deciding on where to start...

[Megapixel]

if we decide to skip the beginning of our JMT hike, and instead choose to start at Tuolomne Lodge, what will we miss during that first small section? Also, can we get permits at this starting point?

thanks for the info. friends!:D

[Helmuth.Fishmonger]

if we decide to skip the beginning of our JMT hike, and instead choose to start at Tuolomne Lodge, what will we miss during that first small section? Also, can we get permits at this starting point?

thanks for the info. friends!:D


you will miss several miles of PAVED trail

you will miss hundreds of tourists looking at you like you're some endagered species lost in a mall parking lot

you will miss the heat and dust around Curry Village

you will miss an overcrowded backpacker campground

you will miss a pretty decent view of Nevada Falls

You'll miss the smell of the funky toilet building in little Yosemite Valley

You'll miss the crowds heading up to Half Dome

You'll miss the torn up dusty trail leading up to the Half dome trail turnoff

You'll miss the mosquitoes at Sunrise High Sierra camp (worst ever!)

You'll miss a boring pass with almost no view


I've skipped that section of the JMT 10 out of 13 hikes and the only reason I will do it again this year is to do a "complete yo-yo" - not because I have any real interest in walking there. I'd rather spend that time doing some alternate detour route anywhere else in the Sierras but near Yosemite Valley.

Permits for the JMT heading south at Tuolumne Meadows are a walk-in. don't have to reserve, just be first in line at the TM Ranger station 8am the day before you leave, or even on the day you leave. On a weekend you may need to be there the day before, though.

For Happy Isles, you really have to reserve a permit, because even though they do reserve a lot of openings for walk ins, to get them you need to be at the valley ranger station well before 6am to get one.

[Miner]

Maybe its my hiking style (ie. get going before dawn) and the fact that I usually go to Yosemite in late Spring (before the main crowds) or in fall after labor day (after most have gone home), but I rather like the stretch of trail between Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne Meadows.

You will miss the large impressive waterfalls, Vernal and Neveda (no one takes the JMT for the first few miles and instead take the mist trail). You will miss the side trip up to Half Dome which I recommend everyone do at least once (There isn't a large crowd if you start up early or you aren't there in the height of summer). And the rest of the trail through here isn't any more boring then much of the JMT further south (I don't get that) as even the worse part of the JMT is far better then then any of the local hikes I have here in SoCal. You can cheat and do the trip down to the Valley as an easy trip downhill from Tuolumne and then take the shuttle bus back up to start Southbound.

Getting walk up permits at Tuolumne Meadows for the JMT southbound is pretty easy if you show up on a weekday or/and show up the day before you want to start your hike which is the earliest you can pick up a walk up permit.

If you've never been in Yosemite Valley before, it is definitely worth putting up with the crowds to at least spend part of a day checking the place out as the views are spectacular before heading up to Toumlumne.

[Rambler]

Yeah, Yosemite is so crowded no one goes there any more. But, the scenery is so spectacular everyone is in a good mood, just enjoy. If leaving from Tuolumne gives you an extra day or two, hike into and camp at Minaret Lake (opposite Red Meadows) It's beautiful. Use Tom Harrison Map Devil Postpile Trail Map.

[Jester2000]

I've posted this before, but I'll throw it on here, too. I recommend going to Tuolumne, setting up yer camp in the backpacker campsite, putting your food less some snacks (with your name on it) in the bear box, and getting an early start heading North down into the valley.

Then get the shuttle from the Valley back up to Tuolumne, get a good night's rest, and then head south from there.

The hike down to the valley is about 24 miles, I think, more or less, depending on which map/guidebook you have. About the first 4 or so are uphill to Cathedral Pass, and then it's pretty much downhill from there. You still get to see the falls, and some nice views, and the tourists don't really clog things up until the end. And since you're going downhill and carrying virtually nothing, it's not an overly ambitious first day.

Although because of the need to get to the bottom before the last shuttle, you most likely won't have time to climb Half Dome.

But I think it's still a good way to do it.

[Dogwood]

I couldn't agree more with Miner. One would miss out on all the positives that Miner stated if one skipped the section from Happy Isles(YV) to TM. Yeah, there are cons about Yosemite Valley and, maybe, this section, some of which Hellmuth.Fishmonger pointed out, like tourists, but it's still a beautiful place and section and there are places to go in and around the valley, like the YV rims, to experience less/NO crowds. As Miner said, the time of yr plays a role in how crowded it is. However, overall, no matter when one visits YV the beauty far far far outweighs the negatives! And, especially if one has never been to or has little experience with YV, as I think is the case with the OP, I would never suggest to anyone that they skip YV or this short worthy to hike section! I will also pt out that HM has hiked this section on 3 of his 13 hikes through there. Not everyone is so fortunate to have spent so much or ANY time doing what he's done on 3 different occassions and can be in the position to justifiably make the informed decision to say, "I have no real interest hiking there." - AGAIN!

