QuoteAnotherDave Not sure what purpose this structure serves. A spot for post-climb, celebratory bone jumping? Mosh pit for a big wall rave party? Other than a few rock ducks, this was about all the summit had to offer. I don't know what I was expecting, but the El Capitan summit was just kinda ....there. I believe it is a windbreak for climbers that top out on El Capitan and thenby buster - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
Quotettilley What I've seen is that if someone asks for a same-day permit at another station, that station will call the "closest" one, and the rangers will ask who's planning to request that trailhead, before giving the other station the go-ahead. Exactly. As I understand it they did this because people would go to less busy permit stations, where there was no to little line, and tryby buster - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
Quotelschaaf I think that was before the current computer system. No, you are wrong, it is still happening and I think was only recently implemented, at least officially. From the website http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/wildpermits.htm : "Priority for permits for a particular trailhead is given to the closest permit issuing station." I think why the ranger was reluctant to giby buster - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
To add to the chorus, me too. I love falling asleep looking up at all the stars in the sky. Makes packing up in the morning much quicker too.by buster - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
QuoteKC Man, I guess this one pretty unexplored region of Yosemite. Yes it is. Was up there 5 or 6 years ago. First thing, that whole area burned in the Rim Fire so conditions will be much different than when I was there. I imagine that there will be many more open/sunny areas than before. The trail over Bald Mtn was really hard to follow in sections when I did it, but with the fire a lot of thby buster - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I thought November 18th was for Stanislaus while the park didn't have an end date on their order. It makes sense (somewhat) for the forest to close the area if they will be doing logging or other cleanup in the area which of course the park won't be doing. The park closure is almost all wilderness, so there is inherent danger, so I don't know what they are protecting us from. The ground/ashes shoby buster - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
I would agree with the pink bird in his advice to just go to Pate Valley and skip Smith Peak. Unlike the bird, I think the trails around Hetch Hetchy will open up before November. However, the route from White Wolf to Hetch Hetchy will be almost entirely within the Rim Fire area, so unless you want to see a recently burned area for ~15 miles I wouldn't go that way. Plus you would have to figure oby buster - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
Was through there a few weeks ago and it seems everything is closed in the area. Every side road had a sign saying it was closed so it doesn't look like there are very many options.by buster - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Assuming they don't reopen Tioga Pass next week, you can only enter from the west, either highway 120, 140 or 41. So depending on where you are coming from, I would take the most direct route. The only variation on this is if a storm is forecasted, it might be easier to 140 as it is at a lower elevation and much less affected by snow. With a dog you are rather limited for hikes, pretty much juby buster - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I was thinking the same thing. It's been dry for a long time. Not sure if they keep records of when it starts/stops, but this year has got to be one of the longest. Let's hope for a big winter.by buster - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotechick-on Anyone hiking ALL the trails in Yosemite... yeah... you HAVE to do this trail. So now you have to do trails that aren't even on the map?! Next, I bet you'll say that I have to do all the old & abandoned trails too!by buster - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I would say that the rock was first, then the lichen for a number of reasons. The lichen is entirely on the upper half of the rock and it appears that where there is no lichen, the rock is overhung, so little to no water making it unviable for it to grow there. So it seems very unlikely that the rock happened to come to rest in that particular orientation without other evidence of lichen have groby buster - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
I guess in honor of Yosemite being created on October 1, 1890 and then closing on October 1, 2013, google put Yosemite National Park as its daily 'doodle' Just go to https://www.google.com/by buster - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
QuoteKatyAnderson The trail from outlet of Tenaya to where the switch backs start is kind of boring, so I stepped off the trail and explored along the creek. Went to the edge of the Tenaya Canyon, but no further. Here I am looking at Pywiack Cascade I think. That's not Pywiack Cascade, it's just Tenaya Creek. Pywiack isn't really visible on the way up to Cloud's Rest, but you should have gby buster - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
QuoteDave QuotebusterThe permit office, actually called the Yosemite Valley Wilderness Center, is in Yosemite Village, between the Post Office and the Visitor Center. Either park at the store or the main day use parking lot and walk to the Wilderness Center. Don't go to Happy Isles/Curry Village area....Don't go there. They do not handle HD permits. You need to follow the directions on this Parkby buster - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
1. Yes. See: http://www.yosemitepark.com/tuolumne-meadows-tour.aspx with crucial line: "Bus can be flagged for pick-up or drop off at any trail head." 2. Now, easy. During higher flows you would have to wade across the outlet but even then the water is not moving very fast, it's more of an extension of the lake. I doubt you will even get your boots wet next week.by buster - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
