[olderthanIusedtobe]

[joedotts]

i'll be going to both, and im hoping to camp there.

[drm]

[olderthanIusedtobe]

Yosemite Valley is one of a kind and quite a spectacle, but I prefer Tuolumne area within YNP. Dusy Basin and Thousand Island/Garnet/Nydiver/Ediza/Iceberg/Cecile/Minaret Lakes are by far and away my favorite places that I've visited so far in the Sierras. Give me the backcountry any day and I'll leave The Valley to the hordes of tourists.

[drm]

[olderthanIusedtobe]

I've enjoyed the view looking down into The Valley from Clouds Rest, Tunnel View and Taft Point. I'll take the view of the Palisades, or Banner Peak, or the Minarets any day of the week. All a matter of opinion, but it's not remotely debatable for me.

[spamfoote]

Joedotts Do yourself a favor, skip Colorado. Especially Rocky Mountain National Park. Yes, to someone from the East coast who has never seen/felt bigger mountains beneath their feet before it will be impressive, but honestly, there are not only far superior entire wilderness areas in Colorado, like the Waisimuche Wilderness, but compared to Wyoming and the Wind River range it is not even a contest. Besides, if you are coming from the East Coast(~sea level) and the first thing you do is try parking at 10,000ft and hiking at 12,000ft-->14,000ft , you are going to be in a world of hurt. Need about a week at 5000ft+ to properly enjoy the mountains. Oh yes, unlike back east, out west is VERY dry. Drink TONS of water and carry tons of water(depends where you are going of course). Especially at altitude. At least twice as much as you are accustomed to in the humid East when you are not used to it. Do you know about caltopo.com? mappingsupport.com Free maps with trails layers, etc like this one? Olympic Penninsula Map In caltopo.com type in Sawtooths and you will get this: Sawtooths Idaho Can do this for just about anywhere. Download it to your phone, or print it and Vava VOOM, free awesome maps. PS. In Idaho, not sure if you are big into rock climbing but down on Idaho's southern edge is City of Rocks. Just as good as Joshua Tree National Park IMO, better in that the rock does not utterly rip your hands to shreds like in JTNP. I used to drive through Idaho and just ask a local and did whatever they told me to hike. So, while I have hiked quite a bit in Idaho, I have no idea what the names of the trails/areas were. Quite a few were around the Sawtooths. I believe another trail went to Castle Peak which I climbed, but this could have been in the Sawtooths. (probably was) It was awesome, I do remember that. PPS> If you want to get into rock climbing big time: Colorado is awesome only surpassed by some areas of California. PPPS: Rocky Mountains, Eastern Colorado, Eastern Wyoming, especially, get OFF ALL ridges, peaks, by 2PM, otherwise you will be the next soaking wet lightning strike victim with their shoes blown off their body. Yes, this means you have to get up at the crack of dawn to get up/down. You will be hiking much slower than you are used to when @altitude Besides at altitude, the views are great. That alone will slow you down.

[markweth]

Any idea what your route between Yellowstone and Glacier will be? If you detour through western Montana and the Bitterroot Valley I could give you plenty of suggestions for that part of the state.