With Yosemite reopening, I had been scrambling to get a wilderness permit for the long 4th of July weekend. Originality, I had a full week off and was going to do the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River and then head into the high country around Hetch Hetchy. But COVID-19 squashed those plans.

I ended up with 5 days off, which would have been enough for a GCTR hike, with a little extension to the Ten Lakes Basin. But I also managed to get a Sunrise Lakes Trailhead permit with a permit to climb Half Dome as well. This would allow me to go up Clouds Rest and Half Dome to resist trying to hike them during my John Muir Trail trek in August. So I could get them out of my mind now.

So I decided to use the Sunrise permit and use the 5 days to enjoy two of the best views in Yosemite and also get my body and gear ready for the JMT.

I started at Tenaya Lake and headed down the Sunrise Lakes Trail and up towards Clouds Rest. Coming from this direction, it’s mostly a gentle climb to the 9,900 foot top of Clouds Rest, but with 40+ pounds of gear to carry, it wasn’t easy by any means. It was still easier than coming up from the south side from the valley.

As I neared the top I started looking for possible camping spots. Just before the final climb to the top, I found a nice little nook on the side of the ridge. It was just far enough from the trail to be legal and had a small flat spot big enough for my tent. It also had some great views of the Valley and Half Dome to the west and the mountains to the north.

After setting up camp, I headed to the top to enjoy the view. Half Dome gets all the press, but Clouds Rest has the best 360 degree view in the park. Ironically, Half Dome’s view is marred only by Clouds Rest being in the way of the view to the north. 🙂

The next morning, I had decided I would head down towards Half Dome on a little bypass trail that avoids the very top of Clouds Rest, so I went back to my camp by going down the south side of Clouds Rest and looping back to my camp on the bypass trail. It was a little extra walking, but a nice view on the way down.

After enjoying a dinner, I settled in to enjoy the sunset. I had a great view of it from where I was, but one of the problems of hiking up Clouds Rest and Half Dome is you miss seeing the full effect of the sunset’s last light washing across the face of Half Dome and Clouds Rest. But it was still a great way to finish my first night in Yosemite.

Sunrise from my campsite was very spectacular and enjoyable. As I packed up and started down towards Half Dome, I decided to go to the top of Clouds Rest again. So, I ended up carrying all my gear to the top after all. 🙂

I enjoyed the view again, which was different enough due the morning light to warrant carrying my gear up.

Then disaster!

Almost. I dropped my Sony camera! After checking it out, taking some pictures, and cycling it a few times it seemed to be working okay. A screen protector took some damage that would have probably broken the LCD screen, but otherwise it was functional.

Not only would limit my ability to take pictures of the fabulous views still to come during this trek, it would have been a challenge to get it fixed in time for my JMT trek.

Heading down toward Half Dome, I found myself getting very tired. Not a good sign for the 2nd day. It may have been my body still getting used to the altitude. By the time I reached the JMT junction and found a nice spot to setup camp, I decided I didn’t feel like climbing Half Dome that afternoon as I had originally planned. The heat was starting to ratchet up, as well.

So I ended up taking half a zero day (a day when you don’t hike during a long trek) to relax and prep for a morning climb of Half Dome.

Unfortunately, my great spot attracted a small family and they ended up setting up closer than I would have liked.

It’s generally good wilderness backpacking etiquette not to setup camp within sight or earshot of other backpackers, but the JMT/Half Dome junction was a pretty busy area. Still, with COVID-19 it would have been nice of them to keep a further distance.

I did enjoy the sunset’s light washing across the mountains all around me. Again, I couldn’t see the light on the face of Half Dome since it was on the opposite side of me. But it was still a enjoyable sight.

I woke up before dawn (as usual during my backpacking trips), had breakfast, and headed towards Half Dome with a minimal pack (water, gloves with a strong grip, trekking poles, and some trail food).

I was rewarded by the rising sun’s light descending down the backside of Half Dome. A nice way to start the slow climb towards Half Dome’s subdome.

I had thought about camping closer to Half Dome the day before, but the extra climb and distance with my full gear made me decide against it. I still looked around and found some good camping spots nearer to the subdome that I could possibly use in the future.

The switchbacks that wind back and forth up the side of the subdome really can’t be easily seen as you approach, so there’s always that ‘Oh shit’ moment when you have no idea how you’re supposed to go up it.

