Little Yosemite Valley Wilderness Permits for Snake Dike?

Hi, I'm a Brit coming over for a brief trip to the area. Really really want to climb Snake Dike, but the only time I can is a week on Saturday (or maybe the Sunday). The wilderness permits for Little Yosemite Valley are all booked up for then. The website says extra "first come first served" permits are available from 11am the day before your trip.

Anyone got a feel for how quickly the first come first served permits for Little Yosemite Valley get snapped up?

And just to check I've understood, if I wanted to camp overnight on the Friday night then the permits first start being available from 11am on the Thursday?

And in general any tips appreciated! Really looking forward to it!

Thanks
Rachel

why not just wake up early and climb it all in one day ?

If you are set on camping out though I would just pose your question to the rangers in Yosemite , call them up .

Best of luck with Snake Dike , it's definitely do able in one day .

I'm just a bit slow as don't get much of a chance to do multipitch, so want to get out early so can actually enjoy it rather than be stressed about getting down ok, and also want to get up before the rush so not holding up others once it gets busy...

But yeah, if necessary I suppose fair point :)

What vincent L said, get up early and do it in a day. There's one bolt protected 5.7 move, and a fair bit of 5.4 and easier low angle slab after that. Between the low angle, the easy climbing and the lack of pro the climbing goes pretty fast. If you end up finishing late, walking down from Half Dome in the dark would be a lot easier than some of the after dark descents that I've done.

I found doing Snake Dike in one long day to be much more satisfying than doing it as an overnight outing.

I think they also release any unclaimed permits at 12pm on the day of entrance, so that is also an option.

I've done it both ways and enjoyed it very much either way. We got a wilderness permit and just hiked off the trail a bit and found a flat spot to make camp - plenty of places to do that once you leave the main trail and begin to hike toward the climb. I think you are supposed to be a mile from the trail to qualify for a wilderness permit but I didn't measure ;) I'd give an edge to doing it in a day because you carry sooooo much less stuff without all the camping gear.

How long did you guys take to do it in a day? (from leaving the campsite to arriving back?)

It really depends on how fast you hike, we woke up at 3 am and were back by 8pm but were rather slow about the whole thing. If you don't goof around it can be done much faster and still be able to enjoy it.

It is a very easy climb to do in a day. We were a party of 3 with one climber that was barely more than a beginner and got it done. We woke up at 5:30 and was at the car again at 9:00.

You spend more time hiking than climbing.

My wife and I started hiking at 3am and were back by 2pm. We are by no means fast hikers. I felt we moved at a moderate pace on the trail and the wall but knew the directions very well before heading out. The amount of gear is absolutely minimal and you can ration your water well by taking iodine tablets or a Steri-Pen to fill up in the river on the way there and back. Doing it in a day was absolutely one of our most memorable climbing days together, especially since the approach past the waterfalls, in the dark, made it feel like we ascending straight into Mordor!

I too have done it both ways several times. Something to note - if you get a permit for Little Yosemite Valley, you have to camp at the little Yosemite backpackers campground. It's illegal to camp on the way there, behind half dome near lost lake, regardless of permit. This means that you wind up hiking about 1.5 miles out of the way to get to LYV the day before which you have to reverse the next day to get the the climb. And, in my opinion, the most time consuming and tiring portion of the approach (especially for first timers) is once you leave the Mist Trail which you can't avoid on climb-day if camping at LYV. What I'm saying is - camping at LYV doesn't save as much time or energy as you might think and you'll be dog tired carrying all your backpacking gear up the Mist Trail. Better to do it in one-day.

Oh - and I'm not sure about 11am. Check that time. It used to be that the first come permits were available at the Yosemite wilderness station at 8am. If you weren't in line before 5 am...you'd be out of luck. They may have changed the time, but you'll still need to get there at the crack of dawn to secure a permit.

Just bivy under the route. leave evening before, get there via headlamp late-ish and open bivy and it is unlikely anyone will give you a hard time.

I've done this route in a day, two different times. Once with my wife. Once with my brother. We are all fast hikers, but not particularly fast climbers. Each time, we started hiking about an hour before dawn. Both times, I got to the top of the climb between noon and 2 PM. Got down in daylight.

Thanks all!

frankstoneline wrote:Just bivy under the route. leave evening before, get there via headlamp late-ish and open bivy and it is unlikely anyone will give you a hard time.

I am planning on taking my 14 year old niece up Snake Dike next week and was planning on sleeping at the base of the route with her the first night.  After reading some threads, I am worried about the permit situation. My plan was to hike to the base with her the evening before our climb without a permit. Is it legal to climb the route and sleep near the summit if we pursued that option our first day without a permit? Any recommendations? Thanks

Brian Barwatt wrote:

I am planning on taking my 14 year old niece up Snake Dike next week and was planning on sleeping at the base of the route with her the first night.  After reading some threads, I am worried about the permit situation. My plan was to hike to the base with her the evening before our climb without a permit. Is it legal to climb the route and sleep near the summit if we pursued that option our first day without a permit? Any recommendations? Thanks

You need a permit and should get one.

Definitively doable in 1 day !! Have your gear ready the night before, Wake up  early, 5AM, start the hike 5h30AM, you should be at the base 

of Snake Dike by 10AM maximum. 

Climb with a light rack, this is basically a slab !!

I'm out of shape, and lazy, and I did it in a day. Its really no big deal. Much better than carrying all that stuff up to lIttle Yos valley Yuck!

Thanks, I don't think it would be a good idea to try in a day with her. 15 miles of hiking with the climbing would be too much. Do I need a wilderness permit, and if so, what is the best way to get one?