Why does the Lyell Canyon Donohue Pass eligible permit have better odds than Happy Isles?

Simple arithmetic: Yosemite issues 30 Donohue Pass eligible permits per day from Lyell Canyon versus only 15 from Happy Isles. Same 211-mile trail, same southbound exit over Donohue Pass, twice the daily supply. When total southbound odds hover around 8 percent, doubling the pool you draw from is the biggest single improvement available inside the lottery.

What you give up is the ceremonial start. Beginning at Tuolumne Meadows means skipping the first 23 miles of the JMT, including Vernal and Nevada Falls, Little Yosemite Valley, and Cathedral Lakes. What you gain besides odds is practical: you start at 8,600 feet instead of 4,035, so you skip roughly 4,500 feet of climbing with your heaviest pack of the trip, and your first day is the famously gentle 8-mile walk up Lyell Canyon along the Lyell Fork rather than a granite staircase.

Two logistics notes. The trailhead depends on Tioga Road, which typically opens in June, comfortably before the July through September permit season. Parking is at the Tuolumne Meadows Wilderness Center or the Dog Lake area, about 1.5 hours from Yosemite Valley, and the seasonal Tuolumne store and grill sit right there for last-minute supplies.