Night Hike to Cloud’s Rest

Last minute camping in October in Yosemite means limited options for campsites. Since upper & lower pines were full and white wolf & porcupine were both closed for the season, we ended up camping at Hodgdon Meadows right at the west entrance to the park.

I called ahead to make sure the trail would be open and the ranger that answered said that while the website said the trail was closed due to fire- it was actually open and we could hike it. She also said we might see some burning bushes on the way.

We woke up at 4 AM on Saturday and drove to Sunrise trail head. The plan was to night hike Cloud’s Rest. It was about 34 degrees out when we started. I thought we would warm up quickly by hiking, but the trail wasn’t very strenuous and we couldn’t make long stops because when we stopped moving everyone froze.

Here is a picture of a frozen lake.

Sun started coming up around 6.

Getting closer to the top!

7.5 miles in.

The last stretch.

Lake Tenaya far in the distance. That is where we started!

Last part was a skinny ridge. Some of us were a bit scared to cross, but we all ended up making it to the very top!

We arrived at the peak around 10 AM. We had the whole place to ourselves for about 2 hours before we headed back. Surprisingly we had full cell service at the top of Cloud’s Rest.

The view of Yosemite Valley and Half Dome was incredible.

On the way back we could see all the elevation that we had climbed in the dark. The group feeling was that there was no way we would have climbed up if we could have seen where we were going. It would have been too overwhelming. So we were pretty happy we had decided to do the night hike!

Everyone took a nap when we got back and when they woke up, Lena and JoeZ found smirnoff ices in their boots!

A little campsite slacklining.

Night time duo poi show.

Sunday climbing adventures in Yosemite Valley.

Presidential Boulder
Presidential Traverse v0 ****: really fun, really easy, lots of ways to do the traverse.
The Presidential vB ****: definitely felt a little higher than I wanted to be at the top. Especially if you top out.

Midget Boulders
Mr. Pink Eyes V0 ***: Couldn’t jump high enough for the start.
Unnamed v4 **: Completed first move, but didn’t finish.
Midget Traverse v3 **: Was able to do this one! Start was the hardest part. Traverse didn’t feel like a v3.