4-Day Half Dome Backpacking Adventure

Meet your guide in Half Dome Village at 3:00 PM. Get acquainted with the group and with gear. If time allows before dinner, visit some of the Valley’s walkable destinations. Grab dinner at one of park’s numerous restaurants. (Food is not provided while in the front-country.) End the day by camping in the Yosemite Valley Backpacker’s Camp.

Set out via the Happy Isles trailhead for a 4-mile hike up the Mist Trail. Soak in the rainbows and scenery as you hike past the pluming basin of Vernal Fall, where you’ll experience the trail’s namesake up close and personal (note: you will get wet!) Continue hiking to the top of Nevada Fall, with a breathtaking view of Yosemite Valley, before hiking the remaining mile to your campsite at Little Yosemite Valley. Today’s Mileage/Elevation: 4.5 mi / -300′, +2,440′ -OR- Catch your first glimpse of the high country while refreshing yourself in the stunning waters of Tenaya Lake (8,150′). After a 4.2-mile hike up the Sunrise Trail with portions of strenuous uphill, you’ll be rewarded with jaw-dropping views of Half Dome and Tenaya Canyon, and one of our favorite campsites in Yosemite on the shore of Sunrise Lake (9,166′)! Enjoy the sunset while playing and fishing in one of our guides’ favorite high country destinations. Today’s Mileage/Elevation: 4.2 mi / +1,616′, -,500′

Wake at a leisurely hour and enjoy a restful day of relaxing and exploring the Merced River Canyon. You pick the itinerary this morning. Sunbathing, hiking, fishing, and birding are all fair game, or set out for a mini-adventure before communing at camp for lunch and preparing for your Half Dome ascent! Today’s Mileage/Elevation (not including Half Dome): Varies -OR- After a hearty breakfast hike approximately 3.5 miles to the summit of Clouds Rest at 9,926′. Enjoy lunch at the top while soaking in panoramic views of Yosemite’s wilderness. From the summit, hike down 5 miles to Sunrise Creek for the final night of camping. Today’s Mileage/Elevation: 7.3 mi / +800′, -2,800′

Half Dome Half Dome will be completed either in the afternoon on Day 3 to catch the sunset, or the following morning with an alpine start to catch the sunrise. This is a strenuous uphill of 3.5 miles to the summit at 8,836′. Roundtrip mileage: 7.0 Day 4 We will descend to the Yosemite Valley Floor (4,000′) via the Mist Trail which parallels the Merced River and both Nevada and Vernal Falls. Total mileage: 4.5 Typically, our goal is to finish between 2-4 PM.