Hey everyone,
First of all, y'all are awesome, tons of great info and advice! Reading this forum makes me even more upset to be stuck in Ohio.
From what I've gathered looking around this board and other sources, Hetch Hetchy is the best place to get a backpacking trip with as little snow as possible this early in the season (starting 6/15). Does this mean that Hetch Hetchy wouldn't require snowshoes? Perhaps for perspective, how much snow should I expect in comparison to this picture above Rancheria Falls? (http://www.greengirl.org/uploads/rancheria-overlook1.jpg) Me and my group are thinking of setting up a basecamp at Lake Vernon and exploring the area, hopefully getting into Jack Main and other off trail oddities. Are there any particularly great off trail sites to see in this area that we shouldnt miss?
As for other ideas: I was thinking of hiking from Wawona, over Buena Vista Pass, then on into the valley. Should we expect a significant amount of snow there? How does it compare to HH?
Finally, while I've been to Yosemite a few times, including a couple of backpacking trips, I've seen some pretty "classic" Yosemite areas, but my group has not. Because of this, I am considering a loop around Tenaya Canyon, hitting Olmsted, Tenaya Lake, Sunrise, maybe Clouds Rest, drop our packs at Half Dome and go back down. What obstacles would we encounter here?
For some background, we are all in our early 20's, with a lot of outdoors experience, but not a ton of high-country mountaineering (of the ice and snow sort) experience. We may have a GPS, but not sure yet. A lot of us are rock climbers.
Thanks in advance!!
Kuls