Backpacking Permits at Yosemite

Hi everyone, I could use some help planning for my first trip to Yosemite. Months ago I got entered the Yosemite backpacking/backcountry permit lottery. I now have permits for next week leaving from the yosemite falls trailhead (near camp 4). I picked that spot because it was in the valley but now I'm wondering if it was a stupid choice. It seems like the only place I could legally camp would require doing the entire hike out of the valley.

1) Has anyone done the upper yosemite falls hike, and do you have any recommendations for where we could set up a camp for a few days?

2) The hope is to climb as much as possible. It seems like there's some climbing along the trail itself, but how far away are the climbing areas from where we would be required to camp?  Five Open Books and Sunnyside bench look great, but it seems like we would be doing the switchback hike down and back every day to climb them.

Should we just try for camp sites at camp 4? Alternatively, I've seen that it's possible to get the backcountry permits if you show up the day before to claim them. Would Tuolumne be warm/dry enough to camp/climb there if we got lucky and got permits starting at the cathedral lake trailhead?

Thanks for any insight anyone can offer. The NPS website currently gives me a certificate error when I try and load it, which is exactly what I deserve for trying to plan this trip a week in advance after getting these permits months ag.

The hike up the falls trail is an absolute SLOG. Definitely don’t want to go up and down it more than once. I don’t really know the specifics of where you’re allowed to camp with that permit, but i’m guessing somewhere above the falls/ lost arrow spire away from the trail.

Camp 4 is your best bet, otherwise there are spots outside of the park up the 120. But it’s a 45 min drive up. Tuolomne is closed as of now and usually opens late May or June. 

You’re gonna wanna be outside of the park or at camp 4 if your goal is climbing 

the logistics you need to climb from a legal campsite with a upper Yosemite falls trailhead would be very challenging 

and yea, 3k gain and descent every day, plus climbing would also be a fatigue challenge. Technically you could top out saleginella after something on the open books, but you would still have have the upper yose falls trail to hike after that.

try for camp4 if you wanna climb, or just do the backpacking trip and enjoy that. Maybe throw some climbing shoes in your pack in case you pass a cool looking boulder. 

Someone had a similar question recently but were going in from tamarack flat, which is similar but you'll get more exercise. https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/122196784/tamarack-yosemite

You get to take advantage of the backpackers camp on the night before and after your permit, though, which is nice. That can be up to four days of climbing in the valley if you play it right:

• day 1 - arrive in the morning, climb all day, camp at backpackers. 
• day 2 - climb all day, hike up the falls trail after it's mostly in the shade - (maybe 3 or 4 pm this time of year?) - camp where it's legal and store your food properly
• day 2+n - enjoy the yosemite backcountry (good suggestions in other thread)
• second to last day - get back to the valley in the morning, climb all day, stay at backpackers camp
• last day, climb all day, have a beer in the meadow, then leave.

You must get 4 miles out of the valley.  That's a good ways past the second trail junction that goes on the north rim past the top of el cap.  That trailhead isn't the best option for climbing (or anything tbh) which is why you can frequently find available permits.  Ask me how I know...

Maybe you could figure out some climbing like North Dome, Lost Arrow spire, rappelling into some upper pitches of El Cap.  But camping in the backcountry and climbing in the Valley pretty much sounds like a nightmare.  

Another alternative might be to hike up the Falls trail and into Tuolumne -- I'd bet Cathedral, Stately Pleasure, etc. are in good climbing shape now after you slog through snow to the base of the cliff.  Hell of a lot of work for some climbing but there won't be any crowds.

Everett Johnson wrote:

Btw keep your backcountry permit if you sleep in your car because it automatically counts as a reservation to enter the park. 

That seems kinda lame, you're taking the permit from someone that might use it. Pretty sure with the new permit rules you don't need a reservation if you get in before 6? Double check that but its not hard to do