Clouds Rest (9931')

We (Anshuman and I) decided to do this as a day hike. Clouds Rest can be approached from two trailheads - Tenaya Lake TH which is a mellow-er hike with an elevation gain of ~1700 feet over 6-7 miles; and Happy Isles TH which in my opinion is tougher than Half Dome due to both elevation gain & the distance. The numbers are around ~6000 feet of elevation gain in ~11miles one way. Being “us” of course we selected the latter option; well we also wanted to hike along the scenic Vernal and Nevada falls. To make it a little less strenuous while covering the waterfalls one can make this a through hike starting from Happy Isles TH and end the hike at Tenaya Lake TH. The easiest variation to this hike would be to start at Tenaya Lake and descend down to the valley (Happy Isles TH). Note that Yosemite NP shuttle does not stop at the Tenaya Lake TH so you will need to make arrangements for transportation between the trailheads.

Alpine start from the bay area (2am) got us on the trail by 6:00am. Darkness engulfed the park throwing us onto a circuitous trail through the woods to get to the toilets/trailhead from the parking lot. The first half hour of the hike was with the aid of headlamps. It is interesting how society and modernization of the park has transformed not just the facilities available for visitors but also the inherent experience. This was yet again made very apparent to me when hiking up the Mist trail towards Vernal Falls. The trail is paved with tar to reduce mishaps and improve accessibility to the beauty that the park offers to more people. This in my opinion reduces the naturalness of walking up the mountain on a muddy & rocky trail. I suppose everything in life comes with both positives and negatives. Vernal falls at dawn has its own charm. It is less crowded with only serious hikers & backpackers on the trail. We did not get to see the “always present” rainbow when climbing up to the top of Vernal falls as there wasn’t enough light yet.

I wonder what I’d ask John Muir if he walked the trail along with me. This thought remained within me for the remainder of the climb. The calm, the sound of the wind, the breeze - it’s relaxation at its best. I had not anticipated the trail to gain elevation constantly throughout the hike from the Half Dome fork but it made sense; for I had a couple of thousand feet left as per Anshuman’s GPS watch. I took constant breaks slowing down my ascent. As I emerged out of the tree-line, beautiful views of distant high high peaks covered with snow presented itself to me. What seemed like a massive mountain was in fact the Half Dome itself. A deceiving 0.6 mile marker to Clouds’ Rest is when the fun begins. It was a great feeling to be able to compete with the mighty Half Dome gradually climbing higher although the altitude gain is quite brutal. I peered into the distant peaks contemplating which one was our final abode. Each and every mountain I climbed, the eluding “Clouds Rest” never came.

Finally at 12:30pm I made it to the top. Anshuman being extremely fit reached the summit almost 20mins earlier. It took me/us 6.5hrs to get to the top from Happy Isles Trailhead. The ridge that connects the peak to a very large football sized flat plateau is a very exciting proposition. I recommend anyone who adores adventure to walk that ridge when doing this hike. People hiking from Tenaya Lake TH or continuing ahead to Tenaya Lake will inherently have to pass the ridge. I was quite surprised to see a lot of people up there. Few people I spoke to were shocked to find out that we took 6.5 hrs to get to the top but that was only till we clarified our point of origin. Most hikers seem to hike up to Clouds Rest from the Tenaya Lake TH.