May Lake + Mt. Hoffmann

Trip Report

Start Time: 10:38am
End Time: 3:20pm
Trailhead Elevation: 8850 ft.
Summit Elevation: 10,850 ft.
Hike Elevation: 2329 ft.
Hike Mileage: 6.03 mi.

The turn-off for May Lake Road is pretty well marked on the Tioga Road so we had little trouble finding it.  The road is then about 4 miles of rough and bumpy 2WD dirt road up to a nice paved trailhead area.  It is said that some years May Lake Road doesn't open at the same time as the Tioga Road and so you may need to verify this before making any great plans.

Glacier Point via Panorama Trail + 4-Mile Trail

Trip Report

Start Time: 7:17am
Glacier Point Time: 11:03am
4-Mile Trail Start Time: 12:00pm
End Time: 1:55pm
LYV Start Elevation: 6128 ft.
Glacier Point high Elevation: 7279 ft.
Valley End Elevation: 3979 ft.
Panorama Trail Hike Elevation: +2882 ft, -1579 ft.
Panorama Trail Hike Mileage: 6.72 mi.
4-Mile Trail Hike Elevation: -3200 ft.
4-Mile Trail Hike Mileage: 4.54 mi.

Day 4 of our full week of hiking in Yosemite was the first day we weren't making up way up to a high summit.  That is, unless you count Glacier Point at 7,279.  This would be our third day in a row of moving with our full backpacks, but also our last.  As usual we were up before 6am today, but at least it was a warmer morning than yesterday when we woke up 1000+ feet higher in the open.  

Half Dome (6/18/14)

The view we woke up to ... not bad.

Trip Report

Start Time: 6:56am
End Time: 11:20am
Camp Start Elevation: 7142 ft.
Summit Elevation: 8860 ft.
Hike Elevation: 1800 ft.
Hike Mileage: 5.35 mi.

Today's hike was a matter of unfinished business.  When we had made our hiking trip plans in 2011 we had set the hike of Half Dome as one of our big goals.  In the months leading up to that trip we were following very closely the snowpack reports hoping things would be open by the time we arrived.  As it turned out, the cables would not be put up until about a week after we left.  While it was a disappointment for us to miss out on an attempt of Half Dome then, we did salvage an epic week of hiking nonetheless.

Clouds Rest (6/17/14)

Trip Report

Trail: Sunrise Lakes Trailhead > Clouds Rest
Start Time: 10:28am
End Time: 5:45pm
Trailhead Elevation: 8209 ft.
Summit Elevation: 9926 ft.
Camp Elevation 7155 ft.
Hike Elevation: +2449 ft., -3503 ft.
Hike Mileage: 9.47 mi.

This hike began a 3-day backpacking trek for us with Clouds Rest not really even being the main objective.  We actually conceived of this hike back in 2011 on our previous trip.  We would have attempted it then except the Tioga Road was still closed to everyone when we were visiting.  That left us scrambling for new plans in 2011.  This year, the snowpack and the roads would work in our favor.  In planning this year's attempt we were left with one hurdle: how do we get to the trailhead?

Mt. Dana (6/16/14)

Trip Report

Start Time: 8:27am
End Time: 2:21pm
Start Elevation: 9949 ft.
Summit Elevation: 13,057 ft.
Hike Elevation: 3229 ft.
Hike Mileage: 5.29 miles


A hike of Mt. Dana was to be the great springboard of another amazing week out in Yosemite National Park.  I was joined by two good friends of mine, Ken and Matt, with whom I also made the 2011 hiking trip.  This time around we had 5 full days of hiking to work with and the way things fell into place we had our highest elevation climb on day 1.