Sorry I wasn't very clear. This will be a two-day, one night trip that starts and ends at Tuolumne Meadows with a single night at Glen Aulin. I'll be going with my daughter who's uncomfortable with the idea of pooping in the woods, so we chose to overnight at Glen Aulin where she can use the bathrooms.
We have a wilderness permit for Glen Aulin trailhead. We don't have nor want a reservation for the Glen Aulin high sierra camp nor the meal service - we're really only going there because of the bathrooms. :-)
I've only been to Glen Aulin once before, and it was after the High Sierra Camp had closed, so I'm probably confused about the setup. When I was there, there was a campground with maybe 40 numbered spots. Each site was just an empty patch of dirt. Maybe that's where the tent cabins normally are, but they'd been removed?
Wikipedia mentions there's a backpacker area: "It is possible to obtain wilderness permits and then camp in designated "backpacker" areas near each of the High Sierra Camps. This gives access to the lakes and rivers, and sociability of the camps if you wish, without having to participate in the lottery system." Is this the informally cleared area you mentioned, saltydog?
For increased privacy, would it be possible to camp 5-10 minutes walk outside the Glen Aulin camp, so my daughter can walk in as needed? It looks like it should be far enough from TM and the highway that dispersed camping is OK, but I'm not certain.
