Yosemite: Long Hikes

These hikes involve a lot of miles, a lot of elevation gain, or both. Expect them to take the better part of a day, and consider getting an early start.

Taking plenty of supplies (food, water, sunscreen) is a good idea for a hike of any length, but especially at these distances, there’s a higher chance that you’ll be out longer than you expect. Dehydration is a real concern, as are sun and heat exposure. On the other end of the temperature range, Yosemite can get cold at night even in mid-summer, especially at the higher elevations. It’s not a bad idea to pack a warm hat, gloves, an extra insulating layer, and a rain layer. And it never hurts to have a headlamp in your pack.

Half Dome

The classic long hike from Yosemite Valley is Half Dome, and it is 100% worth doing if you are fit and feel prepared. This is a long one: at least 16 miles, depending on where you park, with 4000+’ elevation gain to top out at nearly 9000’. These days you need a permit to go up the cables and even to get to the saddle before the cables. There’s a lottery you can enter ahead of time, or you can try for a first-come-first-served permit (up to two days in advance). If you can’t snag a permit, it is still a very pretty hike up to the permit checkpoint (past Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall), but it doesn’t have the spectacular reward that you get higher up.

This hike follows the same route as for Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall, then keeps going. Pack sunscreen, plenty of food, and lots of water: at least 3L per person — more if you expect warm weather — or bring a filter and top off from the Merced where the trail forks ~0.8mi upstream of Nevada Fall. (As of October 2019, the water fountains at the Vernal Fall footbridge have been repaired, so water is available there as well.) It’s also helpful to bring a pair of gloves to wear on the cables. The improved grip can make the ascent and descent less nerve-wracking. My favorite type of gloves for this task are thin, nitrile-coated gardening gloves. They both breathe and grip better than leather work gloves, and they’re inexpensive and not very bulky.

For those doing Half Dome car-to-car, i.e. in a single day, I recommend an alpine start: 3am or 4am at the latest, unless you are particularly speedy. Starting early gets you off the summit before noon, which reduces the chance of being thwarted by thunderstorms and helps avoid a conga line on the cables.

Half Dome is commonly done as a day hike (I’ve done it that way twice), but it’s also great as an overnight, which has the advantage of not requiring a super early morning on summit day. It also seems to be easier to get a cables permit that way. I’ve twice been offered a cables permit as an add-on when picking up wilderness (overnight) permits. For overnight trips, lots of people camp in Little Yosemite Valley, about a mile upstream of Nevada Fall, but I’d recommend pressing on via the John Muir Trail (JMT) past the turnoff for Half Dome and camping near the junction of Sunrise Trail and the JMT instead. Bears are VERY active in Little Yosemite Valley, and that campground can get pretty crowded (which, in addition to being less wilderness-y, can make it difficult to obtain a wilderness permit).

  • Trailhead: Happy Isles / John Muir Trail

  • Parking: the closest parking area is the dirt parking lot just off of Happy Isles Loop Road (past Curry Village, go straight instead of turning left to the campgrounds). Alternately, since that lot often fills early in the day, park at Curry Village and walk the extra 3/4 mile (flat, mostly paved).

  • Closest bear boxes: Happy Isles parking area and Curry Village

  • Closest bathrooms: flush toilets at Happy Isles (just before the trailhead, on the north side of the bridge over the Merced), toilets just across the Vernal Fall footbridge

 

Upper Yosemite Fall

Upper Yosemite Fall is a fantastic stairmaster of a hike, with great views most of the way up to distract you from your complaining legs. It’s less than half the distance of Half Dome but almost all the climbing, which is to say it’s very steep. If you plan to do both Half Dome and Upper Yosemite Fall, do Half Dome first and the Fall a day or two later — you’ll be less sore after Half Dome than after the Fall. Even if you don’t go to the top, there’s a vista point with good views of the fall and Half Dome partway up (before the steepest climbing).

If you do go to the top, pressing on another half mile or so (east along the valley rim - there are signs) to Yosemite Point gives you a spectacular view of Half Dome and Glacier Point across the valley. There are places to filter water near the top of the hike; if you don’t have a filter, or if you’re going in late summer or fall (when water sources tend to be dry) bring 2-3L per person.

 

Clouds Rest

One of my favorite hikes in the park, Clouds Rest has arguably even better views than Half Dome, with fewer crowds and a less terror-inducing finish (though there is a narrow catwalk to the summit that can be a little vertigo-inducing). From the Sunrise Lakes trailhead at the south end of Tenaya Lake, the first mile or so is fairly flat and can be marshy (and therefore buggy), passing a small lake and through red fir forests before starting up a mile of switchbacks. At the top of a switchbacks, a sandy, fairly open saddle is a good spot to stop for a snack. Walking along the saddle for a couple of miles makes for relatively easy going before the last mile and a half of steeper (but still not very steep) terrain. The last few hundred yards are a series of narrowing granite benches to a small summit slab. Bring plenty of water, as there are not many opportunities to filter more along the way. Roughly 11 miles round-trip from Sunrise Lakes trailhead, starting at 8200’ elevation with the summit at 9900’. Bring sunscreen!

  • Trailhead: Sunrise

  • Parking: there is a small parking area at the Sunrise trailhead, but most people park use street parking (be sure to park all the way off the road)

  • Closest bear boxes: at Sunrise trailhead

  • Closest bathrooms: at Sunrise trailhead

 

Young Lakes

The Young Lakes area is beautiful, perhaps best done as an overnight but definitely doable as a long (~13 miles) but not terribly strenuous day hike. At one point, there’s a great view of the Cathedral Range; on a clear day, you can see all the way down to Mt. Banner and Mt. Ritter. Once you reach the lakes, the aptly named Ragged Peak looms over the lower lake, and there’s a sandy beach where you can do some wading if you’re so inclined. The upper lakes are tucked in along the ridge that reaches northeast from Ragged Peak.

You might have difficulty getting up to the upper lake in the spring — even in late August, there was a pretty wet scramble involved, and in early summer it might be impassable. Pity, as it has great views of the lower lakes, and the area nearby is a veritable garden of wildflowers in summer. Delaney Creek (maybe 0.6-7mi past Dog Lake) might also be a difficult crossing in early summer, and Dingle Creek a mile or two farther might be a little splashy but shouldn’t be too deep.

If you’re driving, park at the Dog Lake parking lot near the Tuolumne Meadows ranger station, cross the highway to the north, and follow the signs. The parking lot has bear boxes but no toilets — the wilderness office nearby has a bathroom and water spigot.