North Rim
Another trip you should consider is also on the North Rim. Start from the Tioga Road at Porcupine Flat (actually a little east). Head toward the junction of the North Rim Trail at Lehamite(sp) Creek--great camping and a creek there.
Day hike to North Dome (it's a easy walk to the top, with a good view of Half Dome). Also see Delicate Arch, which is about 1/2-1 mile nroth of North Dome along a trail heading north from North Dome along the ridge. Delicate Arch is on some maps, but not all maps.
Other options
- Start out at Glacier Point and hike east down to Illilouette Falls and Creek, then up along the south rim of Little Yosemite Valley. You can camp overnight at Little Yosemite Valley and head out the next day. This can also be done as a (very long) dayhike.
Also hiking down the John Muir Trail from the top at Cathedral Lakes Trailhead on the Tioga Road down to Happy Isles on the Yosemite Valley Floor.
Here's a good Yosemite Valley Hikers Map produced by the Park Service:
http://www.yosemite.ca.us/maps/yosemite ... p_2006.pdf
Olmsted Point Trail to Yosemite Valley
The trail from Olmsted Point down to the valley is misleading. It does NOT head down Tenaya Canyon--Tenaya Canyon requires climbing gear or the willingness to risk your life slipping and dying.
Instead, the trail heads west from Olmsted Point along the Canyon Rim through forest. It emerges at Snow Creek with a unbelievable in-your-face view of Half Dome. Then you have a uncountable number of short switchbacks that head 3000 feet down to Mirror Lake on the Yosemite Valley floor. Knees of iron needed!