clouds rest backpacking permit

This means that the priority permit station will not allow other permit stations to issue a permit for its trailheads until its morning line is cleared. That's why we send you the best local adventures, stories, and expert advice, right to your inbox. Day 1: Hike up from Tenaya Lake TH to Clouds Rest (6 miles) enjoy the views, turn around and go back to the trail junction (3.5 miles) and then on to beautiful Middle Sunrise Lake (1 mile) where you set up camp for the night. Any travel through Yosemite Valley invalidates the permit. This allows you to break up the hike, spend a night relaxing and help you have an early start back on the trail. Permits go … Since many trails are very popular, reservations are recommended ($5 per confirmed reservation plus $5 per person). 360-degree views stretch for hundreds of miles. Right >>> Clouds Rest/Tenaya Lake/Tuolumne Meadows. Total 360. Always practice Leave No Trace ethics on your adventures and follow local regulations. Permits are available one day in advance of your trip. Once past the falls, which makes for a natural rest stop, you’ll continue on (the trails briefly merge after Vernal Falls, so as long as you’re generally heading north/northeast, you’re in good shape), and just past the backpacker’s camp, you’ll come to a figurative fork in the road. A wilderness permit is not required for day hikes (unless hiking to Half Dome) or for staying in lodging facilities and frontcountry campgrounds. Had to fight with the Half Dome day hikers some of the way. Get an ad-free experience, support The Outbound, and snag a bunch of other perks by subscribing for only $29.99/year. It’s really a beautiful hike. This is not a hike for folks looking for a leisurely stroll! The adrenaline rush you get as you climb the narrow rocky ridge that leads to the Clouds Rest summit is one of the many reasons hiking enthusiasts choose this trail. Summit both Half Dome and Clouds Rest on this guided backpacking trip! We scouted some turf, pitched our tents, and dropped our packs at the end of the tree line, just before the naked shoulder begins to emerge and crest into its exposed peak, hiking the final ~1.5 mile stretch with a couple of day packs and summit essentials. For Clouds Rest, you need a permit for Sunrise Lakes, and we highly recommend reserving this one, as it’s a … The last ridge to Clouds Rest gets a bad rap for being scary. Hopefully, the photographs alone are a sufficient sales pitch (not that you really need one). This is certainly closer water than the year-round creak flowing at a lower elevation. Please explore responsibly! This is Yosemite glacial geology at its finest. These are two of the most spectacular and famous peaks in Yosemite National Park. Even if you plan to spend every night of a Wilderness trip inside Yosemite but your entry trailhead is outside Yosemite, you do not get the permit from Yosemite. Literally, no good reason as to why it took me so long to hike to Clouds Rest. For this reason alone, Clouds Rest should join your permit application lineup. Total 360. A wilderness permit is required year-round for backpacking or any other overnight stay in the Yosemite Wilderness. These trailheads include Lyell Canyon, Cathedral Lakes, Rafferty Creek, those leading to Little Yosemite Valley, and others. Adventure Details. You must pick up a wilderness permit at the permit station closest to your starting point (when these permit stations are closed for the season, permits are available on a self-registration basis). This backpacking trip, be it your first or fortieth, is a uniquely protected opportunity to provide maximum freedom to roam in Wilderness. Behold: an endless mid-angle slab climb of truly epic proportions! It’s considered one of the epic Yosemite hikes and is definitely worth the effort. Permit check by a floating park ranger should be in and around this area. A one-night stop in the Tuolumne Meadows Backpackers Campground as part of an ongoing and continuous long-distance hiking permit. And unlike Half Dome, for the Clouds Rest hike, no permit is needed, the distance and climbing is manageable, and you don’t have to navigate anything like the anxiety-inducing cables section. The Clouds Rest Trail winds its way through wildflower-covered meadows, forests and rocks before it starts the steep switchbacking (at times stair step) climb. As a result, these are great hike alternatives if you are unable to obtain permits to hike to the top of Half Dome. Use some of the resources you've found on this site, look at maps, and get planning! Day 2: Hike to lower Cathedral Lake (7 miles) and camp there. Clouds Rest is a great hike if you are unable to secure a permit for Half Dome or if you are looking for a longer trail with more elevation gain. Wilderness permits are required in winter—but reservations aren't needed from November through April. This service is especially helpful for those who have gotten a first-come, first-served permit the day before beginning their hike. West-facing