30 min
Map

Tuolumne
Meadows
to
Yosemite
Valley

Resupply

North
Tuolumne
Meadows

South
Yosemite
Valley

Sierra
Weather

North
Yosemite
Weather

To the Merced River
Our 3.35 mile descent to the location of Sunrise High Sierra Camp since crossing Cathedral Pass into the Watershed of the Merced River has been fairly gentle, so far. These next 9.32 miles below Sunrise High Sierra Camp down to Little Yosemite Valley descend steep segments of the John Muir Trail.

But we are not yet done climbing. Hiking South from the bottom of Long Meadow begins with a 360 foot climb over the next mile and a half of a gently climbing traverse along the forested East flank of the Sunrise Mountains. This segment of our hike positions us for the descent into Merced Canyon via Sunrise Creek.

Our climbing traverse South from Long Meadow ends by putting us above the steep slash in the mountainside where Sunrise Creek is born, and begins its run down to the Merced River. We drop in to join it, beginning the steeper parts of our descent down to Yosemite Valley in earnest.

Miles & Elevations

Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley
Miles and Elevations

Backpacker Resources
and
Hiker Information

Lakg the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail.

Comments

Transitions
Sunrise High Sierra Camp
Trail Junction

The John Muir Trail
Sunrise High Sierra Camp Trail Junction

Descending
into
The Heart of Yosemite

9520 feet

8.44 miles South of Tuolumne Meadows

13.36 miles North of Yosemite Valley

The John Muir Trail
Sunrise High Sierra Camp Trail Junction
to
Little Yosemite Valley
9.32 miles

Maps and Miles

Miles & Elevations

Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley
Miles and Elevations

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Sunrise High Sierra Camp to Little Yosemite Valley.

Miles post at Sunrise Southbound trail junction pointing us South by Southwest to Yosemite Valley citing 13.2 miles to The Valley.

Sunrise High Sierra Camp Northwest to trail junction beyond Sunrise Lakes.

Trails track Northwest to Tenaya and May Lakes or Southwest to Clouds Rest from Sunrise Lakes.

This is in the conventional direction of traditional John Muir hikers.

The route to Merced Lake is turning East near the top of this Long Meadow to climb a low ridge to the East to drop down into the canyon at the base of the East Flank of Sunrise Mountain where the Cathedral Fork of Echo Creek flows down into the Merced River at Echo Valley.

Sunrise from trail junction.

Sign about grazing prohibition in Long Meadow below Sunrise High Sierra Camp at the South edge of the meadow where the trail comes up from Yosemite Valley.

We can see Colombia Finger and Matthes Crest in the distance, with the low arc of Cathedral Pass running a line between them. Well, between Tresidder Peak and Matthes Crest.

Let's take a closer look.

Last Look at the Cathedral Range before dropping South out of the South end of Long Meadow.

Colombia Finger on far-Left of high crest, Tresidder Pak is the tallest to its Right, Matthes Crest is the line of rock along the Right side of the high crest. Cathedral Pass located between Tresidder and Matthes.

We passed under the nose of Colombia's Finger to drop into the top of this Long Meadow, to follow it down to our present position at the South End of Long Meadow.

We turn around to hike South into a short gentle climb before descending forest terrain.

Trail South down from Sunrise High Sierra Camp perched above the bottom of Long Meadow.

The granite mound above the trail passes is plainly apparent on our map.

Grouse and I check each other out.

I see them first most times, so I gently click at them, which prevents them from pulling their "escape maneuver," which is to burst into a short bit of frenzied flight. Their preferred outcome is to rely on their cammo to avoid detection in the first place.

When they know they are seen grouse seem to choose either rushing their perceived attacker directly, seemingly figuring that flying at them will shock the attacker long enough to enhance grouse's chances of escape, or grouse chooses a direction of flight away from the threat, preferably into/through a thicket, to hinder pursuit.

Both avenues of retreat a grouse considers at the moment of escape both include hindering pursuit. One is towards the jaws of doom, the other away.

Once my observation skills matured I stopped having "heart stopping" incidents when an unseen grouse would pop out of the underbrush and fly by my face in frenzied flight. Improving our observation skills helps keep everyone from wasting energy and experiencing unnecessary stress.

If we see them first and click at them properly we just observe each other for awhile.

Birds are both very "flighty" and very curious. We've got to get past the former character element to explore the latter.

