOT recommend taking anti-inflammatories before exercise, only after.

[Dave Miller]

You will love this hike. It is simply magical! It is not all downhill though. You will encounter some up hill after you cross Illilouette Creek.

You can check out the trip I mapped for Backpacker Magazine here: http://bp2.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip ... ipId=59543

Enjoy!

[mikecain3]

I was going to take my wife and kids on that route and changed my mind. We opted for the mist trail instead. The reason we changed was my concern over the distance - 11 miles right? I also didn't want to spend the time on the bus setting up the one way ride. That time is in the prime of the morning and seems like there is a lot of road construction with delays.

My wife was pushing her limit on the mist trail. There were several times that she was cussing me out (more than usual) and I wondered it I had done right by encouraging her to do this. We took our time and she did it. We had a long lunch break at the top and used the jmt on the way down. I think the shorter distance and close proximity to the falls was a good trade.

I alway use poles because of bad knees. My wife has never hiked and she took one of my poles and used it the entire day. I was surprised that she liked it. I know on the wet surfaces near the falls she got a lot of support from it.

[mockingbird]

mikecain3 - Thanks for the reply. You've given me....pause. I think if we try some shorter hikes in the first days I will have a better idea if we should try Panorama.

[AlmostThere]

The Mist Trail is harder than people think it is. I know someone who was all gung ho about going to half dome with her church group... I told her she needed to try a shorter version of it first. Going up the Mist Trail nearly killed her - she took longer coming down than she did going up. She's since tried twice to go to half dome and always turned around early.

I did Mist Trail to Panorama to Illilouette to Glacier Point and down the 4 Mile Trail. It was no problem for me, but I hike every week. It was no problem for a bunch of younger athletic folk who were with me, they were either also hikers or did not care much about footsoreness or leg pains (some of them complained to me after the hike, I had to point out they did not pace themselves very well and practically ran down the downhill bits). There was one infrequent hiker who complained that the hike was just too much - despite my having posted the 14 miles and steep elevation gain/loss and by the way there are all these granite stairs....

If you are not avid hikers and are going uphill for a good part of the way figure you will do 1 - 1 1/2 miles per hour, if not slower. Downhill you can probably do at least 2 mph, which is the average walking speed of a person, unless you have joint issues. Another way to approach it is a turnaround time - split your allotted hike time in half, if you are not more than halfway to the destination on a one way trip to meet a bus, turn around, unless you parked where you are going. If you are doing an out-and-back you would just turn around short of the destination.

Also, drink water. Drink whenever you think about it. I consume 2 liters easily on anything 8 miles or more, especially when in the sun and out on granite. The easiest way to feel terrible on a hike is to get dehydrated, which is horribly easy to do. Either take plenty or have a water filter or chemical purification method so you can refill at streams. If you are peeing dark (TMI, but necessary to monitor) you are not getting enough water, drink more.

[hotrod4x5]

Ok, here is my story. About 8 years ago I did this with my then family. I had my wife and her three daughters, ages 7, 9 and 13. NONE of them were hikers. I figured, like you do, that hey, it is mostly downhill, how hard can it be?

We started at GP pretty early, because rather than taking the bus, we drove, left the car and I took the bus the next morning while they lounged a the Lodge's pool. Ok, back to the hike.

We got to GP about 7:30 and hit the trail after looking over the edge around 8:30 or 9 am. (we also did some shopping there, including some hats that I still have) We started down the exposed ridge in the sun all the way to Illouette Creek. There we stopped for at least an hour while we rested, refilled our water and just enjoyed the stream.

Next is the long hike uphill, 700 feet up the other side of the Illouette drainage. The kids were still doing ok, but it was VERY slow going. To be honest, I don't remember how long it was taking, I only remember the ending time, which I will get to in a bit.

We got to the top of Nevada falls in the afternoon, say around 3 (maybe 4), I am guessing. We sat there and cooled our heals for at least an hour. This was also the first place my step daughters were able to go to the bathroom, because try as they might, they were not able to along the trail. (there is a toilet at the top of Nevada)

When we departed Nevada, it was late afternoon, I guess, because I remember the light was getting low in the sky. We went down the "mist" trail, which isn't misty along Nevada, but is LOTS of steps. The kids were doing ok, but my ex-wife was now complaining big time. "I thought you said this was a moderate hike!!!"

We got to the top of Vernal with no time at all to linger, as the light was fading fast. By the time we got to the Vernal bridge, I had to break out the flashlight. We were the ONLY ones on the trail as it was dark and my ex-wife told me my only saving grace was that I brought a flashlight. How did I ever think of that, she asked? (I had enough experience to know no matter what kind of hike, bring a light)

The bus was no longer running to Happy Isles by the time we reached it, so we had to go another mile or however far it is to Curry to catch the bus back to the Lodge. Our driver was nice enough to stop at our motel room rather than make us walk from the bus stop back to our building.

By now, it was 9pm, if I recall correctly, and we had NO food in our room except some snacks. I went to the Mountain Room to ask if I could get some food to go, but sorry they said, we are in the process of closing. The Mountain Lounge had one shrimp salad and a fruit salad left, and I bought them and took them to the room. My ex and the kids scarfed, while I was punished with nothing for dragging our non hiking family on what was dubbed forever more: "The Hike From Hell."

We took our sweet time, that's for sure. We took time to take photos, enjoy the streams and scenery. All in all, I do remember the total time, 11 hours.

This is a true story and is told as best as possible from my recollection of the events as they occurred.

[baseline bum]

Wow, what a horror story, hotrod. Makes me think I should never recommend Panorama to non-hikers. The scenery is just so spectacular though... I suppose one could just do the best part of it (IMO), the section between Glacier Point and Illilouette Creek and back, but that's going to require climbing 1600 feet or so on the return if I remember correctly (isn't the creek about 5600 ft or so?), so it doesn't sound a whole heck of a lot easier.

[baseline bum]

Yeah mockingbird, I would definitely do something like hiking Mariposa Grove to Wawona Point a day or two before. It has lots of shade and isn't too steep (though it's probably about 1200 feet or so total gain), and you can just easily turn around and head back any time if it's starting to suck for any of you. If you guys can do Mariposa Grove without too much trouble, then definitely green-light the Panorama Trail, as it's every bit as good as the hype. Plus hiking Mariposa Grove might acclimate you all a bit to the altitude.

If Mariposa Grove was too tough to finish and/or enjoy, then Panorama probably isn't going to be a lot of fun neither, and you're pretty much committed either to the entire thing or to a steep uphill return once you get a couple of miles in. Maybe something like Sentinel Dome would be a good backup plan, as it's only a 500 foot gain (I haven't done it though; it just seems pretty popular with Yosemite visitors and looks pretty cool in photos I have seen). Panorama's definitely not 11 miles though. More like 8.5.

[mockingbird]

Thank you baseline bum and hotrod. Both of you have really helped me understand more about hiking the Panorama. I really appreciate hotrod sharing his experience as our hike could easily turn out like his. Since we will be there for 3 days, I like baseline's idea of the Mariposa to Wawona hike. It will also give us a chance to see the big trees.

We will be in Yosemite the last week in July (the week after next), and as that time approaches I've been checking out the 7-day outlook weather on National Weather Service. Looks like the Valley next week is Lo-60 to Hi-98 most days. Sounds like it's gonna be pretty dang HOT.

Maybe we should do something higher up along the Tioga Road? Our plan is to go 120 to Lee Vining on our last day and stop in T Meadows, but with the valley weather so hot I'm kinda nervous about Panorama now, so maybe we should allocate more time up there.