Getting Yosemite Permits

[mts4602]

Starting to plan for the JMT later this summer. I know that all you have to do to get a permit is to get in line real early and you can get one for the next day. Also that once you get a permit you are allowed to stay at the backpackers campground the night before your trip.

....BUT since we will be taking public transportation into Yosemite and will most likely not get into the park until the afternoon, all of the permits for the next day will probably all be gone....Where do we stay that first night before we get up the next morning to go and try to get permits??

MTS

[Helmuth.Fishmonger]

here's what I'd do: plan on a short day on day 1, get a permit for Little Yosemite Valley the next day, stay in Tuolumne Meadows (tons of walk-in space, about 150 each day), take the Yos Bus down the day of your permit and start hiking when you get into the valley.

leave TM at 9:05 am
arrive YV visitor Center 10:55am,

then hit the trail for a half day. Done that in 1989, but we went on to the summit of Half Dome back then. We were at Little Yoxs Valley iin the early afternoon, however, there's little camping anywhere between Little Yos Valley and Sunrise.

$15 for the ticket, if I read their schedule correctly:

http://yarts.com/schedule/2009/120hwy041809.pdf

[doodah man]

here's what I'd do: plan on a short day on day 1, get a permit for Little Yosemite Valley the next day, stay in Tuolumne Meadows (tons of walk-in space, about 150 each day), take the Yos Bus down the day of your permit and start hiking when you get into the valley.

leave TM at 9:05 am
arrive YV visitor Center 10:55am,

then hit the trail for a half day. Done that in 1989, but we went on to the summit of Half Dome back then. We were at Little Yoxs Valley iin the early afternoon, however, there's little camping anywhere between Little Yos Valley and Sunrise.

$15 for the ticket, if I read their schedule correctly:

http://yarts.com/schedule/2009/120hwy041809.pdf

HF,
Actually, late last September (24th) when we went thru, a trial crew had just finished clearing and leveling a very nice camping spot at a Sunrise Creek crossing about 5 miles past Little Yosemite Valley (elevation ~8500ft). That works out to roughly 9 miles from the Happy Isle trailhead and should be do-able even with a late morning start. Nice option since LYV is not all that nice. The coordinates off my Nat'l Geo map are roughly 4182350N 283980E. Past that, you pretty much have to go 4 more miles all the way to Sunrise High Sierra Camp for a spot. doodah-man

[Phreak]

HF,
Actually, late last September (24th) when we went thru, a trial crew had just finished clearing and leveling a very nice camping spot at a Sunrise Creek crossing about 5 miles past Little Yosemite Valley (elevation ~8500ft). That works out to roughly 9 miles from the Happy Isle trailhead and should be do-able even with a late morning start. Nice option since LYV is not all that nice. The coordinates off my Nat'l Geo map are roughly 4182350N 283980E. Past that, you pretty much have to go 4 more miles all the way to Sunrise High Sierra Camp for a spot. doodah-man

The campsite at Sunrise Creek is really nice. One of the better campsites me and Doodah Man stayed at during our hike.

[TwoForty]

I'm pretty sure I stayed at that campsite on the last night of my hike a couple years ago. No bears, but plenty of bear chewed Mountain House packages. Great campsite.

[MOWGLI]

Or stay in the Backpackers Campground 2 nites. Shouldn't be an issue as long as you walk in.

[Helmuth.Fishmonger]

The campsite at Sunrise Creek is really nice. One of the better campsites me and Doodah Man stayed at during our hike.

great to hear about this new site. It may be our first night stop this summer if we fall behind schedule. Getting to Sunrise HSC from Happy Isle on day 1 is a pretty big first day with full packs.

[mts4602]

We lucked out. Got an actual reserved permit leaving from Tuolumne Meadows on June 16th. We decided to skip the valley due to time constraints.

[Marta]

Congratulations on getting the permits!

One thing to consider when planning your time is allowing yourself to acclimate to the altitude. For us lowlanders from the humid east, it's quite a change.

[mts4602]

Ok so for some reason I missed the big red writing on the YARTS website that says the busses only operate on weekends in June.

Now it appears we have no way to get to Yosemite or Tuolumne meadows because we are flying out on Monday the 15th.

Tuolumne meadows campground is closed until July so we have to stay in the valley....or at least somewhere else besides tuolumne meadows.

The only thing I can think of is changing the reservation to Sunday the 14th.

[Sly]

Which way you coming in from? You could probably hitch from Lee Vining after taking the bus from Reno. If you can get to Yosemite Valley you can probably hitch from there.

Tuolumne Meadows Campground

Location: On the Tioga Road at Tuolumne Meadows, about 1.5 hours northeast of Yosemite Valley
Elevation: 8,600 ft (2,600 m)
Open: July through late September (approximately)


If Tioga Rd is open (which it supposed to be this year), the camp ground most likely is. Try calling.

