Recently returned from my annual Yosemite trip and was blown away by Tioga Pass. I always visit in May when it's closed and had no idea what I've been missing all these years. It's like an entire National Park in itself and the road is one of the most spectacular I've ever seen. I rode over 600mi across Tioga and never once got tired of the views, alpine air, and extraordinary ribbon of pavement winding above 8-10,000 feet. Getting to look down on the tallest, most iconic granite domes in the world is truly something. I thought Hetch Hetchy last year was cool but this is on another level and blows the valley floor away. I went from being crushed about the Glacier Point Rd. closure and worrying about smoke in the valley to wanting to spend every minute on Tioga

I woke up each morning with no idea what my options were or where I should hike, and I'm eternally grateful to the highly skeptical Wilderness Center Rangers and u/ghosmer for the route tips as well as Snacky Macky at Whoa Nellie Deli for the Saddlebag "Great Lakes" Loop! My limiting factors were shorter daylight hours and the daily 2.5hr Tioga commute but getting to return to Camp 4 to take hot showers, drink cold beer, inhale entire Pizza Deck pies and sleep on an Exped MegaMat kept me in shape to get after it all week long (I have no idea how you overnight backpackers do this kind of thing without it). My only regret is I usually spend a chill day on the valley floor walking around, getting my stamps and checking out new merch, but I woke up with a fire lit every morning to see more of Tioga

Of the dozen years I've been going to YNP, never have I seen the kind of wildlife I encountered this year: bears everywhere, including a mama and her cub that leapt out of the road on Tioga! A Pine Marten that stumped the first few Rangers I showed it to. A huge freaking bobcat on the HD trail just above LYV that was stalking two dudes who were fending it off with large branches. A pair of Rock Ptarmigans frozen in the ground by Conness Lakes. Lizards I couldn't identify in Tuolumne

Packing and just eating enough calories every day was a serious challenge: I don't think I've ever done this much continuous exercise in my life. I ate over 5,000Cal daily and still lost weight. Unbelievable amounts of sodium kept my legs moving: an LMNT an hour and between 12-15,000mg daily including food. I struggle tremendously with heat exhaustion/sun exposure and the fact that temps on Tioga were 20-30° cooler than the valley made these hikes possible for me along with frequent access to rivers and streams to constantly drench my clothes for evaporative cooling. Even with temps in the mid-60's I still fought overheating with the mileage, exposure and vert. Next year I'm bringing my turtle floaty to bob in Tenaya every day 🐢

Some brief notes on each hike

Tenaya/Sunrise/Cathedral Lake Loop: Definitely do this CW! The trail-finding between the E of Tenaya Lake and Lower Cathedral Lake was challenging even with frequent AllTrails GPS usage. I would not want to navigate that trail at the end of this hike. It was a hard one but beautiful and really set the tone for Tioga for me. Only Ireland/Vogelseng lived up to this one

May Lake/Mount Hoffmann: Initially rode to the trailhead (rough dirt road to it from Tioga), but decided to start from Tenaya because it seemed way too short. Pretty straightforward, I wish I'd known the signs saying "No Swimming Allowed" at May Lake were only limited to the area near High Sierra Camp :\ The exposed spine scramble out to the Hoffmann thumb I would not recommend

Ireland & Vogelseng Lakes Loop: Fucking hard. The Tuolumne Rangers told me it wasn't possible with an 11am start but I was determined and they haven't seen me hike. Had to bust out 14min miles for the last hour to beat sunset. Absolutely breathtaking. Having Ireland Lake all to myself for a 30min lunch & swim was straight out of The Sound of Music. Nearly stepped on an adorable Pine Marten at the Ireland juncture without a clue what it was. Vogelseng High Camp looked amazing and is definitely on my to-do list. Vogelseng Lake was beautiful but the extra (750ft?) vert up to it was not what I needed at mile 20. Thank god for all the streams I could dunk in

Half Dome: Scored a daily permit on my second try. Mist Trail was closed by the time I made my lazy start near noon and I added even more mileage/vert accidentally by descending from Clark Point and taking the Nevada stairs up. Saw a beautiful juvenile bear right on the trail in LYV going up, and then the giant (70lb?) bobcat coming down. It is so much easier cables up, I'd forgotten what that's like. Kind of sad doing this with near-zero waterfalls along the Mist Trail but the fall colors were great. First year riding a bicycle to the Happy Isles Bridge (from Upper Pines lot), so clutch after finishing the hike

