Yosemite Forum

Hello! Me and my buddy Danny are coming from the East Coast and are hoping to spend a few nights backpacking in Yosemite. We're both in the military and have been on multiple backpacking trips throughout the country. I have been reading a lot of forums and websites, in hopes of finding information on the best route to take if we want to cover a lot of ground and see some beautiful views over 3-4 nights. I don't even know which trailhead to start at, so if anyone could give me a recommended trip for that amount of time then that would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!

Connor

Are you guys going to be good with some altitude combined with a quick pace? Got a topo map? Check out the loop beginning at Mono Meadows traihead, up and over Red Peak, down past Merced Lake, then down to Yosemite Valley exiting Happy Isles. You'll probably want to try to spend a couple nights at one of the higher elevation campgrounds to get used to the altitude, and the route is likely to at least take the full time you want to be out, but since you're military and have some backpacking experience, I'm going to assume you're in the shape to get it done and be fine. But, just don't underestimate the altitude! You're going to be at over 10,000 feet for at least some of the time.

That's a long trip to do in three days, even four, but it's a great hike. And it has the advantage of starting out with a quick downhill, and then a long gradual climb for the first day. Not bad for getting acclimated.

The other option would be to start in Tuolumne Meadows and hike down to Yosemite Valley, if you can get a permit for one of those trailheads

Okay, that really helped and I will look into both of those options. Thank you! Just a logistic question real quick as well. We are going to be flying into LA, then taking a connecting flight into MERCED airport, which is apparently an hour and a half away from the park. Do you have any idea how we could work that out? In terms of taking a taxi into the park, and do they have buses that would take us to the trailheads? Thank you!

balzaccom wrote:That's a long trip to do in three days, even four, but it's a great hike.

Yeah, that was why I threw in the qualifier about pace (double-time, boys...hooah) Five days would be my preference, but these guys are likely young and fairly tuned...as long as the altitude is considered. From the trailhead, say two days up to Ottoway (one if they can push, but why if you don't have to?), one down to Washburn or Merced Lake, one more to LYV, then out at Happy Isles with time for lunch.

I also considered Cathedral Lakes as an entry, but you know how that goes with permits and crowds. Walk-ups are risky for that route, even on a slow day. I wouldn't want to fly across the country without a solid plan on that one.

Taking a cab from Merced would be nuts. Here's the link to YARTS instead:

http://yarts.com/travel-connections/

You guys should also check schedules and routes for any shuttles you're going to need to get around inside the park. Yosemite's official site and/or YARTS is a good place to start.