by markskor » Tue Jan 28, 2020 4:50 pm
Damu,
Wish I had a bit more info on you but...thoughts.
When you say you're "taking a buddy who has never been..." Is this a good ol' dirt-bag, experienced, with good gear and have previously backpacked with "hiking buddy"? If so, have fun and enjoy.
If you mean someone new to backpacking, this may be a bit ambitious...maybe trying to do too much in one trip. Even at that, experienced or not, 80 miles in 7 hiking days does not seem too bad, if at lower elevations and in hiking shape, (however now at - 9,000+), but, if dead set still on this, shortening the route and having a layover day (or two) somewhere along the route suits my wilderness style better. BTW, Do you fish?
Speaking of your intended route - meh. Like balzaccom above, not the route I would have chosen to show off Yosemite's best.
Come July, YARTS (the local park bus system) runs a weekends only Yosemite Valley to Mammoth Lakes (Aug and Sept daily)...stops in Tuolumne Meadows along the way too. Another bus runs up from the Valley to Glacier Point, You can leave your car in the Valley, take a bus up high somewhere, and do a circuitous trip back down to your car. Better logistics, easier on the knees too?
Anyway, IMHO, the Yosemite area south of 120 is where you really want to be - the high open granite always seems nicer than slogging through miles of lower Lodgepole forests - even with the waterfalls...(maybe that's just me? I would skip the Grand Canyon segment. You can always come back.)
If I had 7 - 8 hiking days to see Yosemite, and not with great Sierra hiking legs yet, (I would park the car low and use the buses to get a high start):
- Mammoth Lakes to Yosemite Valley via Voglesang - Possible HD too.
- Tuolumne Meadows, Bernice, maybe Florence, high trail to TPF, Washburn, HD, Valley.
- Mono Meadows, Ottoway, RPP, Washburn, Valley
- Elizabeth - Nelson - Voglesang ---- Valley
All these suggestions have plenty of side options, make use good use of the buses, mostly are downhill, are ~50 miles long or so, stop at scenic lakes, and allow at least one zero day in the middle.
just my 2¢