Clouds Rest – Yosemite
This hike will now be one of our favorite hikes to do in Yosemite. We have yet to find a hike that gives you everything that this one does, the challenges, amazing views, different settings to the hike and its location. Let’s start out with the challenge!
This hike is a little over 10 miles and an elevation gain of 1,975ft. The hike starts out nice and flat so that you can get warmed up for your day. Then you will start heading up a bunch of switchback stairs cut into the mountain. This is where the steepest part of ht trail will be. That climb will finish into a point where the trail splits, take the straight. It will take you downhill a little ways and then flatten out as you wind through a forest, crossing streams and along some small lakes. From there the climb begins again. This time it isn’t as steep. The trail starts to disappear as the vegetation starts to thin. There are some trail markers and it is easy to find the general direction. Clearing the last few trees will get you to start making your way up the spine of the mountain. From there it is a fun and not super scary walk along the spine to get to the lookout at the end. There is plenty of space here to have your own area to enjoy a packed lunch and take a little time to enjoy the amazing views before its time to head back, or continue on to Half Dome and even the valley.
We seemed to cruise back, it didn’t seem like it took us anytime and we were back at the van. We parked in the first roadside area and where All-trails has this hike start. I would suggest going down Tonga Pass Rd a little further to the parking area for Tenaya Lake. This will have you set up for a perfect swim at the end of your hike. The water is by no means warm but it is so refreshing and an easy way to get all the sweat off and not waste any precious van water.
This hike can easily be completed in half a day, we did it in about 5 hours with an hour or so of hanging out at the view point. Many others though do make this an overnight which I can imagine the sunset over the canyon and the night sky on a clear night are amazing. This would definitely be a reason to come back. Also if you have a person to give you a ride and a Half Dome Permit this would probably be the most epic hike to do starting up here and working your way down to Half Dome and then on to the Curry Village through Nevada Falls and the JMT.
For more information and to add this to your future hikes while visiting Yosemite here is the link to the hike in Alltrails. There you will find all the info as well as directions to the hike, information about the hike, our review as well as so much more. Alway check the latest comments to get trail conditions and any information about changes.
The Gear For this Hike
For this hike we packed a normal day pack for us. We did under pack a little on the water, we were hiking in the fall so if this is the summer you will for sure need more.
- Teton 18L Hydration Pack
- Water Bottle – to mix in hydration sticks
- Selfie Stick
- GoPro
- Garmin InReach
- Backup Battery Bank w/cables
- Protein Bars – our favorites are Kirkland Brand(more in a future post)
- Hydrating Sticks – LMNT
- Sandwiches
- Some Candy
- Rain/Windbreaker Jacket
- Down Jacket
- Hiking Socks
- Hiking Boots or Good shoes
- Hiking Pants
- Sun Glasses