Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Yosemite shuttles (or lack of!)

2 of us are hiking JMT from Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemity Valley (Happy Isles) on 29 Sept to 2 Oct.
Unfortunately the hikers shuttles and bus services will not be running, so not sure how to get back to car at T.Meadows.
Hitchiking sounds like the best bet.
Anyone here done similar or have any good ideas.

Thanks.

Hitching a ride BEFORE the hike is an idea worth considering...

When do they stop allowing overnight parking along Tioga?

After some point they don't want to worry about abondoned cars due to them being trapped by the first snowstorm of the winter that results in the road being closed for the winter.

Cars don't go thru snow blowers very well in spring.

usually around Oct 15

I have done that hike in a day its a easy hike. One thing you could do is hike down in one day and use the other 2 or 3 days to get back.
Or park in the valley and catch a ride up to TM. I have hitched quite a bit in Yosemite and have never had more than a few cars go by before getting a ride. I prefer to catch the ride at the begining so I come back to my truck when I finish, it makes going home easier.

I may be up there that week, I am in the north bay.