Finally, day two!
After a refreshing night's sleep, we woke up bright and early to continue exploring beautiful Yosemite. We headed back over to Tunnel View Road and snapped this quick family photo with Half Dome in the background. Since it was still fairly chilly at this point, we decided to drive through the park before taking as easy 3 mile hike.
At this vista point, we had another good view of Half Dome and El Capitan.
These rocks were a perfect place to enjoy the view.
Another Family Photo courtesy of our handy-dandy mini tripod bought in China Town. I promise we aren't photoshopped in there. The view was just so amazing, and all the leaves starting to change for fall added beautiful contrast with the clear blue sky.
We finally started our "easy" hike to Vernal Falls. When we originally started our trip at the Visitor Center in Mariposa, the sweet old lady there looked us up and down and informed us that we should be fine taking this easy 3 mile round-trip hike, and, if we were feeling ambitious, we could probably handle the 7 miles version to Nevada Falls too. Well, let me tell you, it was a much harder 1.5 miles to the top of the falls than we expected. But, it was well worth it! We took the Mist Trail, Yosemite's most popular hike, to the top of Vernal Fall.
The first mile of the hike wasn't too bad. The grade was steep, but the trail was nicely paved and wide. We stopped at this grouping of rocks to catch our breath.
The top of the waterfall below (it looks dwarfed by the trees) was our goal. It looked so far away from here!
After we crossed over the bridge (around the 1 mile mark), our nicely paved route turned into these uneven, slippery stone steps cut into the rock. The left side of the steps just sort of drop off to the creek below. A little scary, but wow, look at the waterfall! Apparently, during the spring and summer when water flow is at its peak, you can actually feel the spray from the fall as you are making this hike (hence the name).
After a little more stair climbing, we were getting closer. These pictures truly don't capture the magnificence of this piece of nature.
You can tell by the markings on the rock that during the spring, the water flowing over the fall is much greater. Even still, the water comes crashing down into the small pool below. It is difficult to tell from the pictures, but the water was so clear!
Finally, after A LOT of stair climbing (something like 500 slippery, uneven steps), we made it to the top! The rail we are standing next to is set about 2 feet in from the edge of the cliff. Sam kept telling Mama C and I to stop leaning against it. It was a little scary to be that high up, especially knowing it was such a long drop over the edge. Earlier this year, 3 hikers went over this fall after they went wading into Emerald Pool. From here, you could easily see how someone might think the shallow pool leading to the edge wouldn't be the least bit dangerous. Of course, during the spring and summer there is a lot more water flowing over the falls. Either way, we were surprised by the lack of warnings about wading into the water or crossing over the fence.
We were way too winded to take these pictures on the way up, so I'm glad Sam thought to take them on our way down. In the upper right corner of the picture below, you can sort of make out the ledge that you have to walk along to get to the top of the water fall. It's just this narrow little path cut into the side of the cliff with this rickety metal rail for support. Oh ya, and there was water dripping down which made the rock slippery. I have a slight fear of heights, so if Sam and Mama C (mostly Mama C) hadn't been pushing forward, I probably would have turned back. I'm so glad we didn't though since the view was so amazing!
The stairs leading up to the top were more like conveniently laid rocks. There were definitely some narrow parts, but also some nice little landings like were we took the picture of Sam and I below. We were pretty much climbing straight up. There is something like a 1000 ft elevation change to get to the top of Vernal Fall. In some ways, coming down these steps was worse.
My legs were pretty shaky by the time we got back down to the paved part. I definitely couldn't have continue another 2 miles up to Nevada Fall, but I am definitely happy we made it to the top of Vernal. The view was amazing, and the water fall left me feeling a mixture of awe for its beautify and respect for its power. On our way back down, we had another encounter with the local deer. I just love how they could care less about all the tourists taking their picture like the paparazzi.
And what a perfect way to end our trip- we saw a bear! The picture is a little blurry, but he was definitely there, right on the side of the road as we were driving out of the park around 2pm. So cool!
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