The Living Things Policy

View North at West end of Cathedral Range before descending into Sunrise Creek.

Colombia Finger is the projecting spire on the far Left.

The highest peak behind Colombia Finger is Tresidder Peak, the low gap to its Right constitutes Cathedral Pass.

To the Right of Cathedral Pass rises the Matthes Crest .

Vogelsang Peak is centered in the image.

The dark low peak on the further Left is Fletcher Peak. The light-colored rounded peak towering up behind and to the Right of Fletcher Peak is Peak 11850.

Mount Lyell in furthest distance on Left, Mount Florence on Right.

Miles & Elevations

Still Climbing hiking South of Sunrise on the John Muir Trail.

I means South by compass.

Our trail crests along the edge of this high meadow wedged in along the upper flank of Sunrise Mountain below its Southern Crest.

This meadow marks our final approach to the high point of the John Muir Trail between Sunrise High Sierra Camp and Little Yosemite Valley.

We make a gentle climb into the upper throat of Sunrise Creek after following the JMT around the crescent-shaped perimeter of this small meadow.

Descending
into
The Heart of Yosemite

Sunrise Creek down to the Rim of the Merced Canyon

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Dropping into Sunrise Creek gives first views of Canyon of the Merced River.

Miles & Elevations

Joe Kelly and Mary near the resumption of their steep climb up Sunrise Creek above the Forsyth Trail Junction.

Kelly and Mary are hiking the whole John Muir Trail while Joe is hiking to the next resupply at Tuolumne Meadows.

Campsites

The John Muir Trail

Sunrise Creek Upper Ford
and
Campsites

Descending
into
The Heart of Yosemite

8550 feet

11.16 miles South of Tuolumne Meadows

10.64 miles North of Yosemite Valley

to
Little Yosemite Valley
6.6 miles

Maps and Miles

Miles & Elevations

Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley
Miles and Elevations

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Sunrise Creek upper ford campsites.

Woke up here one morning in 2012 with no one camping here but I.

Well, that's what I thought. Then I began, and kept hearing large branches snapping, about 60 yards above the campsites, up in the the heavily forested gorge of the Upper Sunrise Creek. I quickly figured out what was making the sounds, as there are few things so big that snap big branches on and off the trees.

I was listening to something snapping big branches like toothpicks. Something big and fairly articulate.

I estimated, judging by the sounds of things breaking, that a large bear was prowling about. It might be breaking branches to reveal insects.
I also figured that Bear had already looked me and my site over before beginning to make lots of noises and making its position known. Bear saw my bear canister, which told Bear there was no point in paying me a visit. Nothing to gain but pain.

I kind of wish Bear did visit, but I did not miss this Bear encounter enough to induce me to hike up the drainage to find a position where I could get an eye on the Bear up there. I did think about moving up to a potential position of observation, but decided that prudence was the best course of action.

It was good enough to know Bear was up there.

Bear Tech

Descending
into
The Heart of Yosemite

On down and then out to the Rim of the Merced Canyon.

Our steep descent along the course of Sunrise Creek flattens into a mountain highway.

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Our first look at Half Dome happens as we descend far enough that the terrain unmasks its position down the mountain below.

Our down-mountain trail approaches the rim of the Merced, then bends to our West about 25 yards short of reaching the rim.

Our Southbound then JMT parallels the canyon rim along a wide"shelf" of moderately-forested terrain for a couple of hundred yards, down to where the shelf is pinched-off by narrowing and steepening terrain.

This "boulevard" style of terrain terminates just above where we reacquire the course of Sunrise Creek.

In the image above we are continuing South off the route of the JMT where it bends to our Right at the bottom of the steep descent from the upper Sunrise Ford, veering up off the trail by a few yards to take a look at the view from the rim of the Merced Canyon.

Half Dome below shoulder off Clouds Rest Massif rising to our Northwest.

Half Dome towers above the Northwestern aspect of our upcoming campsite in Little Yosemite Valley, which gives us an idea that our current horizontal and vertical distances to the end our our day's trail in Little Yos Valley are almost equal.

Miles & Elevations

As I was watching the terrain I noticed that a couple of families of deer, a couple of Does with a bunch of Fawns were "grazing up" this wide, flat track towards my position.

Two of Nature's Mobile Lawn Mowing Teams.

A couple of Deer moms meeting with the kids for a quick graze.

