Yosemite is one of the most pleasant places to dayhike in the world, thanks to a moderate climate and gentle surfaces. You can easily cover many miles on the park’s trails, which tend to be soft forest floor (without many rocks and roots) or a mix of packed dirt and smooth granite. In addition to the usual essentials, pack plenty of water and energy food, plus sunscreen—the temperatures are often mild, but the UV is fierce above treeline—and these gear recommendations from BACKPACKER editors.
Daypack
Unless you’re tackling a very long or remote dayhike, you won’t need a big pack for Yosemite. The main trails, especially in the Valley, are well-traveled and well-signed. So there’s little chance of getting lost, and with consistently excellent summer weather, you can leave the extra clothing layers and emergency shelter behind. For a pack, BACKPACKER testers recommend a lightweight pick like the Black Diamond RPM, which weighs just a few ounces over a pound and features a very secure harness for stability on fast-paced hikes and trail runs
Headlamp
BACKPACKER editors insist that you carry some kind of light-and not just for safety. In Yosemite, the best times to hike are dawn (to beat the crowds) and dusk (to see the sunsets), which means that you’ll likely walk in the dark for a couple miles. The ultralight Princeton Tec Scout is a simple, inexpensive headlamp with three brightness levels and enough battery life for a few weeks of sunset hikes.
Gloves
One of the most memorable dayhikes in Yosemite is an early-morning walk up Half Dome or should we say, a climb up Half Dome. The standard route includes a section with 600 feet of steel cable that serves as a handrail for the steep scramble up near-vertical rock. It’s very doable if you’re in decent shape (and don’t suffer from vertigo), but locals recommend packing a pair of sturdy gloves (leather is best, but canvas garden gloves will suffice) in case of rain. When wet, the cables can get slick.
Camera
These are the mountains that made Ansel Adams and Galen Rowell famous, and there are two very good reasons: 1) the incredible landscapes, which are chock full of dramatic waterfalls, domes, and peaks, and 2) the incredible colors that play out on the granite at sunrise and sunset. The Sierra is known as the Range of Light for the golds, pinks, oranges, and purples that ebb and flow at dusk, and you should come prepared with a high-quality camera. BACKPACKER field testers gave an Editors’ Choice Award this year to the Nikon Coolpix P6000, a compact digital that takes 10MP images and records GPS data with every snap, letting you easily transfer images back home to Google Earth or a map on your computer.
First Aid Kit
Yosemite isn’t a dangerous place to hike by any measure (so long as you don’t creep too far out on the overlooks!), but come prepared to patch up scrapes. The granite here often has a cheese-grater-like surface, and a simple slip can be a painful, skin-shredding experience. Helenbac’s Pocket Ultralight kit has just the right amount of bandages and ointment for basic wound care, costs only $8, and weights just under 2 oz.