[Helmuth.Fishmonger]

Ok so for some reason I missed the big red writing on the YARTS website that says the busses only operate on weekends in June.

Now it appears we have no way to get to Yosemite or Tuolumne meadows because we are flying out on Monday the 15th.

Tuolumne meadows campground is closed until July so we have to stay in the valley....or at least somewhere else besides tuolumne meadows.

Highly unlikely that Tuolumne Meadows won't be open before July with Tioga Pass opening earlier than last year.

Hitching a ride up the pass and to Tuolumne Meadows should be pretty easy, even on a Monday

Worst case - walk up - that road isn't too long. I've hiked longer paved roads when nobody stopped. Could imagine worse places for a 15 mile hike up a mountain pass.

[mts4602]

I've hitched here in the east but it seems like it would be hard to just happen to find someone in the valley that is going up to Tuolumne Meadows. I would be willing to try anything...I dont know about walking up though.

[Helmuth.Fishmonger]

I've hitched here in the east but it seems like it would be hard to just happen to find someone in the valley that is going up to Tuolumne Meadows. I would be willing to try anything...I dont know about walking up though.

why do you want to go to the valley when you start at Tuolumne Meadows? Get your permit at the TM ranger station and get going. No reason to even stay at the campground. I think you have to be at least a mile or two off the Tioga road to make camp, but that's about the only restriction.

[Helmuth.Fishmonger]

I dont know about walking up though.

I was talking about the eastern Tioga road down to Lee Vining. Where else would you come from if you're flying into Reno?

There's nothing wrong with walking up that road - I would pay money if I had a road like this where I live to walk up.

Tioga road from the valley to Tuolumne Meadows is a different story - that's a 90 minute drive...

[mts4602]

OK So my bad.

Provided we get to Lee Vining via the CREST bus from Reno, is it possible we could hitch a ride out of there. I mean jeeze I would pay someone a lot just to drive us those 15 miles.

How bad of a hike would that be? The pass is around 10,000ft.

[Helmuth.Fishmonger]

OK So my bad.

Provided we get to Lee Vining via the CREST bus from Reno, is it possible we could hitch a ride out of there. I mean jeeze I would pay someone a lot just to drive us those 15 miles.

How bad of a hike would that be? The pass is around 10,000ft.

Like I said - hitching a ride from Lee Vining to Tuolumne should be easy - it's a pretty busy route - just head to that visitor center info center thing on the road just above the hwy 395 T-intersection south of town. Just talk to people there, you won't even have to stick your thumb out.

[Helmuth.Fishmonger]

How bad of a hike would that be? The pass is around 10,000ft.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...=UTF8&t=p&z=12

The road to Tioga Pass is 12.7 miles, elevation gain is about 4000 feet (from 7,000 to 11,000), then it's a steady slight downhill to Tuolumne Meadows.

I highly doubt you'd have to walk any of this, though. If you did have to, I could imagine worse places to be walking along the side of the road. I consider Highway 120 to be one of the most spectacular roads in the US

[zonedam]

On the issue of finding a campsite for the first night out of Happy Isles, my Guidebook (Elizabeth Wenk Appendix C P.240) shows 6 campsites around the 6.5 to 7.3 mile range. I will be shooting for one of these.
The elevation gain will be about 3500ft which is quite enough for the first day.
My plan is to travel light and pickup a resupply at Tuolome P.O.

[Helmuth.Fishmonger]

Since the advent of bear canisters, a camp site really is any level spot you can put your tent up. This has really changed how I hike. 20 years ago you could not camp at medium altitude where the trees were too small to hang food, and down low you had to find "the right tree" plus a level spot to set up a tent. Now you can just keep hiking until you get to the point of "time for camp" - within 10 mins, we usually find a place, unless you're still on a steep slope at that time.

Clearly, there are few "nice sites" to camp, with logs to sit on, cleared ground, fire circles, water nearby, etc, but if you're just looking for a place to stop for the night, there are a lot more options available than guide books can list. I think I've never camped twice at the same spot in all my Muir Trail hikes.

The stretch up from LYV to Sunrise HSC is a pretty steep hill, and there probably isn't much in terms of level ground until you get to Sunrise Creek, but if you're in a bind and you have a small tent, I bet you could camp in many more places. Last year we had to set up our tent right on the switchbacks of the JMT, 200 feet below Donohue Pass. Not a place to spend the night, but in the storm we were in, you gotta do what you gotta do. Worked out fine. Once the worst was over, we packed up and hiked over the pass and found a more level spot where we could not cross the raging stream to head lower.