[Jester2000]

I couldn't agree more with Miner. One would miss out on all the positives that Miner stated if one skipped the section from Happy Isles(YV) to TM. Yeah, there are cons about Yosemite Valley and, maybe, this section, some of which Hellmuth.Fishmonger pointed out, like tourists, but it's still a beautiful place and section and there are places to go in and around the valley, like the YV rims, to experience less/NO crowds. As Miner said, the time of yr plays a role in how crowded it is. However, overall, no matter when one visits YV the beauty far far far outweighs the negatives! And, especially if one has never been to or has little experience with YV, as I think is the case with the OP, I would never suggest to anyone that they skip YV or this short worthy to hike section! I will also pt out that HM has hiked this section on 3 of his 13 hikes through there. Not everyone is so fortunate to have spent so much or ANY time doing what he's done on 3 different occassions and can be in the position to justifiably make the informed decision to say, "I have no real interest hiking there." - AGAIN!

Hey, wait a minute. I want you to not be able to agree more with me.

But what you've said here is exactly how I felt -- never been there before and who knows if I'd ever get back (although I'd like to!). So there was no way I wasn't going to see the Valley.

I understand Helmuth.Fishmonger's comments as well, but having only been there once, I could stand to go back a couple more times.

[Helmuth.Fishmonger]

I understand Helmuth.Fishmonger's comments as well, but having only been there once, I could stand to go back a couple more times.

full disclosure - I've been to the valley about 20 times, but doing the hike-out from there to TM is not something I'd do if you apid me. When I do the section for sake of "complete JMT" these days it is exactly as you describe: downhill, and back up with the bus. I take two days, and if the weather is good, Clouds Rest is part of that route, as it is the most impressive view in all of Yosemite. Forget the view from Halfdome when you can have a better 360 view, with Half Dome as part of that panorama.

And don't ask the rangers about camping up there - it's "not 100 feet off the trail" - i.e. they will say you cannot. right. Come and get me and the other 10 people who had the same idea

http://didnt.doit.wisc.edu/outdoor/gallery/JMT1990/Clouds_Rest/slides/803_half_dome_at_dusk.jpg

[grizzlyadam]

full disclosure - I've been to the valley about 20 times, but doing the hike-out from there to TM is not something I'd do if you apid me...

I'm not sure what an apid is, but you could easily apid me to hike out of the valley again. I'd leave tomorrow if you apid me. I thought it was beautiful and amazing.

Sure, the first however far (don't really think it is several miles as earlier stated) is paved, but it is hardly noticeable. And, sure, the first stretch is crowded with tourons, but they are soon left behind...

Other than the rain and 50 degree temps I thoroughly enjoyed the day I climbed out of the valley. (http://www.trailjournals.com/grizzlyadamjmt)

In my opinion it is a section of trail that isn't to be missed.

[ndwoods]

It's a long uphill hike if you do it with full pack....

[Helmuth.Fishmonger]

You will miss the large impressive waterfalls, Vernal and Neveda (no one takes the JMT for the first few miles and instead take the mist trail).

yeah, probably an early season thing... on Mist Trail, early July, he almost pushed me off the trail!

http://didnt.doit.wisc.edu/outdoor/gallery/JMT1989/day%2001/slides/JMT_1989_0527.jpg

[Helmuth.Fishmonger]

I'm not sure what an apid is, but you could easily apid me to hike out of the valley again. I'd leave tomorrow if you apid me. I thought it was beautiful and amazing.



you're so funny.

Yosemite is an overcrowded freaking city, filled with the very people I want to get away from when I go to the Sierras, why would I want to go and hike where they all hang out, on ASPHALT?

If you can arrange it, visit the valley in May, gawk at the waterfalls in their prime and be amazed at how they turned this amazing valley into a parking lot and shopping mall, then come back in summer and hike high above that circus in the backcountry. It's like the Grand Canyon - cool to see once, but I'd rather be somewhere else by myself. I doubt John Muir would visit Yosemite Valley much if he was alive these days.

Of my 15 JMT's, I have started in the valley on the first two trips. I have finished there once. I've slept on top of Half Dome when it was still legal, but even that is now outlawed because some yahoos camped up there and burned one of the few trees that still grew up there, wrecking it for the rest of us.

If you haven't done the JMT yet, you have to start in the valley, so you can appreciate everything that follows even more so. It's like getting away from a crazy place and finding yourself deeper and deeper in what you really came to see.

[Jester2000]

In defense of Helmuth's POV, I will say that after spending months on the PCT, being in the valley actually came close to inducing a panic attack. There were way, way, too many people, especially considering how few people I saw on a day to day basis.

That said, if you can only go there once, it'll still be worth it regardless of the time of year.

[Rambler]

Yup, you will see a lot of interesting people on the JMT:

[Jester2000]

Nice comfy looking chair. I would carry that. And maybe even the boombox in a previous photo.