views offer gorgeously unobstructed lines of sight to Half Dome and throughout the valley floor. Sunrise Lakes –> Clouds Rest –> Little Yosemite Valley –> Happy Isles; After faxing in my reservation request (if you’re not familiar with the permit requirements, visit here, we were lucky to get permits starting at May Lake, but without Half-Dome permits. The trailhead quota system limits use based on where you begin your hike, and in some cases, on where you camp the first night of your trip. Half Dome Permits. The summit can be reached by a 7.2-mile (11.6 km) trail hike from Tioga Pass Road or a 13-mile (21 km) trail hike from Happy Isles by way of Little Yosemite Valley.There are also several technical routes available. We want to acknowledge and thank the past, present, and future generations of all Native Nations and Indigenous Peoples whose ancestral lands we travel, explore, and play on. An advantage of choosing the Clouds Rest hike is that it is not an overnight trip, so you do not need to obtain a permit, which can be a long process. Common examples: Continuous travel is a condition of a wilderness itinerary in which the user travels from a Yosemite National Park entry trailhead to the exit trailhead during the dates specified in the permit. Like virtual reality, but without the virtual part. (The wilderness permit office will know whether water is flowing, so you can ask when you pick up your permit.) You can add another person to your wilderness permit reservation for an additional fee as long as space is still available for that trailhead. Wilderness permits are only issued to a limited number people for each trailhead in order to provide outstanding opportunities for solitude, as required by the Wilderness Act. Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous. As the park’s zenith, it offers wildly sweeping panoramic vistas of the park. The back end of Cloud's Rest appears to the west. Join us on an epic hike to summit two of the most iconic peaks in Yosemite National Park, Half Dome and Clouds Rest. Difficulty of the hike will also vary based on the route change. Of each daily quota for a trailhead, 60 percent can be reserved ahead of time. Today’s Mileage: 7.3 mi / +800′, -2,800′ © 2020 The Outbound Collective - Terms of Use - Privacy Policy. And CA has so many diverse and harmonious views – both known, and those yet to be discovered…with its urban centers, topographical variety, vast ranges and whatnot (Fun fact: California shares its climate with a few global regions: Western Australia, Costal Chile, and parts of the Mediterranean Rim). Half Dome, Havasu Falls, Mt. From approximately May through October, unreserved permits are available on a first-come, first-served basis beginning at 11 am on the day before the intended hiking date. Distance: 14.5 miles (23.3 km) round trip Trailhead Elevation: 8,150 feet (2,450 meters) Elevation Gain: 1,775 feet (540 meters) Once you make the pivot, you might be about halfway through your one-way to the top (if you begin from the valley floor, as opposed to camping at the backpackers camp near Vernal Falls or coming in from the east side). Reservations are available fewer than 168 days in advance (but not fewer than two days in advance), although popular trailheads fill up the first day reservations are available. This final ascent climbs steadily to a challenging elevation, but isn't as steep as the climb you conquered to reach the Sunrise Lakes fork. Only one permit is required. Day 4: After a hearty breakfast hike approximately 3.5 miles to the summit of Clouds Rest at 9,926′. If you are starting a hike from a trailhead located outside of Yosemite National Park, obtain your permit from the trailhead's managing agency, even if camping in Yosemite. Hug the eastern edge of the mountainside and muscle your way through the 500-foot climb to the summit. Some especially popular areas have additional application procedures: Once you know where you want to begin your hike from, use the trailheads map [1.5 MB PDF] to determine the name of your trailhead. Yeah, neither do we, but it keeps the lights on. But as you'll be in the backcountry, you can't use a day hike permit. The cabin is closed at other times of the year. That would make holiday travel pretty tough. From the summit, hike down 5 miles to Sunrise Creek for the final night of camping. Setup camp at the Clouds Rest - Half Dome trail junction. North and south-facing views provide viewsheds into the northern and southern expanses of the park (particularly views to the south). Check out our Yosemite - Two Summits guided backpacking adventure for details! Clouds Rest is a massive granite peak just northeast of Half Dome.The peak can be seen from Yosemite Valley, and at 9,930 ft. is about 1,080 ft. higher than the more famous Half Dome.The peak offers excellent views of Half Dome and the surrounding area. Once in Yosemite Park, you can jump the shuttle (it runs from 7 AM to 10 PM), which will drop you off at the trailhead (Stop 16) for the Happy Isles/Mist