It is Yosemite, and every animal here knows that people will not mess with then, so I figured that the deer and I could easily pass each other on this wide segment of terrain without problems, once we all determined that none of us were a threat to each other's goals.

So I made my position known, and made a few friendly clicks.

Ears popped up, which was my cue to shoot them.

Notice that mom is like, "screw it, I'm eating."

A fairly calm scene. Deer generally will walk away, even if they do not feel threatened. These kept their line towards me, even though it crossed mine closely.

I was being especially sweet.

These ladies were willing to maintain their original intention, to graze up this section of terrain, if I did not do anything stupid. That was the mom's obvious decision.

I move to the lower section while the last of the deer move to the upper.

Mom encouraged the Fawns into a brief trot as we passed each other in review, but Fawns were more curious than scared. Mom had the "don't talk to strangers" attitude going, and there are no stranger strangers than humans.

The wide, gently descending "boulevard" with its expansive views is tapering down to a narrow trail-track, our descent is increasing, and we are entering a densely forested zone of quiet.

The forest is noticeably thickening as we descend.

Jefferies have about totally replaced the lodgepoles down here.

Amber and Steve hiking above the Clouds Rest junction out of Yosemite Valley.

They noted the climb out of The Valley is a high degree of sustained difficulty, rating it a seven out of ten on the hardness scale.

I believe they were hiking to Agnew Meadow.

The sheer face of the Clouds Rest Spur as we pass under it, just above the Forsyth Trail junction.

The image of the spur above, and the second image above that, are both of the same scene, only our perspective has slightly changed from approach to passing under.

We constantly see beautiful things poking up through the forests here.

A sweet spire of granite decorating the base of the spur.

Forsyth Trail Junction
along the
John Muir Trail

Descending
into the
Heart of Yosemite

8000 feet

12.89 miles South of Tuolumne Meadows

8.91 miles North of Yosemite Valley

to
Little Yosemite Valley
4.87 miles

Maps and Miles

Miles & Elevations

Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley
Miles and Elevations

The Forsyth Trail to Tenaya Lake & Sunrise Lake.

The Forsyth Trail tracks almost directly North from this junction, while we maintain our Southwestern direction along the descending John Muir Trail.

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Forsyth Trail junction along the John Muir Trail.

This trail tracks almost directly North. It offers a Northern approach to Clouds Rest, as well as access to Sunrise Lakes on the way up to Tenaya Lake.

Forsyth Trail Junction
Hiking Down the JMT
to the
Merced and Washburn Lakes Junction

I figure about 200 yards separates the Forsyth Trail junction from the Merced Lake Junction. The signs read the distance as a tenth of a mile.

Descending
into
Heart of Yosemite's
Local Route Options

The Merced and Washburn Lakes Trail continues East on a fairly flat route following the North Rim of the Merced River Canyon until it reaches Echo Creek. At Echo Creek the trail makes a steep, switch-backing descent into Echo Valley on the floor of the Merced River Canyon locating us just below Merced Lake.

Local Backpacking Loops
Merced Lake could be the furthest destination of a backpacking trip out of Yosemite Valley. We'd take the long way climbing to Merced Lake via the John Muir Trail to this Merced-Washburn Lakes junction.
After hiking the JMT-Merced-Washburn route to Merced Lake (and Washburn?) we'd return by hiking straight down the Merced River Canyon. Hiking up to Washburn would be the first, and easiest way to extend the length of this particular loop.

Extended Loop
We could extend this "Valley to Merced Lake" loop even further. A longer variation of this loop could be run by hiking the John Muir Trail past this Merced-Washburn junction, hiking the JMT all the way to the trail junction in Upper Long Meadow above Sunrise High Sierra Camp.

From that junction we then hike East into the uppermost segment of Echo Creek for the hike down to Echo Valley, and then up to Merced Lake, and possibly Washburn Lake, too.

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Descending
JMT
Below
Merced-Washburn Junction
to
Clouds Rest Junction

The lower Sunrise Ford & Campsites are a bit over halfway from the Merced Lake junction to the Clouds Rest junction. I put the distance at about 1.3 miles.

Mileage Anomaly
I measure 2.08 miles of trail between the Merced Lake trail junction down to the Clouds Rest trail junction, rather than the .9 of a mile distance indicated by the differences in the totals on the sequential Yosemite miles signs at the respective junctions.

