Pilgrim490 wrote:would you recommend Clouds Rest as a less populated yet equally rewarding view/summit?
Clouds Rest is amazing once you get out of the tree line, and the only part of it that's all that hard (other than the distance) is the first set of switchbacks as you go up the first ridge (assuming you start from the Sunrise trailhead on Tioga Pass Road). Even that isn't at all bad. There's nothing approaching climbing unlike Half Dome; it's an amazingly rewarding summit for the view, but it's definitely not the challenge Half Dome is (which is fine by me
).
Starting from Sunrise, you have a pretty nice view of Mount Hoffman and Tuolumne Peak if you stop and look back for a second going up those initial switchbacks. You lose a bit of the altitude you gained by going down some switchbacks almost immediately after, but after that it's pretty much just a nice gently rising stroll through a wooded area for a few miles until you get out of the treeline. Once you start getting near the tree line and the view opens up, it's amazing. There's a spot just past the beginning of the foot trail up to the summit where you have a really spectacular view of Tenaya Lake, Tenaya Canyon, Tenaya Peak, and a couple of other prominent mountains whose names I can't think of off the top of my head.
The summit along the foot path is easy, and really cool when you're seeing Tenaya Canyon dropping off pretty sharply to your right and a sharp drop-off on the ridge to your left too. It's like walking along the edge of a knife. It's always a few feet wide though, so it's not dangerous if you're paying close attention.
At the summit you have a great side view of Half Dome 1000 feet below, as well as Tenaya Canyon (man, it's freaky looking down that thing from up there!). There's also another really cool canyon if you look southeast I believe; I think you're looking up to the headwaters of the Merced, if my memory serves correctly. You have a really prominent view of Mount Clark from there too.
Thank God Clouds Rest is separated by a hell of a drive from Yosemite Valley, so it doesn't get overcrowded with all the people who miss out on Half Dome. Even if you don't do Half Dome, doing the Mist Trail up to Nevada Falls is a lot of fun; especially early in the season when Nevada Falls is just roaring with water.
When I did Clouds last August there were 3 other groups of maybe 7 other people total, so you're not likely to find solitude up there in the busy season, but I wouldn't call it crowded by any stretch.