Backpacking May Lake TH, Sunrise, Clouds Rest, Tuolumne

[Bigvegetable]

First time post. Big fan of the website from what I have seen so far.

I am planning a backpacking trip and have the following the itinerary so far:

July 14th (Thu):
1 hr drive from Mammoth to Tuolumne Meadows
Park and take shuttle from Tuolumne Meadows to May Lake Trailhead
Hike from May Lake Trailhead to Sunrise Lakes and set up camp

July 15th (Fri):
Leave camp and day hike to the summit of Cloud's Rest
Return to Camp at Sunrise Lakes

July 16th (Sat):
Hike north from Sunrise Lakes to Cathedral Lakes
Hike north from Cathedral Lakes to Tuolumne Meadows
Set up Camp at Tuolumne Meadows backpackers Campground

July 17th (Sun):
Day hikes around Tuolumne Meadows
Pack and leave for home around noon.

Any advice on the above would me much appreciated. I have reservations for 6 people with mixed levels of backpacking experience, some rookies. None of us have backpacked this area. If anyone wants to answer any of the questions below I would be very grateful:

1. Is this too much mileage to have a relaxing trip with downtown to just hang?
2. Mosquitos, I here they are a biznatch in July. What is the best way to keep em off? Special clothing? Spray?
3. Any advice on a nice area to camp near sunrise lakes, not far from the clouds rest trail?
4. After clouds rest, should we stay a second night near sunrise lakes, or continue past and set up camp at upper cathedral?

Thanks in advance!

[balzaccom]

This sounds like a nice relaxing few days.

1. Is this too much mileage to have a relaxing trip with downtown to just hang? NOpe--sounds pretty relaxed to me.

2. Mosquitos, I here they are a biznatch in July. What is the best way to keep em off? Special clothing? Spray? Deet works. Head nets are cheap, light, and when you need them, really ,really nice to have. Camp away from water, away from grass, and in a nice breezy spot.

3. Any advice on a nice area to camp near sunrise lakes, not far from the clouds rest trail? See above

4. After clouds rest, should we stay a second night near sunrise lakes, or continue past and set up camp at upper cathedral? It's so much easier to leave your campsite set up and do CR as a day hike---why would you want to break it down and the set up camp a few miles away? Take it easy, enjoy the hike to CR...and come back to a camp already set up and good to go. Remember to leave your food in the bear boxes at Sunrise, or your bear cans outside of your packs....so that if animals get curious, they don't rip your packs open trying to get at your bear cans

[Bigvegetable]

Thank you for the tips balzaccom! I do appreciate the insight. One more questions I didn't ask before, what do you think snow levels will be like mid July in this area? I am hopeful there wont be much snow near sunrise lakes or on the trail to clouds rest, but I am not sure if that is realistic with the amount of snowpack in the sierras right now.

[CAHIKER]

Hike from May Lake Trailhead to Sunrise Lakes and set up camp

If you have a wilderness permit for May Lake, then you need to spend your first night at May Lake. You need a Sunrise Lakes permit to camp the first night at Sunrise Lakes. You can camp the 2nd night wherever you want, so long as you walk between the points and don't drive or take a bus. I've done the hike between the May Lake trailhead and the Sunrise Lakes trailhead a couple of times and I found it to be one of the least interesting at Yosemite. Much of the way is along a fire road. You get occasional views, but it's mostly in the forest. Then you cross Tioga Road and parallel the road until you get to Tenaya Lake. You might want to try for a first come, first serve permit for Sunrise when you get there.

Alternatively, you could spend a night at May Lake before continuing to Sunrise. It's a beautiful spot, although you won't find any solitude.

Also, someone mentioned putting your stuff in bear lockers while you do the hike to Clouds Rest. There are bear boxes at the Sunrise High Sierra Camp, but I didn't see any at Sunrise Lakes when I camped there. The Lowest Sunrise Lake (there are 3) is the most convenient to hiking to Clouds Rest. There are some flat spots a ways up the slope from the Lake on the right side of the lake (right side relative to when you first see it from the trail). There might be less mosquitoes there than closer to the lake or in the forest.

When you get back to the junction with the trail to Clouds Rest, be sure to walk ahead a couple hundred yards off trail. There is a great view from there.

I agree that this will be a fairly relaxing trip, especially if you start from the Sunrise trailhead and save the extra distance. Much of the way is uphill, but much of the steepest part is shaded.

[Hitech]

I have found these to work well:

http://www.off.com/ClipOn.aspx

I used one of these in Yosemite and had NO problem with mosquitos:

http://www.thermacell.com/mosquito-repellent/appliances

[Bigvegetable]

If you have a wilderness permit for May Lake, then you need to spend your first night at May Lake. You need a Sunrise Lakes permit to camp the first night at Sunrise Lakes. You can camp the 2nd night wherever you want, so long as you walk between the points and don't drive or take a bus.

Well, that sure took the air out of my balloon. I have a May Lake Permit, but I really want to do the loop I described. I don't think it is really feasible if I have to spend the first night at May Lake. My follow up questions are:

1. How is the Trailhead Permit system regulated? In other words, will I get booted out of Sunrise Lakes if I try to stay there the first night?
2. If I really must stay the first night at May Lake, does anyone have a good suggestion on how to modify the above trip without increasing the amount of days?
Any more suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[rittercon]

We haven't always run into a park ranger on our Yosemite backpacking trips; but whenever we have, they've always asked to see our permits. I have not experienced it firsthand, but have been told they will "evict" folks without the proper permit. Sunrise is a very popular trail and I would expect it's patrolled regularly. Clouds Rest is an excellent backpack/hike; I hope you can make it work.

[AlmostThere]

You must spend that first night where it specifies on the permit. Or get a new permit. You could try to do that, walk into the office in the morning and see if they have any for that day. If not, hang out til 10 and see if there are unclaimed reserved permits. If not, hang out til 11 and get a walk in (free) permit for the following day. You also need to be in the Tuolumne Meadows wilderness office as they have priority over the area's trailheads.

If you can't get your ideal trailhead, you still have the one for May Lake as a fallback.

I've run into rangers most often within a day's hike of the road - odds are favorable that you'll meet a ranger, so would be a good idea not to take chances. Also - you are allowed to cross the road to continue hiking on trails, but the minute you turn and travel along the road, you have left the wilderness and must get a NEW permit to re-enter the wilderness on a trail - legally speaking. Any road travel ends your wilderness travel.

[Bigvegetable]

Thank you all for the very useful information. I think I will take your advice and try to get another unclaimed permit the day of. However, as a backup plan do you have any advice on a good 3 full day backpack from May Lake? Thanks!