by jb_aka_marmot » Wed Jul 15, 2009 2:58 pm
This is an old thread, but in case others search, I thought I'd add a comment. (I posted this on another thread but thought it would be worth posting here as well.)
Officially, we were told by rangers that camping is illegal ON Clouds Rest. They say primarily because you must camp 100 ft from the trail, and it is very difficult on the top to be 100 ft from the trail... We saw a couple other folks planning to camp up there, though, but without permits.
We had a great legal experience by camping just downhill from the summit - coming on the trail from the sunrise lakes area, there are several established (though it looks like infrequently used) campsites between the trail up to the summit and the drop off to Tenaya Creek (north side of the trail). It's certainly less than a mile from the summit at that point. Also, at least through July, there is water at a creek where the trail dips the last time before climbing to the summit. (The wilderness permit office will know whether water is flowing, so you can ask when you pick up your permit. The stream doesn't cross the trail, so you have to look for it a little by following the drainage, and your ears.) We set up camp around 3pm and headed up to the Clouds Rest summit for the rest of the day - spending more than 6 hours on top before heading down the short trail to the campsite. Wonderful experience overall, despite not camping right on top.