Overview of the Trip

I camped for seven nights total. I stayed the first two nights at the Summerdale campground in the Sierra National Forest where I did a small local hike and saw the old railroad. On the second day I drove into the park to see Glacier Point and the Yosemite Valley and the many, many beautiful sights thereabouts, including a small hike across Leidig Meadow to Lower Yosemite Falls and stopping at the Wawona Hotel on the way back to camp.


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On the third day I cut north to the Stanislaus National Forest to avoid the crowds. I was able to camp in relative isolation on obscure Forest Service roads on a ridge between the Tuolumne River and the it's Middle Fork. From "Camp 1" I took a really nice hike down to a Waterfall on the Middle Fork, and stayed another night (the fourth) at the location labelled "Camp 2" on the map above.

Then I dove back into the National Park and crossed the Tioga Road, stopping at several nice places including Yosemite Creek Falls, Olmstead Point, Tenaya Lake, and Tuolumne Meadows. It was an easy drive, taking only a few hours, including stops for viewing and lunch but there were tons of people all along the way so I didn't even try to camp in the park. After exiting the park at Lee Vining, it was an easy 20 minute drive to the June Lake Loop and the Silver Lake Campground, where I spent the 5th and 6th nights and had an absolutely wonderful hike up to Gem Lake.

From there it was another easy 20-40 minute drive to Mammoth Lakes and the surrounding area, where I settled on a choice location in the Twin Lakes Campground to do a little fishing and hiking for the last day and night. On the way back home (not shown on the map above), I also stopped at the Manzanar National Historic Site where Japanese Americans were interred during WWII.

Continue onto the next page of my Yosemite Trip ..