I'm planning on thru hiking the AT next year, with my girlfriend, and we're section hiking the JMT (Happy Isles to Red's Meadow) as our shakedown hike.

Due to work commitments I’m unable to take vacation until mid-September (my wilderness permits are 9/19 - 9/29) and it's my understanding that a lot of the public transport will be running a limited service after Labor Day. Tentatively my plan is to drive from PA to either Bishop or Mammoth Lakes, leave the car there and shuttle to Yosemite; we're driving rather than flying as we plan to hike/mountain bike in CO, UT and WY on the return leg.

I emailed Sierra High Shuttle and they quoted me $375 for a ride from Bishop to Happy Isle and I’d like to see if there are some cheaper options. I also understand that there may be some problems with hitching from Red’s to Mammoth because of the wind event last November?

I’d really appreciate if somebody could point me in the right direction as I’m starting to panic a little about the logistics of this.

~Simon

"I also understand that there may be some problems with hitching from Red’s to Mammoth because of the wind event last November?"

Apparently the storm wiped out a zillion trees. The forest service currently has contractors busy trying to clean up the wood. That is why the road to Red's Meadow is closed, and all services there are closed. However, everybody is expecting that to get back to normal by July Fourth or so.

--B.G.--

See http://www.yarts.com/schedule/2012/2012-04-17%20HWY%20120%20Summer%202012.pdf
They run a bus, it looks like on weekends between mammoth and yosemite. You can probably either take the bus at the start and hike to your car or vice versa. Also, it,s a pretty simple hiking from reds into mammoth and there's always a possibility of hitching a ride. Don&#39Hispanic this can be solved, it may just need a bit of flexibility.

Another options is to do a different section of trail, say from reds to bishop. I think it's better bang for the buck from a trail perspective and transport is a no brainier through the ESTA.

By the way, where are you at in PA, I just moved to Hershey?

Edited by gg-man on 06/06/2012 11:48:09 MDT.

Greg, I'm in Altoona, so about 2 hours west of you. Unfortunately I'm kind of tied to the Happy Isles start as the girlfriend has Half Dome on her bucket list...

YARTS (Yosemite Area Transit) is your answer. They run on weekends in September. So plan for the start or end of your hike to fall on a weekend.

If the start of you hike falls on a weekend: Drive you car to Mammoth Mountain Inn, park there, board the 8 am YARTS bus, arrive in Yosemite Valley Visitors Center at 12:05 pm, eat lunch, take the shuttle to Happy Isles TH and be on your way. This makes the first day a short one, but all you need to do is get 4 miles up the trail to Little Yosemite Valley.

If the end of your hike falls on a weekend: Park at the TH parking lot in Yosemite Valley. Do your hike to Reds Meadow. Take the Reds Meadow Shuttle bus to Mammoth Mountain Inn. Stay the night at the Mountain Inn and the next morning catch the 8 am YARTS bus to Yosemite.

If you don't want to stay at Mammoth Mountain Inn there is a free bus that goes down to Mammoth, and another free bus inside the town of Mammoth. So you can go explore the town after your hike, lots of great food, drink and entertainment. Then stay in a nice hotel and the next morning catch the YARTS bus outside Shilo Inn in the town of Mammoth at 8:30 am.

There's always the option of posting an ad on Craigslist for a driver to get you where you need to go. I've heard of several people doing this with success. Much cheaper than a private taxi/shuttle.

I'm hiking the Sierra High Route in July and that is my plan to get someone to get me from Fresno Airport to Road's End (King's Canyon). That is, unless someone on here wants to make some cash and give me the ride instead... (July 12th PM or 13th AM). Sorry, not trying to hijack your thread.