by balzaccom » Thu Apr 30, 2015 6:44 pm
Pick up a copy of a hiking guide to Yosemite. It will save you lots of time and trouble. (Or you can check out our website and see a lot of hikes that you should consider.)
Four days, twenty miles, is a very relaxed pace. If you fish, take pictures, draw, or have some other activity that you like to do, then that's a good pace. If not, you might find that you are at your next campsite each day about lunch time....with a whole afternoon on your hands.
Cloud's Rest is usually done as a 14+ mile dayhike from the West end of Tenaya Lake. It doesn't make for a very good backpacking trip, because there aren't great places to camp in between the start and the top...and camping on the top is problematic, because there is no water source there. Happy Isles Trailhead is the most popular in the park, but really only leads up to Little Yosemite Valley. If you like lots of people and bears, that might be a good choice. If you want peace and quiet and occasional solitude, it's not a good choice.
For starters, why not look at a route via some of the High Sierra Camps in Yosemite? They will certainly have people there, but if you are not experienced backpackers, sometimes it helps to have a few people around. You could hike some of the High Sierra camps in Yosemite: May Lake, Glen Aulin, Tuolumne Meadows, Sunrise, and back to your car near May Lake. About six miles each day between camps.
Of check out our website for lots of ideas of hikes in Yosemite--most of which are off the beaten track, and will give you not only gorgeous views, but also occasional solitude...
Check our our website: http://www.backpackthesierra.com/
Or just read a good mystery novel set in the Sierra; https://www.amazon.com/Danger-Falling-Rocks-Paul-Wagner/dp/0984884963