Toulumne Meadows to Happy Isles with a stop for Half Dome

[carias76]

I have a permit for the end of September to enter at Toulumne Meadows and summit Half Dome. I am planning the following trip and need some advice. We are going to leave a car at Happy Isles and take the bus over to Toulumne meadows. I am going with a group of four somewhat novice backpackers and I want to limit the milage per day. This all assumes that roads will be open and the fires are under control by then.

Day 1 Toulumne Meadows to Cathedral Lakes
Day 2 Catherdral Lakes to Sunrise Lakes (probably the middle lake)
From what I have read, the middle lake is the most secluded. Which lake would you recommend?
I have estimated the milage for this day at about 6.2 miles, is that right?
Can someone give me a read on how hard this will be?
Day 3 Sunrise to Clouds Rest
I estimate it is a little over 5.5 miles to the peak.
Would it be better to camp before the peak or after? or should we just try to charge to sunrise creek
Day 4 Clouds Rest to Sunrise Creek
any recommendations on where to camp?
Day 5 Summit Half Dome
depending on how people are feeling, we may just hike out.
What is the mileage from sunrise creek to Half dome and back?
Where can we drop our packs? Can we leave them in camp or do we have to take them all the way to the cables?
Day 6 Hike out to Happy Isles

also, can anyone reccommend a website or software that will allow me to plan this trip and have the software calculate the distances and elevation gains/losses fbetween each stop? I see snapshots that people create but I don't know how they create them.
thanks

[balzaccom]

WOw--a lot of questions! Here are a few answers. Basically, this is a popular trip, and lots of people have done it more or less the way you suggest.

I wouldn't worry about which Sunrise Lake is usually the least crowded. You can just hike from one to the other and pick which one you want to camp. And yeah, that's about 6+ miles from the junction at Cathedral Lakes. This is the easiest day of your hike...total elevation gain is about 500 feet for the whole day.

You don't give much info about your hiking abilities, but most backpackers would say that 5-6 miiles a day is a pretty relaxed pace. I would go up and over cloud's rest and camp on the far side...only because if you don't....you really aren't covering much groung on day 3. YOu aren't really suggesting camping on CLoud's Rest, are you? There is no water up there at all. Unless you are prepared to dry camp, it's not a good idea.

And don't worry, when you get to Sunrise Creek on the far side of CLoud's Rest, you will see places to camp along the creek. Try to choose one that's a bit farther away...you shouldn't camp within 100 feet of the creek.

That then puts you in good shape to leave your packs at the bottom, climg Half Dome on Day 4---and then head out if you want to. It would be about 9 - 10 miles or so for the day. It's about 1.5 miles from the junction to the top of Half Dome. Get there early, and you won't have to wait long to get up the cables.

And if you have an extra day, there are lots of places to explore, either in Yosemite Valley or day hike up Little Yosemite Valley...

[carias76]

Thanks for the answers. I could definately do more than 5-6 miles a day but my group has struggled right around that mark on a few other trips.
I was not planning on camping on cloud's rest but I was not sure if there was water on the other side. I have read there are a few places right before the summit that you can camp and have water. I assume your suggestion to camp on the other side means there is water.

For half dome, do we leave our packs at the junction or right before the cables? What do we do with our bear canisters?

As of right now the roads are blocked from the fire so I can't do the car drop off in happy isles and bus to Toulumne. Hopefully the roads will be open by 9/21.