BDM, please don't think I'm trying to burst your bubble but the hikes you mention strike me as VERY ambitious for a novice hiker...you'd be dealing with searching for unofficial and ill-defined trails in the wilderness, dealing with more than a little hiking-bordering-on-mountain-climbing and all while struggling with altitudes the likes of which you sound like you've not experienced before. To put some context around my remarks, I'm from NJ but my wife and I spend almost all of our vacation time hiking in the western part of the country. I've spent a total of somewhere between 100 and 125 days in Yosemite and at least that much in other NP's and I would not attempt the hikes you mention unless I had somebody very experienced guiding me.
Some other thoughts:
* First and foremost, there's a reason why the videos recommend those places...despite the crowds, Yosemite Valley probably has more mind-boggling, awe-inspiring, literally take-your-breath-away scenery in its measly 7 square miles than any place else on the planet! If you've not been there, it is insane to skip it. By all means, go early in the morning when crowds are minimal but do not skip this most wonderous of wonderful sites. (You don't say when you plan to go but unless you're looking at next summer, you've already missed the peak waterfall season (which was far from peak this year) but the Valley is still breath-taking. Driving in from the west and getting your first close-up-and-personal view of El Capitan is, to this day, something that makes my jaw drop and my lungs forget to work. I do not use the word "stunning" in any but it's most literal sense here.
* Some slightly less crowded places, especially if you go very early are, indeed, Glacier Point (if there are too many people there, hike a half-mile or so down the Four Mile Trail...that section is very accessible to a novice and, once you get down the first quarter of a mile or so (which is somewhat wooded), the views are every bit as spectacular as GP itself.
* Sentinel Dome often strikes me as perhaps the biggest bang-for-the-buck hike in or near the Valley. It's only 1.5 miles each way and minimal elevation gain but it will net you 360-degree views of the valley, Little Yosemite Valley and Tenaya Canyon (not to mention, on a clear day, views all the way up to the high country).
* Further south, the hike to the top of Chilnuana Falls will be crowded at the beginning but you'll quickly have the trail, if not quite all to yourself, than at least largely to yourself. This ca. 7-mile RT gains a fair amount of altitude but, for the most part, does it so gradually, that even a mid-westerner shouldn't struggle too much!
It'll also take you past raging torrents, wildflower-filled meadows, nice forests, some not insignificant patches of granite and top-off with a wonderful waterfall which you can't see from much of anyplace except by being at its very top.
* I'd normally say that the Mariposa Grove is an absolute must-see but they're doing extensive work up there now and it'll be a year or two before you can drive to the trailheads. If you're feeling ambitious, you can hike there from the Wawona Hotel (ask carefully for directions to the TH...its sort of hidden away in a residential area) but it's about 6 miles each way and gains about 3000 feet of elevation. To that 12 miles RT, add the fact that you'll add at least 2 or 3 miles more wandering around the grove and that will probably be a very tiring and long day for you. On the other hand, unless you're in a part of the grove where they're removing the tram road, you should have a high degree of solitude there.
* AFTER you've had a chance to adjust to 4000-6000 feet of altitude, a few of my favorite hikes in the high country are
* Upper Cathedral Lake (you can also do a detour to Lower Cathedral on the way but I'd suggest going to Upper first and seeing how tired you are. You'll lose a moderate amount of elevation (which you have to then regain) going to Lower and the first part of the trail to Lower is quite a bit rockier than the way to Upper. Lower is also a stunning lake (I've yet to find any of the high-alpine lakes in Yosemite that wasn't worth the effort) but Upper Cathedral is one of my favorites. The views are stunning all the way up and once you're at the lake, it's like being in one of chick-on's photos!
* It'll take you up to a lung-challenging 10,600 feet (although the gain is quite gentle) but the hike to Mono Pass is another one of those OMG-I-can't-believe-places-like-this-still-exist destinations. This will also give you a chance to investigate a bit of Yosemite's mining history as there are remnants of some old cabins very close to the Pass. If you feel ambitious, you could go out of Yosemite here and go part of the way down Bloody Canyon for some really nice views of Mono Lake.
* Glen Aulin will have you exploring the Tuolumne River from a gentle meander through TM to the point where it begins to turn into one raging waterfall after another. If you go in the summer, that one will likely be somewhat crowded but if its late summer, you should have plenty of room to yourself.