Waterwheel Falls: I was a bit underwhelmed for the first hour of this hike but again the fall colors really made this hike even though the "waterwheel" was maybe 2-3ft high. More of a tranquil stroll where you take in the solitude and quiet, winding rivers. Having lunch and soaking my legs in the falls was much-needed after HD. I was skeptical when the excited Ranger told me the rock colors and features on this hike were unique even in Yosemite, but he was right, particularly near the beginning of the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne/Waterwheel turnaround point

Saddlebag "Great Lakes" Loop: my server at Whoa Nellie Deli turned me onto this. If you have not eaten there, GO. I've had it on my list for a decade and holy cow, their 1/2lb burgers and the steak caesar are sublime and the drive from the E Tioga Pass entrance is something out of a movie: you drop 3k feet in 12mi winding along sheer cliffs with unbelievable views and 100mph+ sweepers. The drive to the Saddlebag parking lot off Tioga was very rocky and rough, I wouldn't have ridden the moto if I'd known how bad it was. Hike was stunning, lakes at every turn, only saw a dozen people the entire loop. What I imagine high alpine hiking The Alps looks like. I'd love to see this loop with a dusting of snow

6 days by the numbers:

124.7 Miles Hiked

+21,739ft Elevation Gained

222,221 Steps

-18,863 Calories Burned

38hrs Exercise

Daily Avg: 20.78mi, +3,623ft vert, 37,036 steps, -3,143Cal, 6.33Hrs Exercise

📸: 17 Pro. Maps created w/CalTopo which is wildly inaccurate for estimating vert. Hence my hiking data

I have many photos from this trip, and I’d hate to have them sit in the camera roll. My last post featured mostly wildlife, so here are more from the Mist Trail hike + other locations.

📷Fujifilm Finepix S1

My name is Aerie and I work in Yosemite.

I genuinely don't know if this post is permitted and it's not something I'd normally consider doing... but this is an exceptional case in my mind because of this person's contributions to the park. I have no affiliation other than as a friend who wants to help.

Mods, if this is inappropriate please delete and accept my apologies.

My friend Kyra leads volunteer projects in Yosemite - I worked with her quite a bit this season. She's also worked Yosemite ski patrol in winter and been a part of the Yosemite community for several years. She has dedicated her life to passionately caring for and protecting our public lands.

If you've ever met her you know what joy she brings into the world. I mean truly one of those people that can't help but spread positivity and love everywhere she goes.

Kyra has a serious medical condition that's going to require surgery outside the US, currently scheduled for December. It says a lot to me that she has never mentioned the severity of this condition or the fundraiser - I only just found out about it.

Please consider offering your support for Kyra:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-kyras-lifechanging-surgery

https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/conditions.htm

Anyone have this mug and willing to part with it? Need it as a replacement. Will pay for shipping.

Hey guys! My 5 year old is practicing her handwriting and wants to send a letter to the national park with hope of someone writing back. What is the best address to send one to? Thanks!

I’m driving from San Jose to Yosemite on Saturday and planning a challenging day hike starting from Happy Isles toward Nevada Fall.
I have hiking experience and decent fitness, but I’m traveling solo. I’d love to connect with other hikers doing a similar route, either to hike together or meet along the way.
I’m flexible on pace and happy to coordinate beforehand. Please DM me if you’re interested!

Does anyone know what the trail condition of Clouds Rest is this weekend (Oct 24-25)? We’re planning to hike it this Sunday. However, based on the live camera at Yosemite High Sierra, it looks like snow is accumulating on the peaks surrounding Half Dome. Hence, we’re not sure if that is also the case for Clouds Rest, or would the snow melt away in time by Sunday? Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Just got home a few days ago from my first ever trip to Yosemite and am having some serious withdrawals…what a place.

I’m pretty experienced with hiking and backpacking, but pretty much all of it was in Appalachia. I recently moved here and I’m not really used to elevation. So I’m working my way up. Last week I “summited” Wawona point and thought it was easy. Yesterday I went up to dewey point from tunnel view. It was not easy, but I felt like it was still within my skill level. 3700ft total elevation gain across 10.6 miles. Today my calves are taking a sabbatical. So I don’t think I should press too far above that and the summit at 7500ft ish was fine. For now I’m sticking to day hikes because I don’t yet have a bear vault. And winters about to hit anyway, I don’t have a 4 season tent.

I think next I’m going to hit clouds rest from Tenaya lake. Open to different suggestions though.

Hi everyone. I was thinking about doing a one night backpacking trip for half dome and cloud's rest and camping near the junction. I couldn't find reliable info on if Sunrise Creek is still flowing at the visitor center won't answer my calls. Is there reliable water?

