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This summer, a group of us are hiking from the valley, to Tuolumne Meadows. Have any of you done this before? Any suggestions?

I think we are doing it in 4 days/3 nights. Staying an additional night at the Tuolumne Meadows campground, then taking the shuttle back in the morning.

Do you have a route picked out? It seems like the two basic options are a) the JMT from Happy Isles to Sunrise and then on to Tuolumne and b) starting off the same way, but then branching off to Merced Lake and up to Vogelsang, then down to Tuolumne. Four Days should be more than enough for either of those - personally I'd probably budget 3 days for either one, so four days would allow a more leisurely pace. For route A, you'd probably get to at least the Little Yosemite Valley on day 1, Sunrise High Sierra Camp on day 2, and roll into Tuloumne on day 3. For route B, you might be able to get to Merced Lake on day 1, Vogelsang on day 2, and then Tuolumne on day 3 - day 1 would be pretty long though, so for the full 4 days you could stop day 1 in Little Yosemite.

If you decide to go the Merced Lake route (which I highly recommend), there's a great spot to camp a few miles past Little Yosemite Valley. If you take a look at a map, the spot is in the valley north of Bunnell Point, in between the Bunnell Cascade and the footbridge. It's less crowded than Little Yosemite Valley, more open and scenic, and it's got great water access. It's a little longer of a hike in, but I think it's worth the trouble. I was there a few weeks ago, and here's my trip report.

Why not do it in the opposite direction? Much less uphill that way.

My suggestion is to wait until sometime in August. This route is infested with mosquitoes.

fedak wrote:Why not do it in the opposite direction? Much less uphill that way.

And not too bad of a day hike.

I did it as part of JMT hike around Aug '01. I made it to Tuolumne by the end of day 1. Nothing wrong with taking it slow though.

A lot of the JMT hikers stop just before Sunrise creek on day 1 as LYV is usually booked solid.
(And often half of day 1 is spent screwing around with the permit)

Thanks for all the replies. I will get my trip details back to all of you and then ask for more recommendations. The permits were booked going downhill (TM to the Valley), so we have to hike up hill. Making it to the spot

Trip is planned in August.

Planning on camping just past Little Yosemite on the first night and going the Merced Lake route. We will definitely look into the spot you recommended. Thank you!

We will be heading up the Mist Trail and continuing just past little Yosemite valley into "Secret Valley" or something like that where we camp for the first night. Then we'll head to Merced Lake and hang out, fish, relax, before heading a bit further to camp just before heading north towards Vogelsang. Head up to Vogelsang the next day and camp near the lake on the 3rd night. Hike down to Tuolumne meadows on the 4th day and camp anywhere that is available (perhaps camp 4) I think that is the climbers camp. Then bus the next morning back to the valley and end head home.

Because have an extra day built in, we can also break it into 4 stops and head out early to TM on the 5th day and bus back, if we are feeling like death warmed over.