What is the ideal 5 day 4 night trip?

[Mcsweet18]

I have recently moved to California and have visited Yosemite several times. Me and four buddies are planning a week long adventure into Yosemite and I'm looking for ideas on good trips. We all have experience and are looking to spend the week in solitude just experiencing the wilderness. I have done many hours of research, but I’m starting to get lost with all the different trails to take. We are just looking for ideas since we are leaving in august for the trip. Thank you for any input.

[hiker97]

From my perspective it would be hard to go wrong with a 5-day/4-night trip in Yosemite. But I did note the word "solitude" in your post - are you hoping to be in locations where you see very few people each day? That would limit your routes to the less-visited backcountry areas. If you're open to seeing some people but still avoiding the Yosemite crowds then you have a lot more options. It also depends on how many miles you would like to hike each day - is your ideal to have any layover days for fishing or dayhiking, or would you prefer to backpack every day for say 8 miles? If you enjoy the layover days, you might be better off to choose what is say a 4-day/3-night route and stay an extra night at one of the more remote sites.

Given 5 days/4 nights, I would probably lean toward a loop trip starting from the Tuolumne Meadows area to Cathedral Lakes, down to Echo Creek and then Merced Lake. From there the route heads up to either Emeric Lake or Vogelsang and then down Rafferty Creek to the TM area. This is a mix of some popular campsites and more secluded ones as well. 36 miles as a loop or 33-34 miles if you start at the Cathedral Lakes trailhead and do a shuttle.

But my "ideal" trip would be to talk everyone into adding a day for a 6-day/5-night excursion: start at White Wolf and hike the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne, turn south from Glen Aulin over to Tuolumne Peak, then north into the Ten Lakes area and west back to the White Wolf trailhead. Although the amazing waterfalls at Waterwheel, LeConte and California Falls will look much more spectacular if we're hit with some big snowstorms this spring! 50 miles total, including a full vertical mile of elevation gain from the 1st night campsite in Pate Valley to your 4th night campsite on Tuolumne Peak ridge!

[holz]

Hi McSweet,

Solitude is going to be a relative thing with your timing (August) and your destination (Yosemite).

Last year I went to what is supposedly one of the more remote spots in the park (Rodgers Lake) and still saw a ranger and about 4 other groups. This was in mid-July. In fact, I saw other groups every day of my trip and a ranger all but one. And that was on a 7 day trip!

Bottom line, if solitude is your goal, Yosemite and August are not the best combination if you want to visit the areas with the best scenery. I'm sure someone here can tell you a place to go where you are likely to see no one at all, but no doubt that is few and far between.

I'll even go out a bit further and say that really, the Sierras and August don't go well with solitude or not to the point of the front ranges in Banff National Park in Canada at least. I've hiked there in August and literally seen no one else for days at a time!

Anyway, solitude is always one of my major goals when backpacking as well. I very much understand it! However, keep your expectations reasonable and pick a trail with fantastic scenery is my advice. The Sierras have so many other advantages (perfect weather, amazing scenery, well kept trails) that seeing a few groups/day is ok with me.

[bill-e-g]

These guys are spot on.

Just pick a loop or out and back that is <10 miles/day and go for it.
You cannot go wrong anywhere that you go in Yosemite.

If you stay on the JMT/PCT or High Sierra Loop you will see
people. The further you get from the Trailhead the less people you
will see. Most only go maybe 6 miles away and stay for a couple days.

It's easy to get solitude by leaving the trail. But I don't necessarily
recommend that until you've hiked the trails themselve first...

You might want to try Mono Meadow over Red Peak Pass down
past Washburn/Merced Lake and thru Merced Canyon.
Merced Canyon from the Lake to Moraine Dome is pretty awesome.

Permits are a big issue if you start in the Valley...

Have fun

[oakroscoe]

Like everyone else has said, getting solitude in august is going to be difficult. You pretty much have to write off any of the more spectacular views and any easy trails. In fact, going somewhere cross country would be your best bet to get away from other backpackers.

If you're willing to settle for an area that doesn't have breathtaking views, off the beaten path and somewhat difficult to get to, you will probably have the place to yourself.