The southern part of Yosemite is accessible than the northern section of Yosemite and therefore gets more people, at least part of it. One reason is that there is an incredible number of great views. I was trying to eliminate some of my pictures and finally gave up and just included all of them. I've arranged them starting with the Lyell Creek which flows into Tuolumne Meadows and worked my way south from there. This area includes 3 High Sierra camps which are all about 8 miles apart. To stay at these camps you must make reservations with the park well in advance. Each also has backpacker camps nearby. I've heard that as a backpacker, you can sometimes take a shower and buy a meal but I'm not able to verify it.

One thing you can count on at these camps is bears. There were cables at Vogelsang High Sierra Camp but I've read that the park has eliminated all cables in the park The bears were trying to chew around the cables and thus causing their gums to bleed. I've also heard of bears standing on the cables, and bouncing on them in an attempt to get the food to slide closer. Sunrise High Sierra Camp had poles to hang your food from, but I'd heard that one of the poles had been knocked down. They too may have been eliminated. They were also awkward to hang food from, as you had to hang heavy bags on a long pole and then try to transfer your bags from a slim hook to another hook. What made it hard was that the pole with your food bags was about 20 feet long and the bags would start to sway while you were trying to transfer them. I think they've installed bear boxes at all High Sierra Camps but you'll have to check with the rangers. Merced Lake High Sierra Camp does have boxes. Besides these two areas you'll find many areas in the south part of the park where there are bears. Probably one of the worst being Lyell Canyon. Its such an easy hike that many people do it. I've seen limbs in this area that had been chewed through so the bear could get food.

I hope I don't discourage anyone from hiking in this part of the park, I just want you to ensure that you use proper food storage. You can easily spend a week in this area and never see a bear, just don't count on it. Its a very pretty area, and if you do happen to have a chance to chase bears off you'll have more stories to tell your friends.