Hiking to Clouds Rest via NE Ridge Route - Yosemite, CA

For Katie's hiking debut in Yosemite, we planned on Clouds Rest from the Sunrise Lakes trailhead (SW side of Tenaya Lake). This was also going to be my first time on this hike despite decades of yearly trips to Yosemite growing up. This 14 mile round-trip (class 1) hike is known as the Northeast ridge route. The trailhead is on CA SR-120 (aka Tioga Pass Road, the highest highway pass in California) at an elevation of approximately 8,160'. This route gains almost 1,800 feet in elevation to the summit of Clouds Rest at 9,926 feet. It is one of the most recommended hikes in Yosemite Valley, affording great views of Half Dome, the Clark Range, the Cathedral Range, and of course the valley below.

Download route in Keyhole Markup Language (KML) format for use with GPS units and mapping programs. Disclaimer.

Unfortunately, due to an unusually large snowpack still present in the Sierras this year, our plans were thwarted. We encountered snow and water everywhere. Tenaya Lake was still partially covered by ice. Luckily we decided to explore the Tioga Pass road on Sunday before we actually planned to hike to Clouds Rest Monday morning. It looks like we will be attempting to summit Mammoth Peak instead.

   

The first part of the Clouds Rest trail crosses Tenaya Creek at the outlet of Tenaya Lake. In late summer it is nearly dry, but today it was a deep, wide, and slow moving river. There were overhanging snowbanks on the edges that looked quite precarious. We couldn't even see the other side, so we decided to save the Clouds Rest hike for a future trip to Yosemite.