Hi there,
I'm currently planning a trip to Yosemite in mid-July of this year and am seeing if I can shift something around to make it a bit easier. Currently, on one day I've planned to hike Cloud's Rest and nothing else. On another day I'm up at 4:45am to see sunrise at the Mono Lake tufa towers (as I couldn't initially fit in a sunset there), before spending the rest of that day along the Eastern Sierra. I'm now wondering if it would be possible to hike Cloud's Rest and then drive to Mono Lake for sunset on the same day, just to get rid of the very early start on that Eastern Sierra day. What's making it hard to decide is that I'm finding widely ranging hike times for Cloud's Rest.
How long would you say it would take to hike Cloud's Rest, being your average person in terms of fitness (I have previously hiked Mount Hoffmann in pretty much the time it should have taken, if that helps get some perspective). Would it be possible to then drive to the Mono Lake tufa towers and spend around 3 hours there, if I start the Cloud's Rest hike around, say 7am or something?
Thanks!
Henry