Hi, I just scored a permit to go in and out of the Cathedral Lakes TH. My primary goal is to see Clouds Rest. My thought of an itinerary is:

Day 1: hike to one of the Sunrise Lakes, camp there (8 miles).
Day 2: leave tent & gear (& food?) at camp, day hike to Clouds Rest and back (8 miles). If there's time and energy, continue back to camp at Cathedral Lakes (4 miles), otherwise stay at Sunrise Lakes.
Day 3: hike back (4 or 8 miles, depending).

I wonder if you more experienced hikers have any advice on how to improve this itinerary? It doesn't feel like the most optimal use of my limited time. Is there a way to turn it into more of a loop? Or is there an interesting side excursion I could do? If I can arrange to spend an extra day, would that help?

And if I did leave my gear at Sunrise Lakes, would I be asking for trouble by leaving my food, too? (In a container, obviously, but still...)

Thanks!

Rats, I meant to post this in the backpacking forum...

Are you doubling back because your car is at Cathedral trailhead or TM? You could exit Sunrise and take the free TM shuttle back to get your car (assuming your dates are soon while the shuttle is still running). That would shave something like 8-10 miles from your plan, potentially you could get back on night 2 and have the third day for something else. Or, it could give you more time to explore/relax. Be sure to catch Lower Cathedral Lake on the way in.

Or...have you ever done the Mist Trail? You also could exit from CR to Yosemite Valley and do the Mist Trail, though you would be carrying all your gear and food the whole way and you'll have some transportation issues to work out for either the front end or back end of the trip.

Yes, Cathedral Peaks was the only trailhead with any availability in Sept. Been on the Mist trail many times, and hoping to avoid that scene, hence the idea of just staying in the higher elevation area and doing some kind of loop. The High Sierra Camp loop around Merced Lake and Vogelsang is too much in 3 days, at least for me. Regarding exiting out thru Sunrise, that might be a possibility, I'm going mid-Sept, I'll check into the shuttle schedule. Thanks!