The Yosemite signs are very wrong between the Merced Lake and Clouds Rest trail junctions. To be expected. They were cut in the early 1950s. The trails have been cut and recut many times since then.

WE take all old trail signs with a bit of healthy skepticism in an ever-changing world.

I suspect this mileage variation is due to a major re-routing along the length of this segment of trail. Close inspection of the old route depicts it following Sunrise Creek much more closely, very different than the present route where it turns away from Sunrise Creek below the Merced Lake trail junction.

Reviewing the maps clearly shows where the trail was turned South away from Sunrise Creek onto a less-steep, much less direct route down to Clouds Rest junction.

Thus this segment is 1.18 miles longer than the .9 of a mile specified on the Yosemite Trail Signs, totaling out at 2.08 miles between the Merced Lake and Clouds Rest junctions.

Two Campsite Locations
WE find two sets of campsites hiking South down from the Merced Lake trail junction to the Clouds Rest junction. We reacquire Sunrise Creek below the Merced Lake trail junction just about a quarter-mile above the lower ford. At the lower ford there are a set of campsites on the upper bank of this, our second, last, and lowest of our two Sunrise Creek fords below Sunrise High Sierra Camp. Both are associated with campsites.

Bonus Sites
Just about thirty yards after crossing the lower ford, after a short climb up to where the trail bends South, we can see off to our Left, East, there are also some nice, more private sites stashed up here on the rise below the ford. These sites are quieter and more private than the group-style sites above the lower ford.

Second Set of Sites
The next set of campsites below these sites at the lower ford are located at the edge of the meadowed-confluence of a substantial little feeder creek running into Sunrise Creek just a few yards before reaching the Clouds Rest trail junction.

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Lower Sunrise Creek ford

Miles & Elevations

Campsite just below lower Sunrise Creek ford.

Got water, got the boots off, time to get cooking.

I don't make fires, so the wood here, stays here.

Miles & Elevations

These old crows were having a time.

My camp was set up on the rise above their position.

They flew down onto a flat sandy shoulder of terrain with few trees below, and fair views around, for the density of the surrounding forest. There was an objective to their visit.

They showed signs of being a team, each watching and working in turn.

I figure they were targeting some dense populations of insects. It seemed like they had a plan, had done it before, and being here working the bugs was a regular part of their schedule.

The Crows seemed as intent on relaxing and enjoying the moment and interacting with each other as they were on getting bugs, maybe more. Their own presence and personalities were clearly more important to them than eating bugs, they were clearly defining their tasks within the frameworks of their observations and interactions in what appeared to be a measured way.

It was Crow Time.

I found it quite relaxing watching the Crows interacting and watching the forest for threats as they picked off whatever bugs had drawn them there.

Lots of deer.

Like Crows, Deer too was splitting attention between finding sources of nourishment and avoiding becoming nourishment. That goal, not becoming food, is why deer's ears are on a swivel.

Deer depend on their auditory early warning system, their ears on a swivel, to give their race-horse legs the signal to go. Deer survival depends on clear perception and instant speed.

Hiking South to
Clouds Rest Trail Junction

Descending
into the
Heart of Yosemite

Miles & Elevations

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I figure we've got about 3/4ths of a mile of hiking South down the JMT from the lower ford campsites to the Clouds Rest trail junction.

This great root surfaced when its tree fell, transforming from one type of landmark into another along our route.

Well-grooved John Muir Trail above the Clouds Rest trail junction.

We've transitioned from thin forests of whitebark and lodgepole into white pine and fir and down into jeffery pine forests.

The Yosemite site speaks of zones of trees, while other references describe different depths of study, from basic tree identification to understanding each strand in the web of life in the mountains.

First view of Half Dome.

Wow. It just keeps getting bigger and growing taller as we get closer.

Clouds Rest Trail Junction
along the
John Muir Trail

Descending
into the
Heart of Yosemite

7220 feet

15.83 miles South of Tuolumne Meadows

5.79 miles North of Yosemite Valley

to
Little Yosemite Valley
1.93 miles

Maps and Miles

Miles & Elevations

Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley
Miles and Elevations

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Noticing some stirring about sixty yards off the junction: some campers.

I suspect they were inspecting Half Dome in the late morning light.

Hiking South to
Half Dome Trail Junction
A Half Mile Descent

Half Dome Trail Junction

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In shadow of Half Dome.

