Destination: Tenaya Lake – Clouds Rest – Yosemite Valley
| Total distance: 15.3 miles (one way) |  |
| Elevation changes: +3140 ft / -7552 ft | |
| Entry Trailhead: Sunrise Lakes | |
| Exit Trailhead: Happy Isles |
Clouds Rest, Creative Commons picture by G.H. Vandoorn
One of the many famous spots we want to travel to this summer is Clouds Rest. By itself it is already a very worthy goal for a dayhike, but combining that in a backpacking trip from Tioga Road to Yosemite Valley is just plain awesome!
For our itinerary we are planning to depart from Tenaya Lake/Clouds Rest trailhead, summit Clouds Rest, and then turn in for the night at the John Muir Trail/Clouds Rest junction. Alternatively, we can also attempt Clouds Rest the next day instead (ascending and descending takes 5 hours total.) Next morning we will be heading down to Happy Isle through Little Yosemite Valley, either down Nevada Falls/Vernal Falls, or JMT. Of course we are going to be tempted to hike up Half Dome… but will have to wait till we have more time!
Topo maps and trail profile created using Garmin basecamp with tracks downloaded and modified from here and here from everytrail.com. Please note that the topo map is North-South reversed, roughly.
Clouds Rest Foot Trail, Creative Commons picture by David
Clouds Rest, Creative Commons picture by Sathish J
Resting at Clouds Rest, Creative Commons picture by Sathish J
Further reading:
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