The permit office, actually called the Yosemite Valley Wilderness Center, is in Yosemite Village, between the Post Office and the Visitor Center. Either park at the store or the main day use parking lot and walk to the Wilderness Center. Don't go to Happy Isles/Curry Village area. One suggestion if you wanted to stay in the valley is Camp 4, which is a 100% FCFS campground. When you are leavinby buster - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I was hoping it was a aberration and it seems it was. I too have been almost blown away at Sardine Lakes. Come to think of it, that was the trip I went up Gibbs and Dana, much like you were planning to do. Beautiful area. Thanks for the trip report, seems like a great trip..by buster - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Didn't see that, but you are right. I would debate if getting a LYV permit is more difficult or not than getting Half Dome permits. Either way, if you get a permit to camp in LYV you can also get a permit for Half Dome. Half Dome permits are limited for backpackers as well, but if you are early enough to be able to grab a permit for LYV, there usually are still Half Dome spots available too.by buster - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Sounds like a great trip. Not trying to rain on your parade and I don't know all the circumstances, but I couldn't resist saying something about this campsite. It's way too close to water, looks like 10 - 25ft, and it's right on lush grass. Not very LNT at all. I hope that you picked more suitable campsites for the rest of your trip and will continue to do so in the future. QuoteTechieSby buster - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
To piggy back on what Jayabrams said: One small correction: FCFS permits become available the day before at 11 am, not 10 am. What does happen at 10 am each day is automatic cancellation of reserved permits that haven't been picked up. If you were to get one of those cancellations it would be for starting that day. FCFS permits are issued at any of the permit stations, but the station closeby buster - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
From the nps website: "The quota for Half Dome permits for backpackers is now 75 permits per day (50 available by reservation and 25 available one day in advance on a first-come, first-served basis at wilderness centers)" & " The process for receiving a first-come, first-served wilderness permit, beginning at 11 am one day prior to your backpacking trip's start date, is uby buster - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
QuoteIwantmyyosemite Especially with that mouse virus that broke out.. I know it was in a localized area but I'm still unsure,: Hanta Virus (the mouse virus you referred to) is transmitted through the air, not via water. Basically avoid and don't touch dead mice, mouse dens, mouse droppings or urine and you'll be fine.by buster - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quoteplawrence Quotebuster Quoteulrich So I guess my next question is: what is the best resource for trail distances? A map. I use the trails illustrated maps from National Geographic. Overall, I found the Trails Illustrated maps from National Geographic to be alright, but the one's from Tom Harrison to be a bit more accurate and detailed: I've never had an issue with the trails illuby buster - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quoteulrich So I guess my next question is: what is the best resource for trail distances? A map. I use the trails illustrated maps from National Geographic. They have trail mileages from each junction that you can just add up. For cross-country routes, you can estimate the distance with a piece of string or just eyeball it and use the scale on the map for miles. Most other maps have trailby buster - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotechick-on North Mountain. It may have been me who said the trail was yummy. Actually it's not super bad. Just the portion after Miguel. It should be fairly easy to follow. We didn't have much issue. Get past this and you should be fine. Only been up there once. From Miguel. Gave it a try from Preston once... but kept running into cliffs and having to come back down and around andby buster - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
QuoteKatyAnderson This rule I believe is to prevent people from applying for an obscure trail head, going up that one a ways and then turning back... Katy, that's pretty much what you are describing with your Glacier Point to Illilouette option. Instead of taking the more popular and direct Glacier Pt to LYV trailhead (which is harder to get), you are going to the less popular and out of the waby buster - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I would suggest starting from Tuolumne Meadows and either hiking to the valley or back to Tuolumne. Getting permits from Happy Isles to Merced Lake will be difficult as you will be competing with all the JMT hikers. All reserved permits are long gone so you will need to get a first come first served permit. To realistically get one of those for Happy Isles you have to be at the permit station earby buster - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotey_p_w I thought the quota when the system was instituted used to be 400 day and 100 backcountry. Still - back then you didn't really need to get a HD permit if you already had a wilderness permit. I understand one simply mentioned it when picking up the wilderness permit, and the numbers were essentially averaged out. They changed it. From the nps website at: http://www.nps.gov/yose/planby buster - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
QuotePatsfans If we did Tuolumne Meadows/Soda Springs/Lembert Dome type loop before Glen Aulin would eeks idea of starting at Pothole Dome work out? Not really. Pothole Dome is on the western end of Tuolumne while Lembert is more on the eastern side. You could take the shuttle if you wanted to, but if you are going to soda springs, it is probably just easier to keep walking to Glen Aulin then tby buster - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion