What's there to see in early October?

[textpatriot]

I'm really not familiar with Yosemite so I apologize if this question has been posted elsewhere on this forum.

I'm planning on a solo hiking/camping trip to Yosemite for a couple of days. I've never camped before, and I am not familiar with Yosemite. If this goes well, I will of course come back for subsequent trips.

I don't have climbing equipments. I'm also travelling at the end of the season, on October 8th, for only a couple of days. My start off point is the Valley, and that's also where I want to come back to on October 10th afternoon. I reach at 2 pm on October 8th (Sat), so I have the rest of the day, the whole of Sunday and then till mid-afternoon on Monday.

The Half Dome and the Yosemite Falls are the biggest attractions. But I will be ignoring both of these since all I want is a good hike through some scenic places without suffering very low temperatures. I love the lakes and would love to go all the up to Tenaya Lake and to the Tuolumne Meadows even, but I think that's being too ambitious. So to all the seasoned hikers out there..

1. Is there a trail that avoids high altitudes on my way from the Valley to the Lakes?

2. Is there a place where I can camp on this trail?

3. Please can you explain the whole thing with permits and camping reservations? Do I need to reserve a permit this late in the season, or do you think spots will still be available? I've read that you cannot get the permits the day of, but need to get it the previous day. Is it a little more lenient than that?

[balzaccom]

If you only have a couple of days, I would strongly suggest that you focus on a few day hikes and use your car to see different parts of the park.

Yosemite Valley is stunning, and just because there are people there is no reason to avoid it completely---particulary because you are going at a quieter time of the year. I always love walking out into the meadows in the middle of the Valley (where there are almost NEVER any people) and just enjoying the amazing views of Half Dome, El Capitan, the falls, Cathdral Rocks. etc.

And you can easily hike up the trail one day to Vernal and Nevada Falls..or take the shuttle to Glacier Point and hike back down to the Valley. Glacier Point is simply breathtaking at any time of the year.

And you should try to get up to Tuolumne MEadows as well, and see the magnificent peaks up there. Day hike to Cathedral Lakes, or Glen Aulin...

That's more than enough to do in a few days...and you will be very happy you did it.

You can probably get a campsite at one of the less popular campgrounds (Crane Flat, for example) but that will be outside the valley, and you'll need a car. If you are using public transportation to get into the Park, then you really need to make some reservations now...