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How early for FCFS permit, Tuolumne to Valley?

PostPosted: Wed Aug 17, 2016 5:14 pm
by kimchijajonshim
Me and a group of 5 would like to do either Tuolumne to Happy Isles, or vice versa from Friday-Sunday, Sept 23 - 25. I'm going to show up that Thursday and park out for a first-come first-serve permit for the weekend at Tuolumne, and my friend is going to do the same at Curry Village.

How early do I need to be there? I'm thinking 5 am, but can go either way depending on whether that's overkill or not aggressive enough. I expect traffic will still be relatively high that time of year, and being a group of 5 I expect I'll need to be first or second in line to get the spot I want.

Any first hand experience?

Would be open to alternate routes oftentimes, but my friends REALLY want to do Half-Dome and I'm not sure there are many other options in a 3-day time frame.

Re: How early for FCFS permit, Tuolumne to Valley?

PostPosted: Wed Aug 17, 2016 9:16 pm
by Phil
I would get up to Tuolumne earlier rather than later for a group that big... maybe even earlier if the weather is nice. Five-ish sounds about right. It's usually tapering off by the end of Sept, so I'm surprised that reservations for Cathedral Lakes entry is full. You may end up with weather issues, maybe not, but stay apprised ahead of time. You may have some problems getting a Half Dome permit on a walk-up, and if you're thinking that one of you going to the Valley and the other going to Tuolumne is going to increase your odds, it isn't. The Cathedral Lakes trailhead is within the jurisdiction of TM, and any other permitting stations are going to defer to them by default, ie: if you're at the counter at TM at 8:01, and someone else is also in the Valley at 8:01 wanting the same permit, you get the permit just for showing up at the mother ship. And, for a lot of reasons, I would recommend that you guys go from TM>Happy Isles if possible.

If you have problems with adding a HD enhancement onto your backpacking permit, try to get in a day hike instead, or better yet, go up Cloud's Rest and skip the circus.

A great alternate, probably less crowded 3-day hike would be Ten Lakes.

Re: How early for FCFS permit, Tuolumne to Valley?

PostPosted: Thu Aug 18, 2016 10:07 am
by kimchijajonshim
if you're thinking that one of you going to the Valley and the other going to Tuolumne is going to increase your odds, it isn't. The Cathedral Lakes trailhead is within the jurisdiction of TM, and any other permitting stations are going to defer to them by default, ie: if you're at the counter at TM at 8:01, and someone else is also in the Valley at 8:01 wanting the same permit, you get the permit just for showing up at the mother ship. And, for a lot of reasons, I would recommend that you guys go from TM>Happy Isles if possible.


To be clear, they'd be showing up at the Valley to try to get the opposite route. Happy Isles to TM.

I think plan right now is we're going for 1.) Sunrise Lakes to Happy Isles, 2.) Cathedral to Happy Isles, then the two vice versa on a second tier. After that we'll look into alternate routes.

I'd actually probably like to do Sunrise since we might be able to do both Cloud's Rest and HD...

Re: How early for FCFS permit, Tuolumne to Valley?

PostPosted: Thu Aug 18, 2016 11:17 am
by Phil
If at all possible, you should probably try to get into one of the permit stations after 11am the day before your trip if you want any chance at getting that HD permit. For backpackers coming in for their permits on a walk-up basis, there are only 25 HD slots per day available, and they'll undoubtedly go fast.