[pct-l] alternate trails for the pct in Giant Sequia and Yosemite

[roni h]

Hi evryone.
   
  When I hiked the pct in 2003 I, like most other thruhikers, never left the pct, and never saw the famous giant sequia trees and the lower Yosemite Valley, even though we hiked so close to them.
   
  I'm hoping that there is some way of seeing those places this year, when I hike the pct again.
  Can anyone think of some side trail (which will "cost" me a day or two at most) or an alternate for the PCT in the sierras that would enable me to see those places?  Possible some route that will take me by somewhere to resupply (I buy as I go and don't do mail drops).
  I'm especialy wondering about the permits. I know the rangers in Yosemite are probebly the most strict in the country, and I will have to get any hiking permits (aside from the pct permit) as I go, possibly by phone from Kennedy medows.  I don't carry a bear box, so if I need one, I will have to get it as I go.
  Any suggestion of how to solve these problems?
   
  Thanks
  Roni (in Israel)

 
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