Nose and Saddle.

One of the delights of our type of travel is a close examination of various terrain features as we approach one side, pass over, through or around it, then inspect it from the other side as we depart.

This gives us an engaged perspective, at least.

Miles & Elevations

Nothing tells us of the climate change with changing elevation than manzanita.

Though Yosemite's trails are clear, manzanita in the more remote parts of the Sierra marks the transition from the difficulties of sub-alpine travel to the difficulties of breaking through manzanita.

With the manzanita also comes the heat, warning us of another transitioning challenge. This challenge is the opposite of our first struggles with acclimation, now we are transitioning from an environment of cool, thin air and high elevation exertion to dealing with the potential for serious high temp overheating issues.

Heat Safety Chart
on
High Sierra Weather Page

Half Dome Trail Junction
along the
John Muir Trail

Descending
into the
Heart of Yosemite

7020 feet

16.35 miles South of Tuolumne Meadows

5.45 miles North of Yosemite Valley

to
Little Yosemite Valley
1.41 miles

Maps and Miles

Miles & Elevations

Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley
Miles and Elevations

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We see and meet a wide variety of folks hiking up to do the dome.

Families, youths, students, dude and chick groups, circles of friends, solo adventurers, and so on.

Kelly and Matt are a couple of buddies engaged. Engaged in doing things of merit, making them stronger while expanding their perspective and experiences.

Other folks engage for some form of social validity, rather than the value of the experience itself. I find those hikers kind-of irritating while being somewhat entertaining.

Most folks, like Kelly and Matt, are real good folks, a joy to meet, and great sources of information.

Hiking South to
Little Yosemite Valley

I have it as 1.3 miles from the Half Dome trail junction to the solar bathrooms in Little Yosemite Valley.

Last Stop before Yosemite Valley

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Huge Trail
The trail widens and the sand deepens below the Half Dome trail junction.

The character of the already heavily used trail changes below the Half Dome trail junction. The tread widens, and the surface shows all the signs of the very heavy traffic up the corridor of the John Muir Trail from Happy Isles Trailhead to Half Dome and back.

But not in the sense of degraded wear, but a level of maintenance performed to maintain certain standards not applied to less used trails.

This status indicates the application of lots of trail crew love. I takes lots of work to absorb high levels of hiker traffic without excessive surface degradation.

We'll see the remnants of the paved path from Happy Isles up to Nevada Falls as we continue hiking down into the Heart of Yosemite Valley.

Very well trod trail between Little Yosemite Valley and the Half Dome trail junction along the John Muir Trail.

The status of the trail almost looks like we are entering a manicured, curated bit of Nature. All indications are of a very high traffic zone.

Half curated by Barnum & Bailey, as a three-ring circus, and the other half managed by Mother Nature Itself.

It was be a crazy contradiction, if we were not crazy.

It's just normal.

Fat view up Merced Canyon at Cascade Cliffs as we descend to a point just above Little Yosemite Valley.

Our John Muir Trail route below us in Little Yosemite Valley intersects with the trail running up the bottom of the Merced Canyon to Merced Lake where we walk up to the North Bank of the Merced River.

We will follow that trail up the Merced River hiking back out of The Valley on our way to rejoin the Southbound JMT in Lyell Canyon.

Check out our view looking down on these Cascade Cliffs from high up along Sunrise Creek, above.

Yosemite National Park Half Dome Permit Sign.

You can follow these along the trail to Half Dome.

This one sits where the John Muir Trail climbs out of Little Yosemite Valley.

Entering Little Yosemite Valley.

We are confronted with a Y trail junction dropping into this corner of Little Yosemite Valley.

The actual John Muir Trail veers to our Left, to pass by the Little Yosemite Valley Backpackers Camp and associated solar toilets as we hike South across the narrow valley to the trail running East and West along the Merced River. Here our JMT turns Right towards the West end of Little Yosemite Valley and Nevada Falls beyond.

We can see the solar toilet building in the distant-Right. The Little Yosemite Backpackers Camp is stashed in the forest to the Left of the solar toilet building.

