by Phil » Tue Jul 12, 2016 6:30 am
As far as shy goes, don't be. As long as you feel safe with the person/people that stop, we've always found everyone that we've ever gotten a ride from incredibly friendly. As a matter of fact, the majority of them have either been fellow backpackers or foreigners, most of the latter not speaking much English, and being very shy themselves.
I take it you already have a permit reserved? If you're leaving from Soda Springs for Glen Aulin, for not only convenience in parking initially, but for a much better ending when you exit at Cathedral Lakes trailhead, you should just go ahead and leave the car in the parking lot below Lembert Dome. I'm not sure why you would leave it in the Valley and have to shuttle both to and from your starting point?
The trail to Glen Aulin is easy enough...flat, about 6 miles, pretty. After that, the May Lake trail doesn't always climb steep, but it climbs steadily and almost the entire way up to May Lake in some form or another. With a plan to loop back to Tuolumne, this direction up to Sunrise is fine, but it can be made far easier and logistically better within the scope of the trip as a whole.
Now let me suggest an alternative:
So, think about this: Keep your current permit (just in case), but when you go to pick it up in person (get there early), see if a walk-up for May Lake is available. If so, exchange the first for that. Tell them your exit is Sunrise, and explain your route. With the new permit in-hand, then park up at May Lake, walk the first day for only 1.2 miles up to the lake to the campground, get used to the altitude a little, stay there and knock that part of the loop out, then have a nice primarily downhill to Glen Aulin on Day 2. From Glen Aulin, head towards TM and then pick up the JMT at Cathedral Lakes trailhead. It'll be legal as long as you're just basically crossing the road and passing-through, and with permitted blessings. You've only walked about 6 flat and easy miles so far, so another 3.6 of uphill to Upper Cathedral Lake should be no big deal. Boom! You've now ticked off Cathedral Lake and that part of the JMT from your loop. You get to enjoy camping the night at the lake instead of storming through in a mad dash for the bus. And trust me, if you can't camp at Upper Cathedral, you will wish you had the time to, and you will feel the need to return to do just that. From there, it's a relatively easy day up to Sunrise HSC/Lakes/ north side of CR...whatever you decide and are up for. Next morning, climb up CR. When you descend, either camp again in another site, return to the same, or hike out down only to Sunrise trailhead (you'll be the envy of everyone coming up that you meet, I promise!) and then only 2-ish miles of easy uphill to the car at May Lake. You save A LOT of climbing, see everything you wanted to see, stayed at Upper Cathedral Lake instead of flying past it, and you get to do it all on your own time and schedule. Also, since you now have the time, you could stay in your camp wherever that is, leave your backpack (with proper food and gear storage, obviously), and do CR as a day-hike with far less backtracking than you would have to do to get back to the HSC from there in a veritable run for the stupid bus.