This was a long day, I hiked up Yosemite Falls with the hordes of tourists. I was hoping to start the hike at 7-7:30 but there was construction near Wawona that put me back a half hour and started at 8. The water flow is decent but not typical for this time of year as we are in a dry year. I haven't been in the Valley for a while due to the quantity of individuals there. I kind of forgot the size of everything there, those granite walls are amazing. It took me 1.5 hours to get to the top of the falls. I continued on the trail to Yosemite Point which has the nicer views than the falls. From here until North Dome I did not see another individual. On the granite ledges leaving Yosemite Point I lost the trail and had to find my way back to the rim where the trail was. This section is very forested and quite pretty. You pass two streams Indian and Lehamite. Indian supposedly is a fun Class 3 scramble that used to be the original way to get to the Valley. Adventure hikers have gotten in trouble by taking Lehamite which cliffs out. The trail gets to North Dome and you clamber up the ridge right above the dome itself. The view from this ridge is amazing and where the picture of Half Dome was taken. I stopped here for my longest rest and admired the views.
From here you have to hike back up towards Indian Ridge. Indian Rock is just off the trail and leads to the only granite arch in the park. I saw it from a distance and it wasn't too awe inspiring so didn't detour up to see it up close and personal. This section of trail is relatively busy with people hiking to North Dome from Tioga Road. You finally get to the fork that takes you back to the Valley floor. I saw only one person from this junction to the Valley floor who was a backpacker. This section is also a delightful wooded section with the highlight being cascades coming down Porcupine Creek which is a perfect place for a lunch, if you weren't in the middle of nowhere. Porcupine Creek connects to Snow Creek and the relatively modest descent ends as you drop down a very steep canyon wall following Snow Creek which is not visible. This section has 107 switchbacks as I counted them to keep me focused. The trail is slippery, rocky, and narrow so focus needs to be taken coming down especially after a long day. The trekking poles came in real handy, I still slipped once on switchback 97 and almost fell on my butt. Lots of black flies were found on this trail which also was distracting. Finally you get to the Mirror Lake Loop trail which is an enjoyable respite from the switchbacks. I thought it was only a mile from Mirror Lake to my car instead it was 3 miles which sucked but was easy hiking following the north valley trail. The whole hike was about 21 miles with about 5,400 elevation feet gain in 8.5 hours. A perfect warm up for Whitney later in the year.
Yosemite Falls to North Dome and back via Snow Creek
8. Not a whole lot of time left over. Planning a return route of indian canyon is ludicrous/commital. Also planning a return via Washington column is rated R.
The 20,000 footprints on every direction at Indian canyon is priced in....just so the admin can think its wilderness....you must not be distracted by alternatives like Indian canyon. Here, a GPS wouldnt hurt.
I would add go early...like 6 am. Just before the crush...
I think AW answered the question more comprehensively than I could but I'll give my weak answer of 3.5 miles.