Little Yosemite Valley
Trail Signs
along the
John Muir Trail

Descending
into the
Heart of Yosemite

Little Yosemite Valley
"Delta" Junction
CONNECTOR TRAIL TRIANGLE

6140 feet

17.76 miles South of Tuolumne Meadows

4.64 miles North of Yosemite Valley

to
Little Yosemite Valley
0.0 miles

Maps and Miles

Miles & Elevations

Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley
Miles and Elevations

SOUTH:

JMT Trail
to
Merced River
Via
Little Yosemite Backpacker Camp

Final Plunge
into
The Heart of Yosemite

Dropping down onto the floor of Little Yosemite Valley along the JMT route below Half Dome we are confronted with a Y-junction in our trail. This would be the Northeastern corner of a big "Delta" trail junction covering the West end of Little Yosemite Valley.

Check it out on the map:

Cathedral Pass to Yosemite Valley
15 Minute topo hiking map

The difference between these two options is fairly minimal. Both eventually run down to the West end of Little Yosemite Valley, where they join together for the final length of trail West to Nevada Falls. The trail to our Right, along the North edge of Little Yosemite Valley is more direct and shorter, but climbs a bit, is across dry and lots of unshaded terrain, but works its way through and around some cool big granite boulders strewn along that route.

We would bend Right at the trail Y dropping into the corner of Little Yosemite Valley following the Ranger Station Sign below's prompt.

West to Little Yosemite Valley
Ranger Station

Above: Sign pointing us more or less directly West towards Little Yosemite Ranger Station after we dropped into Little Yos Valley along the JMT.

Southbound Option
The actual route of the John Muir Trail continues South, veering Left through the trail Y crossing the narrow width of Little Yosemite Valley to hike between the solar toilets and backpackers camp to the trail junction along the Merced River.

South across Little Yosemite Valley
to
Backpackers Camp and the Merced River

Above: Sign pointing us to the Little Yosemite Backpackers Camp, solar toilets, and the Merced River along the route of the JMT.

The Merced River runs along the South side of Little Yosemite Valley here, along with the trail running East and West from Yosemite Valley up to Merced Lake, and on to Washburn Lake above Merced Lake.

Our John Muir Trail route West towards Yosemite Valley turns to our right where it converges with the trail running down along the Merced River.

Discuss
Why the JMT

Though the trail along the North side of Little Yos Valley is more direct, I'd take the route of the John Muir Trail along its South side not only because it is flatter, shadier, but mostly because it takes us to the beautiful beach on a deep, calm length of the Merced River.

This killer beach is Great for swimming, obtaining water, and it is just a sweet spot to kick it for a few, and watch the sun sparkling off placid waters. Well, placid waters once we get past the Spring Thaw and well into Summer...

Alternative Backpacking
Loops & Routes
around the
Heart of Yosemite

Tenaya, Merced, Washburn Lakes
&
"Alternative Routes"
Looping the Heart of Yosemite

Woulda-Shoulda
Section-Lengthening Alternative Routes
As we hiked the John Muir Trail down from Tuolumne Meadows we passed two junctions that could have led us Southeast down to Merced and Washburn Lakes higher up along the Merced River than our point of access to the Merced River along our John Muir Trail descent to Little Yos.

Into the Heart
From up there at each of these Merced Lake trail junctions we could have taken a longer route to drop into the bottom of the Merced Canyon much higher up along the course of Merced River, from where we would follow the trail down along the river into Little Yosemite Valley.

Those Merced Lake trail junctions are located at the top of Long Meadow and through the Merced-Washburn Lakes trail junction that we hiked through between the Forsyth trail junction and the trail junction to Clouds Rest as we were coming down the JMT.

Alternative
Entry & Exit Points
As we descended to Sunrise High Sierra Camp we noted the trail down through Sunrise Lakes from Tenaya Lake, and its variation coming down to the JMT under Clouds Rest.

We can see that our planned route coming down the John Muir Trail from Tuolumne Meadow to Yosemite Valley, then back to the Sierra Crest via Vogelsang High Sierra Camp is complimented by a number of potential routes coming down from Tenaya Lake via Sunrise or Clouds Rest to Merced Lake, & then over Vogelsang to Lyell, to end at Tuolumne Meadows, if not hiking back to Tenaya Lake.

Check out the triangle of trails where we land on the floor of Little Yosemite Valley, and finally access the Merced River itself, on the map below-Left.

Little Yos Valley
First Station on the JMT

It does not matter too much if we hike to our Right at the trail Y descending into Little Yosemite Valley pictured above, or continuing straight across the valley to make a Right at the the John Muir Trail junction along the Merced River. Each route shortly brings us to where these trails converge on the Westernmost end of Little Yosemite Valley.

