Quote
PermianBasinGeo
Hey. I'm trying to get to the Pohono trailhead in early June. My plan was to drive up to Glacier Point on a Monday morning and take the Panorama-Mist trail down to the valley. How can I get to Tunnel View on Tuesday morning and day hike the Pohono trail back to my car?
As you probably know, the Pohono Trail is something like 15 miles from Tunnel View to Glacier Point, with a net elevation gain of about 2800 feet. I'll take the Four Mile Trail all the way up to Glacier Point once in a while but going there by the Pohono sounds like a bit much to me. If you decide you aren't up for quite that much hiking, you could either take the
Glacier Point tour bus back to your car Tuesday, or leave the car in the valley and take the tour bus to Glacier Point for your Monday hike. The tour buses I'm speaking of depart from Yosemite Lodge at 8:30 AM, 10 AM, and 1:30 PM each day (in season). The one-way fare to Glacier Point is about $25 and you'll be best off reserving a few days in advance.
Quote
PermianBasinGeo
I have reservations in El Portal for Sunday night and Monday night. Can I take Yarts to the El Capitan bridge and get off? Will the driver let me off there?
Probably not. YARTS does have a policy of letting riders off at trailheads, etc., when (in the driver's judgment) it's safe to do so. On the other hand, NPS has a policy that in the Valley, YARTS (and, I guess, other bus operators) mustn't discharge passengers except at the bus stops that have been assigned to them. I first learned of this policy after a YARTS driver wouldn't let me off at the Four Mile Trailhead. I've also seen another driver let off a passenger there, but I think it was by mistake and I wouldn't count on it happening very often.
The year-round Valley Visitor Shuttle doesn't go as far west as the El Cap Bridge (or the Four Mile Trailhead). During the summer there's an El Capitan Shuttle that makes both stops but it may not be running in early June.
Here's the shuttle map to show you what I mean. For getting to the Four Mile Trailhead, I hardly ever bother with the El Cap Shuttle. I routinely walk there from the Lodge (via Swinging Bridge), or even the Visitor Center (via either Swinging Bridge or Sentinel Bridge).
Quote
qumqats
From [El Capitan Bridge] you could walk across the bridge and west towards Bridalveil. I'd suggest walking parallel to the road a short distance into the forest on the opposite side than the river, i.e. on the side of Cathedral rocks. There should actually be the Valley Loop Trail there, but I'm not sure if it survives in that area.
The Valley Loop Trail is alive and well. There's a trail that starts on the upstream (normally east but in this case, north) side of the bridge and the (normally south but in this case) east side of the Merced River. It more or less parallels the road toward Southside Drive, then crosses Southside and connects with the Valley Loop Trail. There are more trails than shown on the map and some of them will try to take you farther east than you want to go. As I recall, the right place to turn toward Southside is just as you come in sight of the driveway to Cathedral Picnic Area. If you reach the actual driveway you've gone a little too far. This map is a little dated but basically pretty accurate. It's the "Topo Hi" from
mappingsupport.com. The Valley Loop Trail runs across the bottom and Bridalveil is a couple of miles to the west (left):
Quote
qumqats
If you catch a ride up to Tunnel View the Trailhead is somewhere off of the smaller parking lot to the left as you're looking at the Tunnel, i.e. opposite the main parking lot / vista point. I can't say for sure where, I think they rearranged things after the last upgrade.
It's pretty obvious, actually:
I stand corrected --
13 miles from Tunnel View to Glacier Point!
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/06/2014 10:30PM by gophersnake.