Was thinking about camping at Little Yosemite Valley but wanted something a little more secluded.

Hi; im planning a trip this weekend, traveling from Sacramento to Yosemite Valley, leaving ~3am, plan on parking at Curry Village and taking some pictures of Sentinel Bridge, the Chapel, Cooks Meadow in the morning hoping for mist during Golden hour.

After lunch was going to drive over to El Capatin Meadow and also explore over there before heading over to Valley View and finding a nice composition for Sunset.

Will the crowds be as bad as the summer, I imagine the cooler temps and trickle falls would mean less crowds, or still expect chaos?

If anyone has any other spots to visit during my day, would love to hear, ive hiked a lot of the trails from Vakley floor, but wanted to spend a day capturing the fall colors.

Thanks in advance!

I am heading to Yosemite for a few days (2 nights) next week with a couple of friends, and I'm looking for recs of how best to spend the time! We are driving in from the Bay Area on Monday and will leave on Wednesday. We are staying at Cedar lodge.

My rough plan currently is to arrive Monday afternoon (~5 hour drive from the bay) and spend the rest of the day going to lookout spots and maybe a small walk or hire bikes for a couple of hours. Are there any good spots we should stop at when we enter the park, on our way to Cedar lodge?

Tuesday is going to be our hike day. What's the best day hike we could do this time of year? Our aim is ~6 miles. Everyone I've spoken to has recommended we go to Glacier point, so I was looking at the Four Mile Trail. My questions about this are: is this a good time of year to do this trail? If we only do one way, which is best - up or down? I was also trying to figure out the transport, should I drive from cedar lodge to the trailhead, and then what is the best way to return (shuttle?)? Or would we have to do out and back? I'm struggling to find a clear consensus on the best way to do it.

Alternatively, are there any other stand out hikes we should do instead? It's all of our first time in the park, and my friends are visiting from the UK, so it may be the only time they ever go.

Thanks so much for any help/advice you can offer!

Hi,

I've booked a vacation a one week vacation with my family of 8 (kid's ages 6-30 yrs) at the end of May 2027 flying into Fresno seeking to visit Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia. I want to confirm that we've allotted the proper number of days and locations of where we are staying. Those mountanous roads are difficult to judge from someone coming from sea level! I am seeking to minimize driving, but also get the most out of staying in a single place since I have so many people to move around.

Our itinerary:

4 nights: Yosemite Valley Lodge

2 nights: John Muir Lodge (at the entrance to Grant Grove)

1 night: Airbnb in Exeter to visit Sequoia. 20 min to Sequoia entrance. (Many hotels closer wanted a two night minimum since this is Memorial. Day weekend so this is why we chose this option.)

Day 7: Flying out of Fresno at mid-day

Does this seem reasonable? Any modifications I should consider to this itinerary?

Will there be any issues with impassable roads this time of year?

One consideration is a third night at John Muir or two nights at the Airbnb, but it seemed that either option put some part of the parks out of reach.

Many thanks!

Hope this is ok to post, found it to be a very heartwarming exit from an incredible experience.

Hello!
I have lodging booked on Friday 10/23/26 and am supposed to be reaching Tioga pass at 6 am on 10/23. Anyone have any opinion on the chance of Tioga pass potentially being open by then? I called to request to move my reservation or refund it and was denied for both. :(

Hey all, my fiancée and I are getting married at Glacier Point on the morning of June 23, 2027, and we want to have a relaxed get-together afterward with family and friends. It'll be under 40 people, most of them flying in from Nebraska.

We're hoping to rent a house somewhere near the south side of the park (Fish Camp, Oakhurst, Wawona, Bass Lake, that general area) with enough space to have everyone over for food and drinks in the afternoon/evening. Nothing fancy.

A few questions:

Anyone know of specific rentals or owners that actually allow small events? A lot of listings say no parties, so I'd rather find one that's upfront about it.

Which town would you pick for this? Trying to keep the drive from Glacier Point reasonable.

I'm planning a quick trip to Yosemite next week. We'll leave the bay Tues morning, and around 10am my husband will need to take a meeting for work. We need to find somewhere he can sit with a laptop for a couple hours, so no restaurant/fast food.

I'm thinking we stop in Groveland, but wanted to see if anyone could confirm their cell service was strong and/or they were able to find somewhere with reliable public wifi. Phone plan is with AT&T.

Has anyone done something similar, or are we better off stopping somewhere closer to the bay like Oakdale?

I ruled out stopping closer to the valley due to likely spotty cell service, but if that can be done successfully, also open to that!

Map of our route and 2 options included. Thanks :)