You have to push past that and just go for it. Back and forth, back and forth. If you’ve read any of my other trip reports, you know how I just LOVE switchbacks. 🙂

After an eternity, you reach a point where the trail vanishes and you just have find your own way up to the top of the subdome. Fortunately, the slope becomes much gentler by that point.

Reaching the top, you have another ‘Oh shit’ moment when you see the cables going up the ridiculously steep side of Half Dome. Not for the first time, I cursed the genius who thought that this was in any way a good way to get to the top of Half Dome (not that there were a lot of other good routes they could have used for non-technical climbers to get to the top).

After a rest (but not a long one to avoid chickening out) I put on my grip gloves, took a deep breath, and started up. The first part wasn’t steep, but that didn’t last long. There were wooden planks every 10-12 feet that you could use to take a brief break as you slowly pulled yourself up the cables.

Although there is a small section where the wooden planks are over 20 feet apart that challenges your ability hang on for dear life. At that point I had to shift to the side of the cables to let some people who were descending pass me.

This was tricky during normal times, but with COVID-19 you had to be especially careful to keep as much distance as possible and use masks as you passed. There wasn’t a lot of room to do either along the cables.

Fortunately, my early start meant there were few people on the cables, so I only had the one group to pass on the way up. Just as I thought there was no way to continue climbing, the slope grew gentler and I saw the end of the cables.

As I reached the top and could take my death grip off the cables, I celebrated my 4th time to the top of Half Dome. Victory!

As I started to explore the top, take a ton of pictures. and enjoy the view I saw a chipmunk that was also enjoying the view. Not sure how he reached the top, but I tipped my hat to him for his accomplishment.

About that time, a thunderous chorus of fireworks rang out. Being the 4th of July, it seemed appropriate.

But there are no fireworks allowed in Yosemite, so it instantly became apparent that it was a rockfall nearby. A big one.

I jumped back from the edge of Half Dome, since there had been large rockfalls from the sides of Half Dome many, many times.

I called out to the only other person at the top at the time to see if she could see where the rockfall was. Fortunately, she said it was coming from further down in the Valley. Looking down, the dust cloud seemed to be coming from around the area near the 4 Mile Trial that wound up towards Glacier Point. Hopefully, no one was injured (and there have been no reports of any since I returned).

After that bit of excitement, that woman descended the cables leaving me all alone on the top of Half Dome. That was the first time that had ever happened, so I ran around naked for a bit. Just kidding.

After a few more people reached the top and I had my fill of exploring the top, I headed back down the cables. Since this was my fourth time, I had learned that the best way (at least for me) was to descend backwards down the cables, with a firm grip on the cables.

Going down forwards tended to cause your center of gravity to force you to lean forwards (i.e. downwards) which was scary as hell. Going down sideways was a little better, but still limited your control on the descent. Much better to have both hands on a different cable and slowly make your way down by watching your feet closely. Best not to look directly down the cables, since it really looked like you were going to walk off the edge of the granite.

After only passing a couple of people on the way down I safely reached the subdome again and celebrated surviving my fourth time up and down Half Dome.

As I made my way down the subdome, the number of people heading up increased dramatically, so I was glad I got the early start that I did.

Back at camp, I had a rest and had to decide what to do. It was about noon, so continuing towards Echo Creek Canyon was a little worrisome. But I knew I couldn’t spend another afternoon idle. So I packed up my gear and headed up the JMT.

This part was an area was heavily burned many years earlier, but at least some green had returned to the area since I had last been through the area shortly after the fire. At that time, it was pretty bleak and the creeks ran brown with mud. Much nicer now.

As I reached the junction that would take me to Echo Creek, I had to make a decision. With me taking an extra half day to get down to and then climb up Half Dome, it was going to be harder to get up and through Echo Creek Canyon to Sunrise Lakes by the next evening as I had planned.

I could have gone up Forsythe Trail, which was the shortest way to the Sunrise Lakes area, but also heavily burned so there were very little good camping spots and would make the next day very short. So that was out.

The other option was to continue up the JMT. I was confident that I could reach Sunrise Lakes the next day. The biggest issue was that I’d have to hike this section when I do the whole JMT in August (hopefully).

