Please help me filling out permit request!

[Marij]

Hello,

I'm a girl from Belgium and I have never been to California before. In September I finally get to go and I would like to do a 2 day-trekking (09/27 and 09/28) in Yosemite with my boyfriend and brother. We would like to see some of the headlights, have a nice walk and camp out there in the wilderness. I'm trying to fill out the request for a permit but it's VERY hard with the restricted information I can find. Here's what I have up to now:

[u]First choice:[/u]
Enter trailhead: Glacier Point --> Little Yosemite Valley
(Here we would hike up to Merced Lake in these two days.)
Exit trailhead: 'Glacier Point' --> Little Yosemite Valley

Camping place: Little Yosemite Valley

[u]Second choice[/u]
Enter trailhead: Happy Isles --> Merced Lake
(Here we would like to hike up to Toulumne Meadows)
Exit trailhead: Happy Islis --> Merced Lake

Camping place: I have not been able to find a camping place on this trail. Can anybody help me with this??

[u]Third choice[/u]
Enter trailhead: Cathedral Lakes
(Here we would like to hike up to Merced Lake)
Exit trailhead: Cathedral Lakes

Camping place: Upper Cathedral Lake (I read that lower Cathedral Lake is too crowded?)


[u]Questions:[/u]
- Is it right that my enter and exit trailhead or the same? If I look up the information on the trailheads, it seems possible just to follow that trail all the way?
- Can anyone give me a tip on a camping place on my second choice?
- If you don't do a trip that's in a loop, can you always get a shuttle bus back to your car or are you supposed to walk the same trail both ways then?
- Any recommendations on other two-day/1-night trips are very welcome. Please add camping recommendation if you know one.

Hopefully someone can help me with this! Thank you in advance!
Greetings, Marij

[dan]

Marij,
First look at some good maps of Yosemite for hiking. Here's one for Yosemite Valley:
http://www.yosemite.ca.us/maps/yosemite ... p_2006.pdf

First choice:
Enter trailhead: Glacier Point --> Little Yosemite Valley
(Here we would hike up to Merced Lake in these two days.)
Exit trailhead: 'Glacier Point' --> Little Yosemite Valley
Camping place: Little Yosemite Valley

Little Yosemite Valley has a campground, but it's not a trailhead. There are no roads there. In Yosemite Valley, the trailhead is Happy Isles.
Glacier Point is 1000m above Happy Isles. From Glacier Point, you hike down (not up) to Illilouette Creek, then up and over the side of Mt. Star King down to Little Yosemite Valley, then up to Merced Lake.

Little Yosemite Valley is a popular backpacking campground (probably the most popular and most crowded).

Second choice
Enter trailhead: Happy Isles --> Merced Lake
(Here we would like to hike up to Toulumne Meadows)
Exit trailhead: Happy Islis --> Merced Lake
Camping place: I have not been able to find a camping place on this trail. Can anybody help me with this??

You can camp at Little Yosemite Valley and Merced Lake or any place in between where it's allowed (not next to water or a trail).

Third choice
Enter trailhead: Cathedral Lakes
(Here we would like to hike up to Merced Lake)
Exit trailhead: Cathedral Lakes
Camping place: Upper Cathedral Lake (I read that lower Cathedral Lake is too crowded?)

Lower Cathedral Lake is sometimes crowded because it's near the trailhead. You can also camp anywhere, as long as you are not next to the trail, lake, or stream, or if there's a sign saying you cannot camp there.

Questions:
- Is it right that my enter and exit trailhead or the same? If I look up the information on the trailheads, it seems possible just to follow that trail all the way?

Yes, you can enter and exit on the same trailhead and just follow the trail out and back. The trails are well-used and easy to follow.

- If you don't do a trip that's in a loop, can you always get a shuttle bus back to your car or are you supposed to walk the same trail both ways then?

You can ride a daily shuttle bus ("Hiker's bus") from Yosemite Valley to anywhere along the Tioga Road (Highway 120). There is also a daily tour bus that starts in Yosemite Valley and goes to Glacier Point.

- Any recommendations on other two-day/1-night trips are very welcome. Please add camping recommendation if you know one.
Greetings, Marij

Here's a few:
1. Start on the Tioga Road at Tuolumne Meadows and head northwest to Glen Aulin and camp there. See the waterfalls beyond Glen Aulin.

2. Start on the Tioga Road at Tuolumne Meadows and head southeast up the Lyell Fork of the Tuolumne River. There are several places to camp along the river.

3. Start at Glacier Point and hike down to Little Yosemite Valley. Camp at LYV and the next morning hike out to Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley.

[Marij]

Hey Dan,

thanks for the reply! I'm still not totally clear about one thing though:

For my second choice, you say I can camp in LYV but on the website it says you can't, when you choose this trailhead. There are just two trailheads that will allow you to camp at LYV, being what on the website are called 'Glacier Point --> LYV' (my first choice) and Happy Isles --> LYV (which is already fully booked). So I have to look for a different place. You say I can also camp anywhere between LYV and Merced Lake, but the thing is, I need a name of a place to put on the requestform to get the permit. I don't really have any idea of names of a place in between those two. Do you?

- I have to admit I'm not that good at reading the maps I find on the internet (yours was one of the best I saw up to now). I'm not an experienced hiker at all actually so I'm not used to doing these kind of things. That's probably why it's all a bit confusing to me .-

Thanks also for the extra recommendations! I'm wondering if I should go for one of those cause the 3 choices I've listed now are all booked almost up to the days I'm going. Maybe I shouldn't risk not having either one of my options work out? I'm gonna think about that!

Greetings, Marij

[hotrod4x5]

A good trip for a first timer is to Glen Aulin. Trail is relatively easy to follow, it's not too far and there is tons of wonderful scenery.

[dan]

Hey Dan,
For my second choice, you say I can camp in LYV but on the website it says you can't, when you choose this trailhead. There are just two trailheads that will allow you to camp at LYV, being what on the website are called 'Glacier Point --> LYV' (my first choice) and Happy Isles --> LYV (which is already fully booked).

That's because you can't reach LYV Backpacker's Campground in one day unless you start from Glacier Point or Happy Isles.

So I have to look for a different place. You say I can also camp anywhere between LYV and Merced Lake, but the thing is, I need a name of a place to put on the request form to get the permit. I don't really have any idea of names of a place in between those two. Do you?

No. I was wrong. The area is too crowded.

If LYV is full, or the Happy Isles and Glacier Point trailheads are full, start somewhere else. I suggest starting in Tuolumne Meadows. It's at 8600' (2600m), so you start in the High Sierra. Hike to Glen Aulin, as I and others suggested, or hike up Lyell Canyon.