Yosemite Day 2 Part 1
July 29, 2016
Up early and on our way back into the Valley. We’re looking at a 7-9 mile hike from the bottom to the top, climbing from 4000ft to about 5400ft. Not tons of actual elevation gain, but we’re already feeling the elevation – Austin is at 500ft, for reference. It’s times like this that I miss living in NM; elevation like this is no big deal after living at 5300ft.
The drive in is interesting. You’re down to small laned roads and surrounded by giant cliffs on either side. Traffic, thankfully, wasn’t too bad this early in the day.
The Yosemite Valley is very touristy. Lots of modern conveniences including restaurants, walking/biking paths, bus transportation, a couple lodges/hotels, and so forth. It’s probably a great spot for people who want to be in nature but don’t actually want to deal with nature. It was pretty to see, I can probably picture it being a good place to bring a family…but it’s not my favorite part of the park. And due to the sheer amount of people here, I’m starting to not really care for Yosemite itself. I think this will be the last trip where I visit national parks in the summer, unless I have to go with folks who can’t do it any other time.
Anyway, here’s our loadout for the hike! Lots of climbing and it’s already getting warm. So we need lots of water and electrolytes. We parked the car, got our gear together, and set off.
The beginning! 3.4 miles minimum and if we have the time, we’ll head up to Yosemite Point.
Onwards and upwards. Thankfully there’s a lot of shade so far.
As we begin to climb out, gotta stop and take shots of the lower points.
Up and up and up.
I’ve never been a big fan of climbing sticks (still not sure what they’re called). I understand some people need them and that they may actually help, but they always seem silly to bring, extra weight to have on you, and a pain in the neck to cart around when you don’t use them. Plus these people using them are slowing us down. They were pretty gracious about getting out of the way once we finished this little ‘staircase’. The climb has been no joke so far, but it’s been shady and that’s helped a lot.
Half Dome!
A lovely, brief, downhill part.
This is our first (closer) glimpse of the falls, finally, after all that climbing. But we’re just about halfway here. We’re still not even close to the top.
This is where a lot of hikers stop. Apparently we have to go up those rocks to the left of the falls – there’s a trail, but it gets steep, and there isn’t much shade. I don’t blame folks for stopping here, but we’re continuing on. Hopefully there will be less people on this second half the trail.
Looking down on where we’ve been. Doesn’t look steep, but it is.
This is where the trail got suddenly very steep. This is what they warned us about. And no shade. It’s already in the nineties here, but there’s at least a bit of a breeze. The family in the picture above kept trading places with us. They’d take a break, we’d catch up and pass, then we’d take a break, they’d catch up and pass. At one point, the Dad of the group mentioned that this was pretty rough. One of the teenaged boys, who had been complaining the whole hike (according to his Mom who talked with us a bit), after another complaint about how much his life sucked, whined “Then why are you making us do this?” And his Dad, hiking along, without missing a beat, said “Because we want you to hate us more than you already do.” It was a perfect retort and it was obvious that the parents were used to teenagers. Great folks to hike along with.
Sheer rock. It’s so cool to hike along this.
Up and up and up. So much up.
Here’s where the steep switchbacks began. It doesn’t look far to the top, but having hiked deceptive mountains like this before, I know that ‘top’ up there isn’t the top and this is a lot steeper than it seems.
So many switchbacks in there that are hidden by the vegetation. This is the longest part of the hike. Finish one leg of switchback, rest, next switchback, rest, and repeat, until you’re wondering who’s bright idea it was to hike in the first place.
One more switchback finished.
Almost there!
Yay! A sign! We’re at least very near the top, if not there.
0.2 miles to the falls. Right now we’re not feeling like hitting the Point. All we need is to make it to the falls.
So I don’t take pictures very often of other people. But these guys were too cool to not include. It was a bachelor party – the guys were out for a week, backpacking and camping. How damn cool is that? How much fun would it be to get your friends together and go hiking through the wilderness before you get hitched?
Anyway, gotta continue on! We’re at the top and just around those rocks…
A sudden drop off and an amazing view of the Valley.
Feet over the edge pic. Better than a selfie.
We hung out here for a bit, catching our breath, chatting with other hikers. This is a pretty phenomenal view. Definitely worth the hike.
Once we felt up to moving again, we saw a rather narrow and harrowing path along the cliff itself…
…and it takes us to the river that feeds the falls. Some really cool pools. I bet this is a gorgeous sight when the river is flowing in the spring.
Another little narrow path to a vantage point near the falls. Just don’t misstep.
No rock climbing here JA! We’re on the edge of a cliff! I can’t watch…gonna go look over the side instead.
The fence here is actually pretty sturdy. Not something you want lots of people leaning against, but still pretty sturdy.