Trail, which goes to Vernal Falls, Half Dome, Clouds Rest, and beyond. Wilderness permits are available during business hours at any permit issuing station beginning at 11 am the day before the beginning of your wilderness trip. This process is subject to change based on COVID-19 situation in 2021. This limit on the number of people staying at the cabin provides for visitor safety and preserves natural, cultural, and wilderness values. Wilderness permit reservations are available (and strongly recommended) up to 24 weeks (168 days) in advance, and up until nine before your hike. The hike up to Clouds Rest is a difficult yet rewarding one. If you are starting at a trailhead in Yosemite and wish to camp outside of Yosemite during your Wilderness trip, you will only need to get a single wilderness permit from Yosemite. Though popular trailheads may fill up, there is always space available on other trailheads in the park. Clouds Rest is an arête, a thin, almost knife-like, ridge of rock formed when glaciers eroded away solid rock to form Tenaya Canyon and Little Yosemite Valley. You can also speak to a wilderness ranger by calling 209/372-0826 (Monday through Friday, 9 am to noon and 1 to 4:30 pm, from March through early October). The exceptions are near the five High Sierra Camps and in the Little Yosemite Valley area, where you must you camp at the designated campgrounds. Tried summiting Half Dome but the closed down the cables right as we got to them because of a lightning storm rolling in. It’s a little less travelled, provides nice middleground views of the falls and the backside of Half Dome, and is fairly shaded in the morning (for those traveling during warmer months; I last went in late May, and it was almost 90 degrees on the valley floor and about 40 degrees at the summit). In order to continue backpacking, you would need a new wilderness permit. Wilderness permit holders may spend one night prior to, and one night after, a backpacking trip in a backpackers' campground (summer only). Thank you!! Make sure to take in the view as you gain elevation on your way up to Sunrise Lakes. Great backpacking trip done in June. An elevation loss of about 2600 vertical feet leads us to our forested … A wilderness permit is not required for day hikes (unless hiking to Half Dome) or for staying in lodging facilities and frontcountry campgrounds. Hiking Half Dome is an unforgettable experience, but I’d choose Clouds Rest any day of the week, if only for the solitude. Permits and reservations: No permits are required for hiking up to Clouds Rest or to the top of the Lembert Dome. From November through April, wilderness permits are available without a reservation. In late summer it’s easy to skip across the meager trickle of water, but during wet peri… + Save to a List. For this reason alone, Clouds Rest should join your permit application lineup. Views from Clouds Rest are as worthy as they come in the State of California. Permits: Required for all overnight backpacking trips. Alternatively, depending on the park, you can outrun everyone to the starting line, and can often secure unused day and/or overnight permits on-site (where available), if you’re willing to line up outside the ranger station/visitor center at dawn. When I was first getting into camping, it took a few hard fails before I fully digested the importance of the permit application process and subsequent lottery. You couldn’t directly purchase airfare because of an oversaturated buyer’s market, so rather than receive an e-mail receipt to confirm your booking, you are entered into a ‘lottery’ in which you may or may not be able to travel to your planned destination…(As an NBA fan, I’ve always struggled with the idea of a truly randomized lottery). Left >>> Half Dome. Note: I used to think all campers were irie until I saw a few people go all Black Friday on some of these lineups. By: Additionally, the ascent up Clouds Rest is very challenging and is weather permitting. Exiting the wilderness at any time during a wilderness itinerary invalidates the wilderness permit. Facing east (depicted in the cover shot), you can see Tenaya Lake, Tuolumne Meadows, the Sierra Nevadas and, if you strain your eyes, parts of northern Wisconsin. Cloud's Rest: No permit required no brainer day hike - See 64 traveler reviews, 91 candid photos, and great deals for Yosemite National Park, CA, at Tripadvisor. Additionally, hiking Half Dome now requires a permit 7 days per week. So, in planning a trip, it is important to find the right experience for your interests, timeframe, and abilities. There is a lottery system for day hikers, but it’s also possible to secure a permit when reserving the backpacking permit. In terms of our national parks, though, it’s all we got at the moment, and though I’m probably sipping the haterade here, I don’t really have a better solution to striking a balance between overpopulation and environmental conservationism. The trailhead information page has additional information, including quotas for