Re: Hike suggestions needed, going to Yosemite next week

I am driving up to Yosemite from L.A. early Wednesday morning. I should get to Yosemite by 9 AM (Hopefully Interstate 5/Grapevine is OK by then).

I was thinking of going for a hike, approx 8-10 miles, off of Glacier Point Road. Possibly Dewey Point and then back to the car.
Camp at Upper Pines Wednesday night. Going to try and get the campsite for another night.

Go for another hike Thursday, regardless if I get a site. Possible Upper Yosemite Falls trail (I know, no water in the Falls this time of year).

Drive home Thursday afternoon or Friday morning, depending.

Any suggestions?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/2015 03:49PM by snorkus.

From GP road, I would consider exploring the Starr King area. But who has news on whether the Dewey Point - Taft area has reopened?

Yosemite mist trail going to both falls vernal and Nevada is my favorite. 10-11 miles

I love the Mist Trail too. But I have done it ten plus times, looking for something else.

Yosemite Falls will have a trickle going down...Was there a week ago and it was pretty cool to hike down off the trail to the base of the Upper Falls...check out the cave and the smooth granite, and walk under the few drops coming down. And with the weekend storms you might be surprised at the amount of water. We also saw some guys setting up to highline above the Upper Falls....kinda wish we had stayed to watch them!
I like the Starr King area off of Glacier Point Road idea as well.

Yosemite Falls webcam shows water in the Falls today.

Two GPR-starting hikes that I did recently are

1. Take the Mono Meadow Trail down to IllilouetteCreek and turn left at the creek (you can follow this to the intersection with the Panorama Trail and either take it down to Illilouette Fall or up to GP). Not sure how much water will be in the creek but we did this hike about 6 weeks ago and it was quite lovely (although there's a fair amount of uphill on the way back). Depending on how far you go, this will be in the 10-14 mile range RT. You can also cross over the creek when you first reach it and follow a trail on the other side...I've not done this but it looks like it comes out near Panorama Point. An option which I considered for the next time we're in the area is to do a "lollipop" of going up one side of the creek and back on the other. FYI, the side that we went up follows the creek quite closely...the trail along the other side looks like it heads away from the creek fairly quickly but I've not done that so can't say for sure. I'm not sure if this is what Ohnivy-Drak meant by exploring the Starr King area but you will get some lovely views of Starr King (as well as some really different views of the back of Half Dome) from this trail.
2. If you can find the trailhead for Westfall Meadow (it's hard to see from the road but is directly across the road from the McGurk TH), there's a really nice "go-as-far-as-you-want" hike headed down to the Wawona area. When you come out of the woods and into the meadow, keep going across the meadow and pick up the trail where it re-enters the woods on the other side (not marked but pretty easy to find...basically just follow a straight line through the meadow and past the two dead-tree branches stuck in the middle of the meadow). Soon you'll come to the Alder Creek basin (likely dry now but quite lovely nonetheless). Eventually, you'll descend to an old road which heads out to Deer Camp (or back towards Wawona if you turn right). Again, most of the uphill is on the way back but a lovely hike nonetheless.

I've not yet had a chance to sort through my pictures from our last visit yet but I'll try to get a TR up for these hikes soon.

I got to Yosemite Valley at 9:15 Wednesday morning (drove from L.A.), started my hike at 9:30. I did Upper Yosemite Falls trail. I think that it might be the hardest hike that I have ever done. It was a great time. I need to start a new thread regarding ratings of hikes.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/2015 10:13AM by snorkus.