Clouds Rest and Half Dome
Total elevation gain: ~5000 ft*
*I don't have a GPS track, so I'm not sure about the exact distances.
In July 2023, Tyler and I went on a two-day backpacking trip in Yosemite National Park, hiking to two beautiful summits: Clouds Rest and Half Dome.
Day 0 - Yosemite Valley Tour
We stayed in Yosemite Valley on the previous day, and hit some classic Valley spots since it was Tyler’s first time in Yosemite. We started with Tunnel View and the Visitor’s Center, picking up our permit for the next day and getting it stamped with the Half Dome add-on.
Next we did a short hike to Lower Yosemite Falls, relaxed by the Merced River, and looked up at El Capitan.
We stayed the night in the Backpacker’s campground in the Valley.
Day 1 - Clouds Rest
Distance: 7-8 mi
Elevation gain: 3100 ft
We planned to do a one-way hike from the Sunrise Trailhead in Tuolumne Meadows back down to the Valley, where we had parked. In the morning, we packed up camp and headed to Camp 4 to hitch a ride to the Meadows. After about 5-10 minutes, a friendly hiker heading to Mono Lake picked us up and we were on our way.
We were running a little behind schedule and only got started hiking around 11am. We started off the day with a bit of excitement, as we had to ford Tenaya Creek. It was about knee-deep at the deepest part.
We started up the 6 mile, 3000+ ft climb to Clouds Rest, passing some snow that was still around despite it being late July. There were very few other hikers on the trail, only around 4 others the whole way.
Around 4pm, we made it to the top of Clouds Rest at 9931 ft! I was moving a bit slowly due to the elevation. The view of Half Dome, Yosemite Valley, and the surrounding mountains is absolutely stunning.
We hung out at the top for a while, then made our way down the other side. After a few miles, we stopped to camp on a nice flat (although wind-exposed) ledge with a gorgeous view of Half Dome. I even managed to find some running water in a small unnamed creek. We set up camp, made dinner, and watched the sunset.
Day 2 - Half Dome
Distance: 11-12 mi
Elevation gain: 1900 ft
We woke up at 6am so we would have enough time to head up Half Dome. Tyler brought a portable coffee setup with an Aeropress to brew some fresh coffee with a view.
We continued heading down the trail to the Half Dome junction. At the junction, we switched to day-packs with just food, water, and climbing equipment, and left our heavy packs behind a rock.
We climbed up the sub-dome and reached the cables section at 11:30am. The cables section is a short, steep section of the hike which has metal cables and posts along the way. Here we put on our climbing harnesses and gloves. We used our rock climbing harnesses with Metolius PAS + 2 locking carabiners clipped into different loops of the PAS.
We had not managed to beat the crowds coming up from the Valley, so it took half an hour to get up the relatively short cable section. Finally, we reached the summit of Half Dome at 8,839 ft!
We enjoyed the summit views for a while.
After about an hour, we headed back down the cables and back to the base of Half Dome. We picked up our packs again and passed the Little Yosemite Valley campground, where we used the nice composting toilet. It would have been nice to camp there and finish on a 3rd day, but we didn’t have the permit or time for that.
Day 2.5 - Vernal and Nevada Falls
As if Clouds Rest and Half Dome weren’t enough, now it was time to see two of Yosemite’s greatest waterfalls as we descended to the Valley along the Mist Trail.
We first came to the top of Nevada falls. It had been an unusually snowy year, so the flow of the waterfalls was still quite strong even though it was July.
We continued down to Vernal Falls on the Mist Trail. The waterfalls are beatiful to look at, and the loud crashing of the water and cool spray of the mist contribute to the whole experience.
After Vernal Falls, we just had to hike back down into the Valley. At some point, Tyler got a nosebleed, which slowed us down by a few hours as it took a while to stop. It was dark by the time we got back to the car again.
Highlights
My favorite part of this trip was Clouds Rest! It had the best view and also was very peaceful and not at all crowded.
Challenges
Getting the permit for this trip was, of course, the hardest part. Since we live in California, I was lucky enough to get the permit online 2 weeks ahead of time. Thankfully, the backpacking permit was all we needed, since it also includes entry into the park, the stay at the backpackers’ campground the night before, and Half Dome (if you get the stamp).
