USA - Yosemite and the High Sierra
California's finest 2-week hiking holiday - El Capitan and Half Dome - Ascent of Mount Whitney - Travelling through Death Valley
4 nights hotels, 9 nights camping, 9 days DEMANDING trekking, max altitude - 4418m / 14,495ft. Some meals not included.
moderate
The soaring granite peaks and thundering waterfalls of John Muir's 'Range of Light' are the focus of this spectacular new trekking vacation. During 5 days in the incomparable Yosemite National Park, we take day walks from our campground to such celebrated sights as towering El Capitan, the cascading Nevada Falls and the dramatic summit of Half Dome. Crossing the Sierra we then drive south via eery Mono Lake, stopping overnight in atmospheric Lone Pine, before our gear and tents are packed onto mules by their cowboy handlers. Now with only our daypacks to carry for the next 6 days, we trek deep into the High Sierra, a pristine wilderness of Ponderosa pine, crystal clear lakes and alpine meadows. Our goal, lying atop an ice-carved crest of 4000 metre (13120 foot) peaks, is Mount Whitney (4418m./14491ft), the highest peak in continental USA. Travelling via Death Valley our memorable trekking holiday ends in the world's most famous playground - Las Vegas.
Trip Guide
This is not a long or continuous trekking trip. Whilst in Yosemite National Park, we will complete a series of day-hikes from a campground, with short transfers to take us to the trailheads. We have the option of a rest or easier day here and all of the walks are optional. This part of the trip can be made much easier if one or more of the walks is missed out. Most of the hiking throughout the trip is on good trails, but approximately a third of it will be on rougher terrain where no path, or only poor paths, exist. There will be sections of bare rock slabs, rough boulder fields and scree. The summit slopes of Half Dome are very exposed (although there are handrails). During the 6 days that we spend beneath Mount Whitney, we have just a 2-day walk-in to the peak, a rest day at basecamp, an optional ascent of Whitney itself and then 2-day walk out. On each of the principal hiking days on the trip we will cover something in the region of 20 kilometres (13 miles) and on 2 of these days, there will be a considerable amount of ascent and descent (Half Dome ascent and Mount Whitney summit day). We ascend to considerable altitude only at Mount Whitney's summit (4418 metres / 14,495 feet) and this comes late in the trip when we should be reasonably well acclimatised. There are only 3 driving days (apart from short trailhead transfers) and driving distances are relatively short.
The trip pages are only a brief summary of the details available within our trip dossiers. It is important that you read the full day to day description and further information for this trip before making your booking.
Download a dossier for USA - Yosemite and the High Sierra
