Family hikes not to miss

[tracyann]

My family of 6, children ages 12, 14, 18 and 21 will have only two days to see all we can see of Yosemite next week. Please help us decide which hikes to take. We are all good for hikes taking 3 or 4 hours with some climbing. We would like to avoid the masses if possible. Also we plan to drive into the park and are concerned about finding parking. Any advice would be appreciated.

[AlmostThere]

Where are you staying the night?

Are you only going as far as the valley floor or will you be going out Glacier Point Road, Tioga Pass, or Mariposa Grove?

[tracyann]

Where are you staying the night?

Are you only going as far as the valley floor or will you be going out Glacier Point Road, Tioga Pass, or Mariposa Grove?

We are staying in Groveland 3 nights. We have Thurs. and Friday to tour. We are open to suggestions on the best use of our time. At first the older boys were going to try to do the half dome hike, but we have talked them out of that due to the time constraints and it would be a stretch for at least one of them.

[AlmostThere]

Good thing you talked them out of it - they wouldn't have had the permits or the money to pay the fines.

If you go to the Valley go early morning, as early as you can - the afternoon traffic and crowds are ridiculous. Since they had interest in Half Dome, go to Glacier Point road and do Sentinel Dome, then hike a loop to Taft Point and take in the views there. Visit Glacier Point itself while you're there. If everyone is up for longer hiking, go down to Illilouette Creek and back.

Driving out Tioga Road is great too - lots of pullouts to take in views of the park. A good short hike from Olmsted Point would be Mt Watkins - you have to pay attention to the map and look for the unsigned informal trail that goes left on top of the ridge, and walk all the way out to Watkins, great views of Clouds Rest and Half Dome and no crowds - you left those behind when you left Olmsted. Go to Tuolumne Meadows and check out Lembert Dome and wander in the meadows, or up Lyell Canyon.

There are plenty of other ideas and details on hike difficulty at yosemitehikes.com.