Hello all,
My 3 buddies and I are going out to Yosemite this July, and we want to backpack for a few days starting on Monday, July 10th or Tuesday July 11th. Our preferred itinerary would be to start in Tuolumne Meadows and hike to the valley floor (passing over Clouds Rest). If we got HD permits, we would love to summit, but it isn't a deal breaker. We aren't terribly picky on which trailhead we start out of (we are even okay with going up to Glen Aulin and then turning south towards Tenaya Lake if we can't get Sunrise or Cathedral Lake TH permits).
I tried to get permits online, and was denied for all 3 options on both days. I even tried to get a Wednesday start permit (which doesn't really work with our travel plans), and was denied for that as well. We are coming from SC, so it is a little scary to fly all the way out there with all our gear and no backpacking permits, but I think that we will at least be able to get "some" permit to backpack in the park. I'm wondering how early we would need to be at the TM wilderness permit station on Sunday the 9th or Monday the 10th to successfully get a permit for our route? I've seen 4:00am thrown around online, but I have also seen some reports of success as late as 9:00am. Any thoughts or experience with how early we would need to be there?