* Finally, if you've lurked here very long, you know I'm an "old-road-junkie." In the 1870's, there were 3 stage coach roads built into the Valley (Old Big Oak Flat Road, Old Coulterville Road and Old Wawona Road). Shortly after the OWR was completed, they added a spur road from Chinquapin out to GP (Old Glacier Point Road). About 15 years later, the Great Sierra Wagon Road (which evolved into the Old Tioga Road) was built. All of these roads, for the most part, still exist in conditions ranging from "I'm not even sure I'm standing on the road anymore" to still driveable (indeed, a few stretches of the OCR, OTR and OBOFR are still open to vehicles in the summer). It's wonderful to drive sections of these and get a taste of travel in Yosemite in the early days of the automobile but its even more fun to find some of the more intact (but no longer driveable) sections and hike these. If you believe in ghosts, you will find them here. If nothing else, you'll constantly wonder if you need to step aside for the next coach to get by you. Some sections that strike that balance between undriveable but still easy to follow are
* the OWR from slightly south of Bridalveil Falls up to Inspiration Point (there's also a very nice section beyond IP but, especially in the summer, it'll involve a fair amount of bush-whacking and fallen-tree-hopping)
* the OBOFR from Tamarack Flat CG down to Rainbow View (it's much shorter to hike up from the Valley floor to Rainbow View but you'll have to do a fair amount of scrambling over washouts and rockslides that way and that may be a bit discomforting for a novice (I know that it made me nervous the first time I did it).
* the OGPR from BVCG to Badger Pass (if you walk through the massive BP parking area and find the continuation of the OGPR on the other side, you can continue to follow it down to Chinquapin but that makes it about 12 miles RT if you walk back (and it's all uphill on the way back!).
* the bottom-most portion of the OCR is rapidly being reclaimed by nature (the bottom few hundred feet are buried beneath one of the largest rock slides in recent Yosemite history and the last time I took this stretch up to Big Meadow, there was one spot where the road was so eroded that you pretty much had to grab hold of a manzanita bush and swing across a giant gap in what used to be the road...I'm sure that's only gotten worse over the last 4 or 5 years). However, if you take the modern access road down to Big Meadow (contrary to what some maps will tell you, that access road is NOT the OCR...the line of the true OCR is behind the big row of dumpsters on your left as you head down to Big Meadow), and park by the barn on the edge of the meadow, you'll be back on the OCR and its in very good shape from there all the way into Coulterville (at the Coulterville end, the old road is still maintained and used, albeit under a number of different names). A hike from there to Little Nellie Falls is quite nice. Or you could continue heading out of the Park on the modern Big Oak Flat Road and stop at the Mercer Grove TH. When the trail to the grove makes it's first left turn, you'll be back on the OCR and this gives you a wonderful sense of what it must have been like for early travellers to see one of these remarkable trees for the first time. FYI, there's also a nice stretch of the OBOFR that starts at the Tuolumne Grove TH and goes to Hodgdon Meadow. That's also a lovely hike but since a good chunk of this is still paved (it was open to cars up until fairly recently) it doesn't give you quite the same sense of history (and the end at the grove will likely be crowded).
OK, I'm going to stop there. I'm sure you'll get lots of advice here but I (and, I'm sure, a lot of others) can't stress enough that if you don't have experience at these altitudes, you really must pace yourself. You can probably acclimate to 4000 ft (Wawona and the Valley floor) pretty quickly. 6000-7000 feet (the Valley rims) will be a bit more challenging but you can adjust fairly quickly. However if you head into the high country (anywhere from 7000 to 11000 feet...more if you start going up some of the peaks), you will NOT enjoy yourself if you haven't given yourself time to adjust.
Whatever you do, remember that a "bad day" in Yosemite is better than a fabulous day almost anywhere else...stay safe, know your limits and don't feel like you have to do it all in one trip (trust me, you can't) and you'll have a wonderful time.
Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/2015 02:48PM by DavidK42.
for the incredible posts and pictures. Your photos are a real treasure - you've made this lady very happy!). For those with lots of Yosemite experience, what's a not-to-miss hike you would recommend for novice hikers? I mean really novice - we are from the midwest, where land doesn't get any flatter. Yosemite books and videos recommend the typical touristy spots (Glacier Point, blah blah blah) but I am interested in the hikes that aren't quite as common. Here are my thoughts: Hiking to the top of Liberty Cap? Grizzly Peak? Half Dome Diving Board? (I've heard the HDDB trail is hard to find.....and are the slopes and manzanitas pretty trecherous, or not too bad?). I'm also fascinated with John Muir's Fern Ledge, but I've read horror stories about Sunnyside Bench 
Thanks very much! 
