What Will You Be Doing?

Saturday, October 14, 2023:
Our Group will meet at Toronto International Airport to board our early morning flight. After a 5 hour flight, we will land at San Francisco International Airport where we will pile into our 15 passenger van and begin the 6 hour drive to Yosemite National Park. There will be stops along the way to enjoy some of the sites and get dinner and snacks. Once at Yosemite, we will find the Backpackers Camp site and set up for the night. After a light dinner, we will set up our packs for our journey into the mountains and pack away all that is not needed into the passenger van. Paid showers will be available to get in that one last hot shower before our journey.  

Sunday, October 15, 2023:
On Sunday morning, we will wake at the break of dawn, and have a quick breakfast in the valley cafeteria. After breaking down camp, we will pack our food into the bear cannisters, load up our packs and begin our journey out of the valley and up into the mountains. Our 7 hour hike will take us past incredible waterfalls and views of valleys and mountains. It will be exhausting, but very rewarding when we finally reach Little Yosemite Valley Camp where we will set up for the night. Using the clean clear waters of the Glacial River next to camp we will make dinner, set up camp and settle in for the night in the Yosemite Backcountry.

Monday, October 16, 2023:
We will rise bright and early, and while enjoying the sunrise over the mountains, we will make breakfast. After breakfast we will pack day packs, taking only the essentials and leaving everything else in camp. Today is the day we will hike to Half Dome and scale the massive granite peak. The journey will be difficult and we will be climbing hard and fast. Upon reaching the sub-dome, we will pull out our harnesses and via ferrata kits, clip into the cables and begin our last push to the 2694m (8839') summit of half dome! Once we reach the peak, we will have plenty of time to explore and enjoy the views. We will take many photos, and you may even dare to venture out onto the famous 'Diving Board' to get the most incredible selfie ever. After lunch, we will begin our descent, and head back to Little Yosemite Valley Camp where we will enjoy dinner and a fire before heading to bed for the night.
(Note: If Half Dome is not yet open to the public, we will reverse our trip and complete Half Dome 3 days later if permitted)

Tuesday, October 17, 2023
After breakfast, we will quickly clean dishes and break camp to begin our 16km hike to Sunrise High Sierra Camp. Although it is a short hike day, we will be walking up hill the entire day, gaining 975m (3200') over the 16km hike. But don't worry, there will be many sites to enjoy and distract us during our hike. Once reaching Sunrise High Sierra Camp, we will set up camp, and get ready for dinner. After a dinner around the camp fire, and cleaning camp we will set in for the night as we will have a long and challenging day tomorrow. 

Wednesday, October 18, 2023:
On this morning, we will wake early, finish breakfast quickly, and prepare ourselves for the challenges of the day. We will begin our hike, slowly descending in a valley for 9kms before reaching the base of Cloud's Rest. After a short rest and a quick lunch, we will proceed to hike 1km while ascending to the Clouds Rest summit of 3027m (9932'). Here, on top of the snow capped summit, we are at the highest elevation we will reach on this journey. After spending some time enjoying the accomplishment and gathering many photos, we will begin our descent down the mountain and hike 9kms back to Little Yosemite Valley Camp and set in for the night with dinner around the campfire and a good nights sleep. 

Thursday, October 19, 2023:
This morning we will have breakfast and break camp to begin our journey back down the mountains and into Yosemite Valley. We will descend some 702m (2305') utilizing the Mist Trail which will take us down past Vernal Falls on over 1000 man made rock steps. We will be able to enjoy many views from many aspects of the 97m (318') high Vernal Waterfall. The mist at the bottom of the falls creates a beautiful rainbow in the afternoon sunshine. Once past Vernal Falls, we will continue to the valley floor where we will once again set up in the backpackers camp, grab our belongings out of the van and get to the shower hut for much deserved hot showers. After showers, we will proceed to the Valley Cafeteria for dinner and beverages while we regail the stories of our journey. Afterwards, we can visit the gift shops or the Mountain Store to grab some souvenirs and junk food. Yosemite offers many gift shops and a full grocery store. We will then retire to our tents for our last night in the park.

Friday, October 20, 2023:
Today, after packing up camp and breakfast at the cafeteria, we will pack the van and have a free day to explore the park and enjoy the sites. However, you may choose to join me on an incredible day hike. Yosemite National Park is home to Yosemite Falls, North America's highest waterfall. The Yosemite Falls Trail is a very challenging, very rewarding day hike that takes about 6 hours to complete. The hundreds of switch backs take you to the cascades between the Upper and Lower falls. From there, you will hike up through a valley to the peak of Upper Yosemite Falls where you can get close and personal with the brink of the falls and enjoy the view of the Entire Yosemite Valley. In my personal experience, this is one of the most challenging day hikes I have every completed, but offers views and experiences that you will remember for the rest of your life. I highly recommend you join me on this trip. After our final dinner in the park, we will pack up and head out of the park to Mariposa, and cute little town just outside of Yosemite where we will spend the night in one of the motels in town. 

Saturday, October 21, 2023:
We will wake, and spend some time exploring the small town of Mariposa, California. We will have a solid breakfast at one of the local restaurants and visit some of the local shops before loading up the van and beginning our road trip back to San Francisco. We have a late flight, so we have plenty of time to play tourist and visit a few sites along the way. Once we reach San Francisco, we can have a fresh seafood dinner at one of the many restaurants on the Pier, and then make our way back to the Airport to check in and board our flight home. 

Sunday, October 22, 2023:
After a five hour red eye flight, we will arrive home in Toronto early in the morning, (approximately 6:30am) and part ways to get home and get some much needed sleep.