Happy Isles to Past LYV (Donohue Pass eligible) Gear Checklist

What shapes your gear on Happy Isles

What the trailhead is for

The park describes this start for long-distance hikers who pass through the Little Yosemite Valley and Half Dome area and camp beyond it, toward Merced Lake or Sunrise High Sierra Camp. It is also one of two starts that reach the full John Muir Trail.

From National Park Service: Trailhead Information

Quota

Nine places per day are reservable by lottery 24 weeks ahead and six are first-come, first-served one week ahead. All permits come through Recreation.gov, with none set aside for walk-ups.

From National Park Service: Trailhead Information

Donohue Pass exit

The park lets up to 45 people a day leave Yosemite over Donohue Pass on the John Muir Trail. Fifteen of those places go to this trailhead and 30 to Lyell Canyon. Donohue Pass is the trail's high point in the park at 11,056 feet.

From National Park Service: John Muir and Pacific Crest Trails

First night

Your first camp cannot be in Little Yosemite Valley on this permit. The park limits camping between Happy Isles and Glacier Point and around the Sunrise Creek and Half Dome trail junction to the Little Yosemite Valley campground, so you keep climbing.

From National Park Service: John Muir and Pacific Crest Trails and National Park Service: Wilderness Regulations

Day one

A hiker who went to Tuolumne Meadows in one day started near 4,000 feet in the Valley, crossed Cathedral Pass above 10,000 feet and covered 24 miles. Another stopped about two miles short of Sunrise Camp with a full pack and called it the hardest day of his trip.

From Trail to Peak and Oregon Hikers Forum

What hikers carry on Happy Isles

• A bear canister sized for the food you start with

  A southbound hiker had a canister that held seven days of food, and after a resupply the new food no longer fit. The park rents canisters at permit stations and keeps lockers at the trailheads, Little Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne.

  From Oregon Hikers Forum and National Park Service: John Muir and Pacific Crest Trails

• Rain and wind protection for the first morning

  One couple left the Valley at sunrise, were a mile short of Nevada Fall when a thunderstorm parked overhead, and sheltered under a rock overhang for an hour while rain kept falling. They met a hiker from Hawaii who was caught without the right clothes.

  From Trail to Peak

• A headlamp for a pre-dawn start

  Starting early gets you up the falls before the heat. One couple woke at 3:45 in the morning and another pair was walking in the dark at 5:30.

  From Trail to Peak and Kintec

• A warm sleep system for the nights above the Valley

  A hiker with a 30-degree down bag woke chilled at 4 a.m. and said a 20-degree bag would have helped, plus a full-length pad, since a short pad left his feet resting on his pack. Two hikers heard from others finishing that it had been cold, with snow, rain and hail.

  From Oregon Hikers Forum and Kintec

• Extra water and sun cover for the exposed afternoon

  A fast-packer who started at Happy Isles and went over Cloud's Rest found the afternoon hot and exposed, and a bad headache set in before the long descent to Tuolumne.

  From Kintec

• Food mailed ahead to the Tuolumne post office

  A hiker who carried a full first-week load out of the Valley said he would start with one day of food in the canister and mail the rest to Tuolumne. The park accepts packages there addressed to General Delivery from about mid-June to mid-September.

  From Oregon Hikers Forum and National Park Service: John Muir and Pacific Crest Trails

• Camera or phone battery for a long first stretch

  One hiker took few pictures on day one to keep a camera battery alive for seven days until the next charging point at Muir Trail Ranch.

  From Oregon Hikers Forum

Gear questions for Happy Isles