each trailhead, parking information, and other details. If space is no longer available for that trailhead, you can try to change your reservation to another date or another trailhead (as long as space is available). You’ll start on Tioga Road at the west end of Tenaya Lake (Sunrise trailhead), and begin the hike with a view of the lake on the left. The trek down from Clouds Rest is a steep winding descent to Sunrise Creek; along the way stunning views of Half Dome with El Capitan in the distance are framed by massive ancient junipers. Early on in the hike, there are some watery obstacles. The Yosemite Wilderness has over 750 miles of trail to explore with a great range of elevation, ecological zones, and solitude. After that, it’s left, right, left (*foot after foot, not directional turning) – all the way to the top, which, at 9,996 feet, is the highest point in Yosemite. A wilderness permit is required year-round for backpacking or any other overnight stay in the Yosemite Wilderness. Registration includes: Guided backpacking trip, park entry (as needed), bear-proof canister rental, Yosemite Wilderness permit, and tent camping at shared group sites before and after the trip. Since there are only a few designated campgrounds, you can camp anywhere you like, provided you follow all the regulations. Wilderness permit reservations are processed by lottery 24 weeks (168 days) in advance of the hiking start date from mid-November through October. Nobody else continued on to Clouds Rest. Priority for permits for a particular trailhead is given to the closest permit issuing station. So until I workshop a better solution to pitch the National Park Service, I’m with it! ... both of the trails you referenced make it quite difficult to get to clouds rest in a 4 day hike. Imagine virgin Sierra Nevada granite, uplifted from its deep burial place by compressional tectonic forces, canyons eroded rapidly by generous spring runoff, and finally, the odd glacier to smooth the slope. Obtain your Half Dome permit as part of your wilderness permit. Enjoy lunch at the top while soaking in panoramic views of Yosemite’s wilderness. Take in some of the best view points in Yosemite National Park on a guided backpacking tour to the summits of Half Dome and Clouds Rest with Discovery Treks.Climb the Half Dome cables and enjoy the fresh air at 9,930 at the summit of Clouds Rest. *Route Variation - Our specific hiking route and campsites on each departure are dependent upon permit availability. After the first night, you may camp wherever you can hike to within the wilderness. The Half Dome Permit system, however necessary, is just an extra bureaucratic hoop that I’d rather not jump through. You must go to the Valley Visitor Center to pick up a wilderness permit (if available) and current combination for the cabin's lock. Travel by vehicle or bus at any time during a wilderness itinerary invalidates the wilderness permit. West-facing views offer gorgeously unobstructed lines of sight to Half Dome and throughout the valley floor. Trailhead quotas are in effect during winter. Although the Half Dome hike typically gets all the attention, hiking Clouds Rest actually takes you to a higher summit that offers a panoramic vista which includes an unbeatable view of Half Dome itself. The trailheads report shows which trailheads are full for certain dates (as of the last-updated date shown at the top of the page). The remaining 40 percent are available on a first-come, first-served basis no earlier than 11 am the day before your hike begins as long as permits are available. There is no such exception for Yosemite Valley. If your starting trailhead is outside Yosemite National Park, get your permit from the land agency that manages that trailhead. If you plan to backpack and camp in the wilderness area around Clouds Rest, an overnight permit is required though. Andrew Johnson All reservations (same day and next day) and same-day unreserved permits may still be picked up when the wilderness center opens for the day. If there is, I’m really not sure what it is. Geography. We have more answers to frequently asked questions. Reservations are not available. All the glacier-carved wonder of Little Yosemite Valley and the surrounding peaks unfolds at the top of Clouds Rest (9,926 ft.). If you missed out on snagging a Half Dome permit and are looking for a great alternative hike, then the Clouds Rest trail is a great choice. There are two exceptions: Can't find your question here? A Half Dome day hike permit is entirely different, and you can have each person submit an application. Whitney, various parts of the Grand Canyon and Zion Narrows, etc.). Therefore, as part of the wilderness experience, park rangers can provide general guidance but will not plan a wilderness trip for you; you must plan your own trip. And if you have a list of potential travel destinations like me, can you please consider adding an overnight backpacking permit for Clouds Rest???

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