Saturday, May 18th
Yesterday morning I set out for Yosemite Valley. The plan for the day was to hike Yosemite Falls, take in El Capitan, and see Horsetaill Falls. I only did one of those things because I was too exhausted to do anything else.
The Goal for the Day: Reach the Top of Yosemite Falls
I parked down at the parking lot near Camp 4 and from there set out on the trail for Yosemite Falls, after a brief stop at the bathroom. The first half mile or so was switchback after switchback. Steep switchbacks. In the first .75 miles I climbed 640 feet from where I had started. I tried to keep going at a steady pace, only allowing myself a long break once I hit 30 minutes of hiking. I mean, I still stopped for picture breaks and you all know what that means (Breather!).
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| Picture Break! |
I knew going into this hike it would be difficult. It was listed as “strenuous”. The trail was only 3.5 miles to the top and the trail was going to have to rise roughly 2600 feet. There’s no way a hike with stats like that is going to be easy. I kind of figured this was a good test to see what sort of shape I was in. On the other hand, I could potentially regret my choice to make this my first full day hike because what if it was too much? Oh well, I was going for it! I decided it was better to do it on fresh legs than to do it on my second full day at Yosemite.
View of Yosemite Valley from Columbia Rock
Columbia Rock was going to be the first major point of interest on the trail. It sat almost just barely past 1 mile in, and right at 1000 feet of ascent. From there you had an amazing view of Yosemite Valley, but it turns out that was just a teaser for the view from the top. For some people that was the end of the hike and they chose to turn around, and that totally would have been a stunning hike. But I was there for the challenge.
From Columbia Rock you headed down a little (NOOOOO!!!). Nothing is worse when going on a trail up to something, than to go down. Kilimanjaro was great because it was mostly up. Everest Base Camp was loads of ups and downs which made it more difficult. After going another half mile or so from Columbia Rock, I started hearing this plane engine sound. It was the falls. I would love to know what the decibel level is on those falls because they’re loud! And the view! Wow! With every step you took, it got better...also a little damper. Where we were was about where the Falls were hitting the rocks at the bottom of the Upper Falls and for a while we followed them up higher. Then after a bit we broke from the Falls and started another set of steep switchbacks. This time the switchbacks were in the sun, which made it even worse. There was a lot of leap frogging happening as you passed a group and then stopped for a break and they passed you back. I also noticed we had mostly lost the 50+ crowd of climbers. I wasn’t sure if they had stopped at Columbia Rock, or the first sighting of the Falls, or if they were just behind me.
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| Up we go! |
Up and up I went and then I started seeing the first people I recognized; people I had seen before down at Columbia Rock or lower, who had passed me. I must be getting close! Then there were a bunch of large, smooth rocks, and then the Falls. I had made it! The first thing I checked out was the Falls itself. They’re so powerful! It’s hard to believe that by late summer or early fall they will be gone. Yosemite Falls is fed purely by snow melt, so when the snow is gone, so are they...so there’s a reason to come to Yosemite in the spring.
Top of Yosemite Falls! 
Looking down from the top
After checking out the Falls, I found a nice place to rest and take in the view. It is stunning from up there. I had planned to take at least a 30 minute break up there, and it ended up being roughly 45 minutes. It was enough time to rest up my legs, eat some salty snacks, and take photos. It was also enough time to dry out my sweaty shirt and backpack. Oh, and apply more sunscreen (2nd time!) like a good redhead. Then it was time to head back down.
But was it really? The Navy had other plans. Two fighter jets swept across the skies above the Valley. I was getting a military flyover of Yosemite! They circled around 4 times before disappearing. It was a neat thing to happen. Almost like a celebration for making it up there.
