Water/camping along Illilouette Falls/Creek Trail

[donnagail]

I am planning a group backpack for approx 8 hikers. I wanted to start the hike from Southside Dr at Glacier Point Trail to Glacier Point then take the Panorama Trail to Little Yosemite Valley to spend the night prior to hiking HD. I would like to split up the 18 mile hike into a two night hike somewhere around Illilouette. Is there a water source and flat area for camping around Illilouette Falls/Creek right off the trail or would we need to head south along to the creek to get to a bigger flat area shown on the topo map. The area shown in white on the topo map just off the trail looks like it might not be level enough for several tents or it might just be a rock cropping with no vegetation. I would rather not get too far off the main trail if possible. After hiking HD the plan is to hike 'UP' the Mist Trail to Happy Isles. I initially wanted to create a longer 23-25 mile hike to HD starting farther west and catch the Pohono Trail but I'm not sure about places to camp and get water. I would rather keep the milage per day to no more than 7-8 miles per day

Any suggestions on spliting up the Glacier Point trail hike from Southside Dr to LYV or the longer initial thought of a 23 mile backpack starting on Pohono Trail?

Donna

[donnagail]

I am still looking at the map and asking questions. If I am reading the map correctly, it looks like at the junction of Glacier Pt and Panorama trail and before we reach Illilouette Falls we will have to continue southeast on the Buena Vista Trail until we spot an area we can get down to the creek, (about 100 ft down) filter water, then come up on the other side to what appears to be a large open meadow to camp? I'm not the best at map reading, but if anyone has a map and has good map reading skills or perhaps knows the area in general,can tell me if you agree that this is the only camping/water spot? I would appreciate it. I would much prefer staying closer to the Panorama Trail to camp and filter water, but I'm just not sure that looks like a possibility due to what appears to be steep terrain.

Donna

[dan]

According to http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/trailheads.htm :
"Camping is not allowed on the Panorama Trail or near Illilouette Fall. You may hike along the trail and camp at another destination beyond."
Also, the area around Illilouete Fall is steep and there's no suitable camping, although there's obviously water there.

Here's an earlier thread on the topic:
viewtopic/t=1545

[donnagail]

Thank you for the links. They were very helpful. I 'think' that answers my question about having to continue to hike SE past the Panorama junction and find a place to camp along the Buena Vista trail.

Donna