questions for september backpacking trip...

[tavarezl]

hi! im planning my very first backpacking trip with 3 others in early september. this is what i have in mind... id love suggestions to make it better or to know if anyone has done this route before and would do something different... i need to apply for the wilderness permits in a few days so please give me feedback!!

day 1- stay in the valley
day 2- take the backpackers bus up to tuolumne meadows, cathedral lakes trailhead. hike up to upper cathedral lake and set up camp. anyone ever fished there??
day 3- hike up to sunrise lakes, set up camp at one of the lakes. any recommendations on which lake is best?? one with a fire ring would be prefferred. anyone fished here??
question... hiking from upper cathedral lake to sunrise lakes, would it be too much in a day to set up camp then hike clouds rest that day too?
day 4- hike clouds rest then head down to little yosemite valley for the final night
day 5- hike back down to the valley and go home.

thanks!

[runningbear87]

I haven't fished any of those lakes but as for doing Cloud's Rest the same day you go from Cathedral to Sunrise... You have to figure you're gonna put in about 6 miles to Sunrise, then it'll be another 10 miles to the Cloud's Rest summit and back to Sunrise. So really it's what ever you guys think you can handle without getting pooped.

As a side to that, if you did Cloud's Rest the next day, you'd be going down the main trail down the crest from the summit (heading SW) to get to the John Muir Trail/Little Yosemite Valley which is a steep downward grade for a long time which might suck with a framed pack on. Going down the trail east of Cloud's Rest isn't nearly as steep, nor for so long, as it flatens out and follows along Sunrise Creek to LYV.

So there's advantages to both plans: do a lot of hiking on day two and walk a 3 mile stretch of trail 3 times (Sunrise to Cloud's Rest) and have an easier way down, or do Cloud's Rest day 3 and save yourselves an extra five miles and head down for a long time. Either way, yo uguys definitely will love the view from Cloud's Rest. It's so underrated compared to Half Dome- even though the view from CR is 1,100 feet higher!

Good luck!

[AlmostThere]

This is a pretty heavily used area. The rangers will tell you where it is legal to camp - some of the lakes are not legal camping.

I've fished there, and there are fish, but there's significant fishing pressure so they don't bite as well as they do farther in the backcountry. Don't forget your fishing license.

[tavarezl]

thanks for the insightful tips. have either of you been up around that area in september? wondering what to expect as far as weather is concerned. are fire rings hard to come across?? i have heard there are a few up by the third sunrise lake...

[tavarezl]

thanks for the insightful tips. have either of you been up around that area in september? wondering what to expect as far as weather is concerned. are fire rings hard to come across?? i have heard there are a few up by the third sunrise lake...

[AlmostThere]

the weather will be whatever it will be. There won't be mosquitoes. There's sometimes snow, but it won't be a very heavy snow (it can snow any month of the year but generally does not dump winter snow til November or December - the primary concern should be for the cold).

Don't worry about campfire rings. There is a team that goes out to demolish the illegal ones every year. There are more rings than there should be, everywhere.

[tavarezl]

ok, cool thanks. i will come prepared for rain or snow! i have a 20 degree mummy bag, that should be fine, right?

i am thinking due to lack of time we are going to start at sunrise lakes trailhead and do the following... any suggestions on side trips we should take or ways to spice this up that would be great. we are not extreme hikers/backpacker but we do want to make the most of our trip. we would like to average about 7 miles per day... on a moderate yet challenging level.

day 1- tenaya to sunrise lakes, set up camp, fish, explore

day 2- clouds rest and down to LYV. here is where i could use some guidance... we dont really want to carry our packs to the summit if possible. suggestions?? i know runningbear87, you mentioned climbing down one way would be easier??

day 3- down the mist trail to the valley and stay there for the night

head home early next morning.

would it make sense to do halfdome day 3 before heading back down? or would that be backtracking?? i am having trouble finding a good trail map online.i have 2 nights, 3 days to work with... im open to any other route suggestions. i am getting the wilderness permits tuesday so i need to figure it all out by then!

thanks!!

[AlmostThere]

If doing half dome you need to select the box on the permit form.

For clouds rest, the trail goes up and over the summit, and down again. If you don't want to back track to get the packs you'll probably want to have them with you. Personally, I would avoid leaving backpacks unattended anywhere in this region of the park - the bears will drag off unattended packs sometimes, and the LYV area is the only wilderness location that I have ever heard of theft occurring. This is one of the most heavily traveled areas of the park.

I would tank up on water at Sunrise Creek, carry it over Clouds Rest, and dry camp somewhere between Clouds and Half Dome. As long as you are two trail miles from LYV this is do-able. Then summit Half Dome - leave the packs at the bottom of the subdome with the food and all smellables separate from it in the bear canisters, which should always be placed a good distance from slopes - tree wells work great to keep the bears from rolling off canisters.

Or, base camp at the junction of the Clouds Rest trail and day hike to it, then come back to get your stuff and hike on down to LYV and day hike half dome, leaving everything in the bear box in LYV but your stuff for the day and your shelter.

Kind of up to you - if I did this I would probably choose Clouds over HD any day and not add another climb to the trip, so I had the time to enjoy the rest of it.

[tavarezl]

Yeah, you're right. Throwing halfdome in the mix might be a little much. I may just check the box on the permit anyways just in case we're feeling adventurous. What do you think of this plan??

Day 1- cathedral lakes trailhead to sunrise lakes
Day 2- hike over clouds rest (with backpacks) and camp along sunrise creek somewhere
Day 3- back down to the valley

[AlmostThere]

http://tinyurl.com/bol2ysg

There are some oft used campsites near the junction in the center of this map.

The hike up to Moraine Dome is also very nice, and offers an unconventional view of the area. We went up to the saddle and went up the ridge off trail from there. You'll likely be the only ones there.