The way down was long and not really all that easy because you had to make sure you didn’t turn an ankle or a knee or slip on the sand that was on top of the rocks. I gained a second life (or maybe 5th life) when I hit Columbia Rock. Only a mile or so to go! When I finally made it down I was exhausted! I also decided I deserved a big supper. I went to the Village Grill at Yellowstone Village for a burger, fries, and ice cream, then headed back to camp. I was in bed by 8, while my neighbors were just cooking supper.
This morning I got up with the sun. That was part of my new plan. Go to bed with the sun (sunset was about 8:04), and rise with the sun. After a breakfast of peanut butter on tortillas (I got this idea from the astronauts and I really think I like it better than peanut butter or bread), I hit the road heading back to the Valley again. This time I was reading all the signs along the way.
My first stop of the day was Bridalveil Falls. This is the first waterfall you see upon entering the Valley. It is also there year-round, just with a little less water later in the summer because of how its fed. I took the short trail up to the base of the falls, getting slightly damp along the way.
Bridalveil Falls
From there it was to the trailhead for the Mist Trail, and this was no easy feat. The parking lot closest to the trailhead was already full so I had to park in a different spot. This meant I would have to take the shuttle to get there, but the road through the Valley is only one-way so I had to go almost the whole way around because the shorter Village shuttle hasn’t started for the year yet. And then because of construction, I had to walk a mile to the trailhead. Ugh! Exercising before my exercise!
Today’s trail is the busiest of the park. During summer it averages 3000 hikers. This is because it goes up to Vernal and Nevada Falls, but also up to Half Dome. Today was going to be a see-how-the-legs-feel day. I wasn’t sure how far I was going to be going; I was going to let my legs decide instead of my brain. This trail was no slouch either. Depending on how far I decided to go, it could be almost as much ascent as the day before.
Merced River down from Vernal and Nevada Falls
The first part of the trail was paved, at least sort of. You hook up with the Merced River pretty quickly and can hear it off to your right until you hit a bridge and see massive amoutns of water flowing at extremely high rates under you. On the other side of the bridge you get to make a decision: hike up along the side of the falls or hike around directly to the top of the falls. Really a better way to put it is WET or DRY? You go up right next to these falls that are producing so much mist (huh, wonder where the Mist Trail got its name) that you come out looking like you’ve just taken a shower (my hair hasn’t been washed in 4 days!)! Thank goodness I had my raincoat and backpack raincover. I had decided to leave my rainpants in the car. I sort of regretted that decision to start, but they ended up drying very quickly.
WET!
After passing up the falls you reach the place called “The Drying Point”. This is a large area of rock face at the top of the falls. People are in all states of undress trying to dry themselves off. It is also a good place to have a snack. At this point I had decided that the trek to Nevada Falls was off, but I wasn’t going back through the wet to get down, so I was taking the dry route back down.
The Drying Point
But on the way to the dry route, I could see a bridge from which I could see Nevada Falls. I headed up to the bridge, but decided that was as far as I was going. The water rushes through the small span where the bridge is located with such ferocity, it is astounding! I would love to know what the flow rate is through there right now.
From there I headed back down via the dry route (John Muir Trail) which went up first before coming back down. There were some amazing spots for pictures up along there. It is definitely a trail that should be hiked...just remember to take rain gear with you whether it be a poncho or a raincoat.
Up next was a quick trip to Yosemite Village to check out the Ansel Adams Gallery and the Visitor’s Center where you could learn about the geography, history, and flora/fauna of Yosemite Valley.
My last stop of the day was El Capitan. In the afternoon they have an official event called “Ask a Climber” where you can learn about rock climbing by people who actually do it. They can answer questions about climbing El Capitan. The thing I wanted to know most was how long it took to get up. The climber said that most routes will take 3-5 days, but some take as many as 10! 10 days on the side of a shear rock wall! Though with that said, the speed record is something like 5 hours. El Capitan rises 3200 feet above the Valley so that is exhausting. Also at Ask a Climber, they have spotting scopes set out, trained on climbers. You realize how slowly it actually goes most of the time.
That's a man in the middle, I swear!
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