The reasons for veering Left across Little Yosemite Valley would be if we are camping at the Backpackers Camp, want to use the fancy solar toilet, or need water or a relaxing moment from the beach along the Merced River.

For John Muir Trail hikers out of Happy Isles arriving at Little Yosemite Valley marks the completion of their typical "first station" of the JMT. The first station would be reaching their Little Yosemite Valley destination after their first day's rigorous climb off the floor of Yosemite Valley.

Below we follow the trail along the North edge of Little Yosemite Valley to where our Westbound trails reconnect on the West end of Little Yos Valley.

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Trail
on the
North Edge
of
Little Yosemite Valley
to the
West End
of
Little Yosemite Valley:

.57 of a mile

Veering Right through the Y after dropping onto the floor of Little Yosemite Valley brings onto a trail that rises and falls a bit as it runs West along the North edge of the valley to the Westernmost end of Little Yosemite Valley.

Below are a few images of hiking along the Northern edge of Little Yosemite Valley down to its West end, signified by the trail sign marking the reunification of these two trails at the junction on the West end of Little Yosemite Valley.

The next page, Little Yosemite Valley to Big Yosemite Valley, explores the JMT route option through Little Yosemite Valley that swings by the Little Yosemite Backpackers Camp, the solar toilet building, which then turns downriver at the JMT trail junction above a very nice beach on the Merced River, to meet us at the trail junction sign at the bottom of this page.

The segment of the JMT swinging past the backpackers camp and following Merced River down to the junction on the West End of Little Yosemite Valley is
.61 of a mile

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Trail around North edge of Little Yosemite Valley.

We enter a bit of a labyrinth composed of massive boulder calved off the massive
bulk of the great granite cliffs rising above us.

It's not so quiet when they are moving, but real pretty where they stop.

Very nice passage towards West end of Little Yosemite Valley.

We're making our way over a little rise tailing off the back end of Liberty Cap.

Coming out of our obscured passages reveals a nice profile of Liberty Cap's sheer Southern face.

We shortly drop down to the trail junction on the West end of Little Yosemite Valley.

Little Yosemite Valley trail sign.

Looking East

Right to the JMT Up.
Right to follow the John Muir Trail route up along the Merced River up to first, the Little Yosemite Backpackers Camp junction, where the JMT turns Left -to the North- while the trail along the Merced River continues upriver to Merced Lake, the route we will follow climbing back out of Yosemite Valley.

Trail Guide
EAST

Little
Yosemite Valley
to
Merced Lake

(We will hike up the Merced River beyond Little Yosemite Valley to return to the
John Muir Trail in Lyell Canyon on our return hike back out of Yosemite Valley.)

Two Routes
EAST
to
Little Yosemite Backpackers Camp
entering
Little Yosemite Southbound
FROM
YOSEMITE VALLEY
Either trail East from the trail Y on the West End of Little Yosemite Valley leads us to the Little Yosemite Valley Backpackers Camp. The backpackers camp lays along a segment of trail connecting these two trails, the JMT with the trail up and down the Merced River, less than a half-mile East.

We can see the backpackers camp from either trail, located about .42 of a mile East of the trail Y on the West end of Little Yosemite Valley.

The JMT route along the Merced River is flatter, shadier, and has access to water.

The other route along the North edge of Little Yosemite Valley is more direct, more exposed, and climbs a bit to bring us back down to the trail climbing to Half Dome out of Little Yosemite Valley. The sign above points out that both routes lead to the backpackers camp.

WHY?
Notice how that trail sign deflects Half Dome hikers to the Left, off of the JMT's route specified to the Right along the Merced River to the campground. This distinction splits hikers into Half Dome and JMT hikers through Little Yosemite Valley in favor of the more direct and durable route along the North edge of Little Yosemite Valley for the hikers climbing on to Half Dome while swinging the Muir Trail hikers through the backpackers camp.

That's good trail planning and management.

Split the herd and divide the damages, keeping one or both routes from being unnecessarily overused.

Next
Little Yosemite Valley
down to
Yosemite Valley

6120 feet

18.37 miles South of Tuolumne Meadows

3.43 miles North of Yosemite Valley

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Backpacking Trail Guide

JMT
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Cathedral
Lakes
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Sunrise
HSC

Backpacking
Trail Guide