by Phil » Thu Jul 29, 2021 7:18 am
No, it's not you misunderstanding, it's me misconveying. Sorry for the alarm and confusion, but it's the first night I'm referring to only. Knowing the difference in requirements and limitations between the two permits is important. There's a lot going on in that area; people without permits, wrong permits, camping violations, canister violations...hikers from within the park and coming in from the PCT all converging make for necessarily heavy enforcement. I've been shaken down more in that area, more often, and seen more citations written than anywhere else in the entire park combined. It's just worth emphasizing that it's where arbitrary decisions to stop or keep going that might seem harmless at the time but don't exactly fit your permitting type can easily come with consequences. But yes, Jim laid it out correctly.
I'm not sure if they'll let you camp up to and including the top of California Falls or not on just the straight GA permit, but that is where the 1 mile no-camping radius ends. All before that after the HSC is what's known as Glen Aulin proper, and even though you might see campsites, it's not technically legal camping. I've seen them waffle on this one if the backpacker's camp is crowded, but I never count on it and don't care because I'm always headed down canyon to better places.
But besides all that, if you can find the use trail shortcut down from behind Pothole Dome you'll save yourselves about 3 miles the first day. If you can get a pass through permit, skip the campground altogether and go downriver. That campground is okay, but why if you don't have to...it is still a campground. I guess it depends on what you're looking for. Like I said though, the top of Ca Falls is where you can first legally camp beyond the HSC. There aren't really many good sites between the trail and the river to your left, but if you go right and up into the rocks there are some nice private ones. Below the falls the canyon narrows down and the sides get steeper. There really isn't much to choose from in that stretch at all, so going ahead and pushing down to Le Conte/Waterwheel is the best way to go at that point. It's also the most picturesque and complicated stretch of continuous waterfalls that side of Muir Gorge. Much better than the short stretch at Ca Falls. Honestly, without a full commitment to the entire GCT from TM to White Wolf or vice versa, Le Conte is really all you need out of any of it. I would skip the campground, make that my first night if I could, limit my climbing back out, and then just go up to Young Lakes.