Permit stuff:
Yes, because it is on the way/closer, and you can. You'll get cancellations and no-shows freeing up at 10 am, and next day permits starting at 11am, but if it's crowded and you're in a tight competition, it will go to the person at the Tuolumne counter at that point. Anything else (if walk-ups are available, they'll be available right when they open at 8am). If you're out there anyhow, might as well go to Tuolumne. Reserved spots are all booked for the first 12 days of Oct:
https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/ ... lheads.htm .For convenience, stop at Big Oak Flat and see what's up. They'll call over to Tuolumne to verify availability. If they can issue it, they will, and you'll be ahead of the game.
If you're going to come up Thursday night and stay in the Valley, no matter if it's a site, tent cabin, or a hotel room, book in advance.
Water and Sunrise Lakes stuff:
Well, it's Phil's Creek...I've never seen it not running, but ask.The tarn along the trail is for sure and not far north of the creek, so even if you want creek water (cooler/fresher), but the creek ends up being dry, it's no big deal to backtrack if you have to.
You'll be tired when you get to the junction at the top of the Sunrise Trail. If it's hot out, even more so. See how you feel about the extra effort. Lower Sunrise Lake is nice and worth seeing, but if all you've got left is going to get you to camp, that's the way it is. It's not quite 90 minutes, more like 45 minutes, tops, round trip.
CR stuff:
Maybe half a mile. You can walk to the summit from your site within about 30 minutes. Not having to lug a full pack is awesome. From camp, you can hit the summit for the sunrise and the sunset, easily. What you're going to see on your map and in person is that you'll come into some flats with a trail junction (Forsyth Trail). From there, you climb a gentle rise until you come to another flat where the trail starts curving left. That's where you'll head to the right into the trees and start site hunting. Standing there, you'll see the trail narrow into the manzanita scrub and ascend more steeply. If you go past that, you won't find any sites that aren't cramped either on the approach to or at the summit. It's tighter the higher you go, and the summit isn't really legal, and it's tighter still, and windy sometimes.
CR/Sunrise Creek/HD stuff:
Again, aesthetically, the JMT at Sunrise Creek isn't as nice as north of CR. How you feel depends on you. I wouldn't want to descend CR and then climb HD from the JMT back to back. If that was my day, I would head off cross country from higher up on CR past Quarter Domes and come out somewhere around 7500 ft on the trail over to HD, saving a lot of re-climbing (hate re-climbing!), then drop down to camp when I'm done. The one thing to remember about the trail down to Sunrise from CR is that it's a fairly steep and continuous downhill. It kind of beats up your feet and knees, so you may not feel up to carrying on. But also have to keep in mind that the later you get down to Sunrise, the lower your chances of getting a good site if it's crowded. Down and back up in a day is realistic enough, but it's not the best way to go. A fresh start when it's cooler and less crowded is always the best way to tackle HD.
Lazy and difficult, but they do have another car, friend stuff:
Wow! Where to begin? In order to get the second car to the Valley, follow them down, leaving your car there, then all shuttle back up together and drop off everyone at their designated trailhead. They could go up to May Lake and hike Mt Hoffman, go to North Dome, Cathedral Lakes, Glen Aulin, Young Lakes as overnight in-and-outs or multiple days without going too far or the hike being too hard for the most part. All these places also have lots of views and places to explore with day hikes. By name, the trailheads are by the destinations I just mentioned, so pick one and see what's available. Check your topo to see what they might be interested in. Check the full trailhead report I linked for what's likely easy to get and by name. Trailhead maps and descriptions:
https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/ ... lheads.pdf.
tsarles wrote:Sorry for bombarding you with questions, I really do appreciate the help.
Glad to help. Don't worry about it at all. Ask away if you need anything else.