After debating the three routes open to me, I decided the JMT route was my best choice. Consider it a reconnaissance mission for August.

The trail was fairly level at first, but before it took a steep turn upwards I found a fantastic spot overlooking the valley the Merced River ran through. It had a wide panoramic view from Mt Clark, Mt Starr King, Half Dome, and all the way to Clouds Rest.

Couldn’t have found a better place for the night. The sunset was spectacular as the light washed across Mt Clark and Mt Starr King. I even got some great pictures of stars over the various mountains that night.

Before sunrise, I even had a great view of the moon setting near Half Dome. It would have been perfect if it set behind Half Dome, but it was still a nice way to wake up.

The rising sun also dazzled me as a horizontal bean of light descended over the backside of Half Dome, Clouds Rest and the rest of the mountains surrounding me.

After a brief thought that maybe I would have had time to go up Echo Creek Canyon if I had gone the other way, I continued up the JMT. Then hit the second switchbacks of hell for this trip.

Knowing that I’d have to repeat them in a month didn’t help my attitude, but I did conquer them and got up to the meadow near Sunrise High Sierra Camp. After a short rest, I did the last climb of the trip up the ridge and down to the first of the 3 lakes.

Looking around for a while, I decided that I’d check out the 2nd lake for a possible place to camp. It was a little more isolated from the trail and may attract fewer campers.

I was mostly right, there were only one tent that I saw and a couple who took a swim out to the little island in this lake while I was there. Not sure if that was their tent or if they camped elsewhere, but besides those to signs of human life I had my spot on the far side of the lake to myself that night.

I did do a short swim in the lake before enjoying dinner and my last night on the trail. With the enclosing cliffs around the lakes, there wasn’t a lot of light from the sunset to enjoy. Still a a nice night.

The morning came and I enjoyed one last light show around the last lake as I made my way back to my Jeep.

It was a peasant morning, mostly due it being mostly downhill. 🙂

So, approximately 30 miles over 5 days. While I now wish I had gone up Echo Creek Canyon instead of up the JMT, it was otherwise a successful and enjoyable trip.

And a useful test of some of my equipment:

• I decided my camp shoes were too open and heavy to take with me on the JMT (so would use a pair of lighter water shoes, that I could still throw out in Tuolumne Meadows if I find they are too heavy and not as useful as I’d like).

• I was able to calculate how much food, trail snacks, and Gatorade powder I used to better gauge how much to take with me on the JMT and pack in my resupply packages.

• My tent had a problem with one of the zippers around the screen door, so I would use my second backup tent. After I bought my backpacking tent years ago I ended up finding the exact same tent a few months later at a REI garage sale for almost a third of the cost of the first one. So I decided to buy it as a spare. I had already made use of the rain fly when I had to get the firs tone fixed and now the second tent will come in handy.

• My cooking cup turned out to be a little too small to cook my instant ramen, so I’m getting a slightly bigger cup.

• My new Inreach Mini satellite communicator worked great, sent tracks to a online map, allowed me to send some test messages, and lasted the whole 5 days without recharging. My old Inreach (the original large model) sucked AA batteries like a vampire and was cumbersome to carry and use. The mini is smaller, lighter, and seemed more reliable during this short trip. Since a lot of the JMT is well out of cell range, the mini would be a important part of my JMT trek. Both for emergencies and to have some kind of lifeline to civilization, although I hope not to need it for the former and will use it for the later sparingly.

• While I did avoid the mosquitoes and bugs mostly during this trek, I did use a lot of mosquito spray in the process. So I’m getting more for my JMT trek.

• The big battery I brought for this trip ran dry in less than 3 days. I’ll need a replacement for my JMT trek. Even with the solar charger I’ll bring on the JMT, I’ll need a dependable big battery for the JMT. So add another item to the ‘To buy’ list.

• And finally, I will probably need to transport more water from creeks and lakes to wash myself, my clothes, and other camp water needs. So I’ve ordered a few lightweight 3 gallon bags with handles that should help with those chores. Normally, I just stink up the trail until I finish my treks, but with 21+ days on the JMT with only one or two chances to do some kind of real laundry, every little bit helps.

Besides, I only lasted 10 minutes driving home in my Jeep before I had to stop and put on a clean T-Shirt to keep my own stench from making me faint. 🙂