We were lucky enough to go to Yosemite National Park Memorial Day weekend with good friends. We even got a pretty awesome camp site, thanks to Hubby and his patience on the computer in January months before to reserve the spot. Due to the record amount of rainfall and snow this year, we were very excited about the trip because we knew the waterfalls would be amazing. Let's just say they did not disappoint.
We checked out these four hikes on our trip. The waterfalls were all very cool to see.
1) Vernal Falls to Nevada Falls - This was the first hike we did on the day we got there. After about a mile of walking from our campsite, we hiked to Vernal Falls via the Mist Trail. There were great views along the way.
On the way up, I remember passing some bathrooms and even a water station where you can fill your water bottles up, so great for those in need of water.
On the mist trail, you definitely get hit by lots of mist. By the time we passed the falls we were all soaked. Be careful if you hike with kids as some do not like the misty part especially if it is windy, the water can spray directly into your eyes.
Vernal Falls! Look at all that water. It was amazing to get close and feel so much spray.
At the top of the falls we had to get a pic. It is also a great place to dry off and have snacks.
We then continued on a bit further to reach the bottom of Nevada Falls. You can hike to the top, but we just did not have the time.
Instead of going down the same way we came (Mist trail), we took a different route back that gave us this great view of Vernal Falls.
Overall a great hike. I especially loved getting soaked on the Mist trail. It was so much fun. Here are the stats of our hike according to my Garmin. The hike was 6.2 miles with 1,890 feet of elevation gain. So not an easy hike but a hike worth doing with great views along the way. Both falls were pretty amazing!
2) Bridalveil Falls - We checked out Bridal Veil Falls on our second day after checking out Glacier Point. I highly recommend checking out Glacier Point if you can because the views are spectacular! This hike to Bridalveil Falls is very short about .5 mile and is paved all the way to the base.
The pic below is of me and the kids at the base. There is lots of spray from the falls. :)
The kids loved getting wet!
3) Lower Yosemite Falls - On our last day we headed to Lower Yosemite Falls. This is another short hike. Towards the start of the trail not too far from where the bathrooms are you get this view of both Upper and Lower Yosemite falls.
The kids had no problem playing while waiting for their friends in the bathroom.
The trail is paved and you do cross a wooden footbridge, one near the falls and another on the short loop trail. Below we are at the base of Lower Yosemite Falls.
We continued on the trail to complete the loop
We caught a great view of Upper Yosemite Falls.
Stats for the hike. The full loop turned out to be 1 mile.
4) Hike to Columbia Rock and view of Upper Yosemite Falls - After the short hike to see Lower Yosemite Falls, we decided to do another hike on our last day at the park. We agreed on hiking up to Columbia Rock and see how far we could go to get a view of Upper Yosemite Falls. This hike ended up being the most challenging with 60 switchbacks. The kids were tough and stuck it out. They all did awesome.
The hike to Columbia Rock was about 2 miles where we got amazing views of Yosemite Valley, Half Dome, and Sentinel Rock. Hubby even pointed out our where our campsite was. It was cool to see where things were.
We continued on from that point, but not too much further. We ventured to this point where we got a nice view of Upper Yosemite Falls.
Here are our hiking stats for this hike according to my Garmin. We went 4.3 miles with about 1,444 ft. of elevation gain. This one wasn't easy with all of the switchbacks but worth it with the views at Columbia Rock and getting another good view of Upper Yosemite Falls. The trail does continue to the top of the falls but again we didn't have the time and it would have been too tough for all of the kids. What we did was the perfect amount for the day!
Overall our trip to Yosemite and seeing all of these waterfalls was amazing! The falls were all spectacular especially because of the amount of water that was flowing! It was also so much fun because we went with great friends. :) I do recommend taking friends on hiking adventures as the kids have others to play with and it is really nice because they help push each other.
Happy hiking!
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