Planning help: will a Glacier Point->Illilouette pass wor

[travelingWise]

We decided (very late, I know) to do a few days' trip over Labor Day weekend. I'm looking at the full trailheads, and trying to plan a trip that would work with something that is still reservable. Specifically, I was wondering if we have Glacier Point->Illilouette permits, is there any reason we can't camp the first night in the Illilouette area (where it's allowable), then the next day hike Panorama Trail to camp at some point beyond LYV, perhaps Merced Lake? Then loop back for the next 2 days.
Or, would we be allowed to hike all the way beyond LYV campground the first night?
I don't intend to breach the spirit of the rules, I'm just trying to figure out what the limitations actually are.

Thanks!

[travelingWise]

I did try to search before posting my question, but didn't find this helpful post until after ... sorry! So it looks like we could get there Thursday afternoon and camp at Illilouette, then head out from there the next day. Cool!

As said before, there are no dumb questions. I learned as you are learning, by asking questions and doing research. I commend you on that. I have seen too many people headed to Half Dome who were in no way prepared for the hike.

The way the Yosemite permit system works is that the permit indicates your first night's stay in the park. Once you have done your first night, then the park's open to you. If HalfDome is your goal, then Glacier Point to Illiouette , IMHO, is your best bet. Day 2 would go from Illilouette to Little Yosemite or the vacinity. That trek is about 8 miles. Once you are at LYV, you can hit half dome the next day. Start early, at least by 6:00am to beat the crowds.

Here are links for a 5 day trip I did last year:
Day 1 - Glacier to Illilouette: easy first day, not too long, just to get in the park.
[I'm not allowed to post the urls yet, so you'll have to search for the original post to see them]
Day 2 - Illilouette to LYV
[deleted URL]
Day 3 LYV to Half Dome: this route also shows a side trek up the JMT. I wanted to check out possible campsites for later expeditions. You could also plan to head to JMT depending on what you want to do.
[deleted URL]
Day 4 - LYV to Echo Valley. Great Day hike, but a long one
[deleted URL]
Day 5 - LYV to Happy Isles
[deleted URL]

As I mentioned before, the key is what type of hike you want to do and miles per day. I'm not into death marches, some people are and that's okay, but I like to keep my days between 6-8 miles. We base camped at LYV, but had considered going to Merced Lake and then back around to JTM and down, but we ran out of days.

The Trailheads, Yosemite Falls & Snow Creek center around the North Rim area. Definitely a place to go and explore. My original plan for this weekend was to hit that area from Porcupine Creek, but we changed plans a couple of weeks ago because we were not sure that the road to the trailhead would be open there is still a lot of snow in the area. Merced Lake is on the South Rim side of the valley and the trailheads for Merced Lake are Happy Isles, Sunrise, Glacier Pt. It is a long trek to Merced Lake if you want to do it in a day. Too long for my tastes.

I hope this helps.

[Dave Miller]

That's funny, I was about to reply and you already found another one of my replies. Have a great time. I will be at Illiouette Basin on Labor Day weekend too, but this time, I'm just going to take it easy and base camp.

Enjoy!

-dave