![[Yosemite]](/images/yosemiteicon.png)
Valhalla wrote:
You, Sir, are a Saint. Thanks for the heads up on local backpacker campground.
Also... If we take headlamps, can we start the HD at any time? There's no closed gate, etc? Is the trail clearly marked throughout? (Not stealing your idea, but beating crowds would be nice.)
I'm actually a ma'am, but you (and most other folks) don't necessarily have much to go on to guess that.
You can day hike HD any time of day. People frequently go up there at night in the moonlight - once you get above the falls the starlight by itself will light up the way. There are signs, but it's still easy to get on the wrong trail if you haven't been before. Pay attention to the forks in the trail and plan for the possibility of getting wet along the stairs near Vernal - if you don't like being cold and wet, take a poncho with you and put it on while you're going up toward Vernal. It may be less of an issue this late in the year, however. The falls will be flowing lower.
If you are going up the mist trail, it will be full of roots and rocks and edges of old pavement once you're beyond the lower bridge, so you'll want to walk slow. But you will be able to make it by staying left at every fork and just keep going up. The trail is wide and follows the contour of the hillside until you're at the top of Vernal. There, you'll lose it in the trees (people tend to fan out walking through this bit so the whole area is worn) but keep going upstream until you find a sign pointing you to the right (the one after the spur trail to the restroom). It'll go uphill a bit and then you'll be walking on rocky trail again. There is a fork in this area; keep going left. You will top a ridge, cross granite, and go out to another bridge, where it starts to be another walk through trees on the other side. This will take you to the switchbacks up to the restroom at the end of the mist trail where it joins the JMT. There you go left to head for Half Dome. Going right takes you to the river and Nevada Falls (the top).
If you don't want to chance all this in the dark, make a right turn at the John Muir Trail and follow it up the hill; careful not to end up on the stock trail heading back to the stables - after making the turn up the hill from the Mist Trail, there's a dusty straighter trail that wanders off downstream, you should be going up the hill to the left of it away from the river. Up on the switchbacks there will be another sign that heads off the sharp turn of a switchback, you will want to stay right and stay on the JMT. It'll take you all the way to the top of Nevada Falls and across the river, then around to the restroom at the top of the Mist Trail, beyond which lies the trail to Little Yosemite Valley and Half Dome. The JMT adds a mile or two but has no stairs and won't take you past Vernal.
From the restroom at the top of the Mist Trail, you keep going up the trail and after more elevation gain you will be in Little Yosemite Valley, heading for the next fork in the trail. Don't take any of the use trails or the fork to the right; those will go to the campground and the river, and eventually Merced Lake. The trail will head uphill to another fork that is clearly signed. Go left. When you get to a tiny spring (resembles a puddle to the left of the trail) this will be the last water source along the trail, the river is a better bet to filter water for the last leg if you need to, but the spring seems to be there year round. The rest of the way will be up then along the ridge up to the bottom of the dome, then up the steps and switchbacks to the saddle.
Don't forget a good map and give yourself plenty of time. I may have missed a fork or two - there is a trail that goes to the ranger station in LYV but I don't recall where that takes off from the main trail. Generally, you want to be heading up, and once you are in LYV, you will be keeping left and up. Though if you head right and go to Clouds Rest by accident at the last fork, you probably would be just as happy with the view.... I would bet the sun will be up by the time you get to the top of Nevada Falls if you got started around 5 am.
