2012/05 Western USA trip - Vernal and Yosemite Falls |
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Tuesday May 29th 
We had another blue sky in the morning. We went into the park under this natural bridge. The plan was to go and see the rest of Yosemite’s waterfalls. As we drove in I was overwhelmed again by the amount of traffic heading into the park and I asked Sandie to turn into the Cathedral Beach picnic area, a rare quiet spot amongst all the bustle. We walked down to the beach on the Merced River. It’s a popular spot for weddings, apparently, particularly at this view of Yosemite Falls, but we just shared it with the ducks and fish and a few humans.
Then we rejoined the bustle and went to Curry Village to pick up the shuttle bus. Curry Village sits at the foot of Glacier Point 
and it has hundreds of canvas frame tents; it’s where I camped in the snow back in 1983. The parking lot was flooded back then but this time it was just very busy and we got stuck for a half hour while a couple of buses unloaded an army of kids and all their 
luggage. Eventually we found our way to the bus stop and worked out where the shuttles went. We took the shuttle to the Happy Isles, in the far end of the valley, now off-limits to regular traffic. The shuttles are free and mostly crowded but it was nice, once we’d arrived, to be able to walk along the roads with almost no traffic or noise.
We were taking the walk up to Vernal Falls. The walk was steeper than I remembered but I put that down to old age and injury, and I plodded up with my trekking pole, trying not to slow our group down. When I stopped I realized that my companions were strangers; I’d lost the group, so my back must be improving. We all met up at the bridge over the Merced, a very crowded area where everyone jostles trying to get to the one spot with a clear view of the falls. I’d intended ending the hike there, as the section above is both steeper and slippery in places. I told John this but he misheard me and he and Edna set off up the trail. Edna came back a 
while later but John was continuing. This worried me so I set out to head him off.
We met up eventually; he’d wisely turned around once he reached the steps of the Mist Trail. Having come that far I wasn’t as wise and I went up to the first good lookout, thankful for my pole on the way down.
Back in’79 Sandie and I had climbed to the top of the waterfall with Joanna on my back; Joanna hadn’t been a happy hiker for the parts under the cold shower.
This ground squirrel obviously hadn’t read the warning that junk food is bad for wildlife.
Gluttons for punishment, we took the shuttle to the base of Yosemite Falls. The total drop is near to 2500 feet, making it one of the highest falls in the world. It’s actually made up of two falls, connected by a series of cascades, though those aren’t visible unless you take the trail to the top. I did that once, but this time we were just taking the easy trail to the bottom of the lower falls. It’s a pretty walk 
under the dogwood trees, with glimpses of both upper and lower falls and just one spot where we could see both. The falls were all in the shade, but we also had this rather nice view of Half Dome, lit by the setting sun.