Yosemite Forum

I'm not sure how good of an idea this is. Feel free to leave feedback and make some changes as you see fit. It's a 4 day trip. Keep in mind I know basically nothing about what I'm talking about. I figured this all out on my map.

Day 1: Glacier point to Illilouette. It's a short little hike that'd good for our first day after driving all the way from Washington.

Day 2: Illilouette up and over to LYV.

Day 3: LYV to Clouds Rest and back

Day 4: LYV back to somewhere near Glacier Point (can I even camp near Glacier Point?).

Day 5: Get up early and get the rest of the way to Glacier Point so we can take off.

Is there gonna be enough stuff to see in this round trip since we'll be retracing our steps quite a bit? I'd do a point to point backpacking trip but I'm unsure how we'd get back to our car. If there's a solution to that, feel free to let me know.

Anyways, as I said... feel free to edit my trip into something more realistic/better as long as it's 4 days and we end up back at our car.

You could park at Curry Village and take the Tuolumne Meadows Hiker Bus to Tuolumne, then backpack to the Valley via the John Muir Trail.

Great idea. What trailhead permit would I need?

To backpack from Tuolumne Meadows to the Valley you'll need a permit for the Sunrise Lakes trailhead, which is probably already full.
Your original plan isn't a bad one, and you'll get to see some beautiful sights. I would modify it in one of three ways, however:

Option #1:

Day 4: Return via Panorama Trail to your Illiloutte campsite from day 1. The closest you can camp to Glacier Point is 3.5 miles away along the Illiloutte Creek.

Day 5: Hike out to Glacier Point and drive out.

Option #2:

Day 4: Return via Panorama Trail to your car at Glacier Point. Stay at the backpacker's campground in the Valley this night.

Day 5: Either start the drive home or relax in the Valley in the morning and then drive home.

Option #3:

Day 4: LYV to Half Dome and back, stay another night in LYV.

Day 5: Hike out to Glacier Point via Panorama trail or hike down to the Valley via the Mist Trail.

If you hike out to the Mist Trail I would leave your car at Curry Village on the first day and take the Glacier Point Tours bus one way to Glacier Point to begin your hike. It's $25 a person.

Great, thanks a lot for those suggestions. I'll ponder them awhile.