Yosemite

This weekend we did something I've been looking forward to doing for years! We went camping in Yosemite! It's so hard to get the camping spots - they sell out in a matter of seconds - but I'd found some listed as "hike-in" sites which actually turned out to be a hike of just 85 feet when you read the description, so I nabbed one of them for a random weekend 5 months in advance. When I added it to my calendar, I realised that Wednesday was a holiday! So I quickly booked another night making it up to 3 nights in Yosemite National Park!

We woke up early and left Riverside at 7:30am, and with a few stops for gas and snacks, we made it to our campsite at 4:30pm. We set up and settled into camp, hammock and everything. We had an early dinner and then considered doing a nearby hike, but we were pretty done with driving for the day so we just did a few loops of the campsite and turned in early. 

Very early the next morning, we quickly set off for the first big hike in the park. Around 4 million people visit Yosemite each year, and it gets very busy. We got one of the last parking spaces next to the trail at 6:30am. It was very quiet at this time, but we didn't see any bears or wildlife other than squirrels. About halfway up there was a viewpoint where you could look over the valley and see sentinel rock.

But we were still going! We did 5 miles of switchbacks and uphill trails through the forest to get to Glacier point, which gives the most iconic viewpoints of half dome which is the most famous part of Yosemite (it's on all the maps). You could also see the waterfalls which we'd be hiking up the next day! 

Can you see the waterfall we did the next day?

The nice part of this hike was that there was a gift shop at the top. We could use the bathrooms, get some ice cream and have a good spot for eating lunch and recovering for the way back down. We also used Mitchell's binoculars to spy on the people hiking half dome and standing by the waterfalls across the valley. It was a very good view, and one of the best in the park, we're just not sure it was worth 10 miles round trip. 

The way down was the same as the way up, and we reached the end of the trail at about 4pm. We then drove over to the visitor centre to use the bathrooms and see if we could find a colour map (we could not). 

It was then back to camp for some well earned food and rest. 

The next day we were up just as early, and over to Curry Village visitor centre. We'd packed a quick breakfast to eat once we snagged a parking spot (and again got what seemed to be like the last spot!), but when we walked through hoping to maybe get a coffee and pastry before we started the hike, the cafeteria was just opening, so we had a lovely cooked breakfast to fuel our day. 

Suitably fed, we then started on the hike of the day. This one was a lot busier, and even had bathrooms along the route itself. The first section was uphill through trees, and followed the river which was very strong and full of water. We reached some stairs and started to feel water droplets from the waterfall up above. It was huge and the stairs and visitors alike were covered in water the closer you got. It created rainbows when you looked back and was very pretty. 

After this, there were a few more stairs and switchbacks until you got to the top of this waterfall. There were lots of people sitting and having snacks and enjoying the view, and we did the same. 

We then carried on the trail, which was the hardest bit. It was a lot of stairs! We did occasionally catch glimpses of the next waterfall, which was above the one we'd just seen. We got closer and closer, then finally came out at the very top.

We crossed the bridge which went right across the river, just before it fell over the cliff. You could see all the way down across the valley and we got the binoculars out again to look at where we were yesterday and marvel at the heights we'd achieved over the last 2 days. 

The opposite peak is where we were yesterday!

This halfway point was an excellent stop for lunch, as there was plenty of open space and rocks to sit on. 

It was then onto the downwards portion of the hike, which took a different route than the one up. The first little bit was in trees, and then it opened up and we were walking under a cliff face which was dripping water! We got pretty wet, but it was fun to jump through puddles and avoid the bigger drips. 

The view from the other side of the waterfall

It was then more trees and down all the way for the next few miles until we reached the visitor village again. We headed back to camp for our last night in the park. 

In the morning, we didn't have a lot of time, but we did sleep in until 7am and make breakfast at the campsite for the first time. We packed up and headed out to a small trail in the park to find some sequoia trees. We've seen lots in previous trips to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks which are just a little further south, but these massive trees are always fun to see. 

The trail was only about 2.5 miles round trip, so it didn't take us long and we got to see giant trees both alive and dead, and walk through a tree with a tunnel carved into it. 

After that, it was time to drive home, and we made much better time this time and arrived home just after 6pm, ready to unpack and get some dinner before work the next day. 

Overall, we really enjoyed Yosemite, it was a lot like Zion, only the rocks were grey instead of red. The waterfalls were definitely the highlight, but I'm not sure it stands out as my favourite compared to some of the other parks we've been to. Maybe top 5, but not top 3. 

We have plenty of fun stuff planned for the rest of the summer, and I will keep you updated!

Love,

Emily and Mitchell

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