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Got my Half Dome Permit, but can't get camping permit too.

PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 3:39 pm
by reesnomad
Well, I succeeded in the lottery and got my Half Dome Permit for August 28. Was hoping to backpack & camp the night before up there somewhere (i.e. Sunrise Creek, per Dan's suggestion), rather than do a day hike. But all trailhead permits are gone for Tenaya, Happy Isles, and Glacier Point for entry the day before. Not sure what to do other than cross my fingers, head up there, and try to get a first-come-first-served permit. Pretty risky venture since I'm driving up from San Diego.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks! Rich

Re: Got my Half Dome Permit, but can't get camping permit to

PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 9:20 pm
by AlmostThere
If you did get a wilderness permit you would not need the day hiking permit. They will stamp wilderness (overnight) permits for Half Dome on request.

You could try to do a walk in first come - first serve backpacking permit the day before you want to go. If you were ready to go that day, and could not get a walk in for the following day, you could (an hour after they start handing out walk ins for the next day) try to get an abandoned reserved permit, which happens with great frequency. People make reservations and end up not coming to pick them up all the time...

There are details for this process on the wilderness permitting page on the Yosemite website. Show up early in the morning and stand in line on the porch, when the office opens see what you can get.

Re: Got my Half Dome Permit, but can't get camping permit to

PostPosted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 1:48 pm
by reesnomad
AlmostThere wrote:If you did get a wilderness permit you would not need the day hiking permit. They will stamp wilderness (overnight) permits for Half Dome on request.

You could try to do a walk in first come - first serve backpacking permit the day before you want to go. If you were ready to go that day, and could not get a walk in for the following day, you could (an hour after they start handing out walk ins for the next day) try to get an abandoned reserved permit, which happens with great frequency. People make reservations and end up not coming to pick them up all the time...

There are details for this process on the wilderness permitting page on the Yosemite website. Show up early in the morning and stand in line on the porch, when the office opens see what you can get.


Thanks so much, "Almost there". I can see with clarity what it takes to get a Wilderness Permit from the Yosemite Website, and indeed it seems that if I want/need one that I will have to do the "line stand". I didn't know about the Abandoned Reservation thing, so that is extremely helpful should I fail at getting one while standing in line for first-come-first-served.

You said that I can, however, get my Half Dome Permit stamped as a Wilderness Permit... am I reading that correctly? Can I get that automatically since I have a Half Dome Permit, or will that be required to be part of the quota system too? I can't find anything on the website that explains that. Also, when you say, "...on request", does that mean I can call and request or do I have to show up in person. Sorry, this is all quite confusing!

Thanks so much again. Rich

Re: Got my Half Dome Permit, but can't get camping permit to

PostPosted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 3:24 pm
by dan
reesnomad wrote:You said that I can, however, get my Half Dome Permit stamped as a Wilderness Permit... am I reading that correctly?


No, she did NOT say that.

You can get your Wilderness Permit stamped as a Half Dome Permit.

But NOT the other way around. That is, you can NOT get a Half Dome Permit stamped as a Wilderness permit.

Edit: corrected gender

Re: Got my Half Dome Permit, but can't get camping permit to

PostPosted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 5:19 pm
by AlmostThere
Yep, I said wilderness permit - you can go to Half Dome with a stamp on an overnight permit.

(I'm also a "she". Which is no real big deal, and a common mistake, because I do backpack a heckuva lot and "she"s usually don't, at least not with the frequency of the "he"s.)

You also stand a better chance at a walk in wilderness permit midweek.

Re: Got my Half Dome Permit, but can't get camping permit to

PostPosted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 2:42 pm
by reesnomad
Thanks Dan and Almost There, truly appreciate your assistance. The reason I thought it might be the other way around is that because Half Dome Permits come by lottery now (or walk-up with those few that are available that way) that it didn't seem like it would be possible to get a Wilderness Permit stamped for Half Dome. Seems like it would be more likely the way that I had thought it could occur.

As my permit for Half Dome is midweek (Tuesday Aug. 28th) and there are only two of us, I think I should be successful at getting a permit at 11:00am on the Sunday to hike in on the Monday from Tenaya Lake. Or maybe even start in on the Sunday to "enjoy the ride" up there and take two days to get in for my Half Dome day. I'll be coming in from the east side, so can go to the wilderness permit office by Lembert Dome. That should be a lot mellower place than the Yosemite Valley office, right?

Again, thanks!

Re: Got my Half Dome Permit, but can't get camping permit to

PostPosted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 7:33 pm
by AlmostThere
LOL, wilderness offices are all about the same. Long line. Patient but anxious backpackers.

Actually you should be at the valley office as early as possible. The valley office has priority over trailheads out of the valley. The other offices have to contact the valley office for availability and the delay can cost you. If you had a reserved wilderness permit you could pick it up at any location, no problem.

Re: Got my Half Dome Permit, but can't get camping permit to

PostPosted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 4:34 pm
by reesnomad
AlmostThere wrote:LOL, wilderness offices are all about the same. Long line. Patient but anxious backpackers.

Actually you should be at the valley office as early as possible. The valley office has priority over trailheads out of the valley. The other offices have to contact the valley office for availability and the delay can cost you. If you had a reserved wilderness permit you could pick it up at any location, no problem.


Thanks Almost There. All the reservations are gone already for that date:

http://www.yosemiteconservancystore.com ... sPage2.htm

So I will have to get one by waiting. Tenaya Lake is not a Valley start so I should be able to get one at the T-Meadows station, right?

I will probably camp the night before just outside of Tioga gate if I can get a spot there. That way I can get to the station fastest with a pre-dawn start.

Again, thanks! Rich