Three magical days at Yosemite National Park
Back in November of 2020, we spent one day at Yosemite National Park. In fact it wasn’t even a full day. We got up early at our campground, packed up the RV and drove in to explore the park before heading out in the evening. Since we only had the RV and no tow vehicle, we could only do Yosemite Valley, and we couldn’t even really explore that because we had Loki with us.
So I was beyond excited to get to go back not only with a tow vehicle, but for three full days of exploring! Read on to find out what we got up to….
After spending a couple of wonderful days exploring Pinnacles National Park we headed about 3 hours north east to Thousand Trails Yosemite Lakes, situated about 8 miles outside of the park boundaries. We arrived later in the day than normal because we had a slow morning talking with Tim’s cousin so we had a slow evening and went to bed early to get up the next day ready to explore.
DAY ONE: Tunnel View, Glacier Point, Sentinel Dome, Taft Point
The next morning we woke up at 5am, made some coffee, and drove to Tunnel View to watch the sunrise with about 40 of our closest friends. Honestly it wasn’t bad, there was a kind of communal appreciation thing going on since everyone was there to see the sunrise. We managed to make it there just minutes before the sun poked out from behind El Capitan so we got to see how the light changes in minutes, which was neat.
From there we headed out to drive up to Glacier Point. We can’t remember whether the road was closed last time we were here or if we just didn’t want to drive up it in the RV, but either way we really lucked out this time because the road only opened a few days before we arrived. Since we had a car this time, that meant we got to head up it! It’s only about 20 miles from Tunnel View to Glacier Point but it takes almost an hour because it’s a very steep and windy road. There isn’t much parking up there for the couple trailheads so if the shuttle is running you might consider taking that over driving.
Since we were so early we did manage to snag a parking spot at Glacier Point and we did the short walk to the viewpoints and just wow wow wow. We are so blessed that we can just drive to a spot like this and take in these amazing views. We spent a good 30-45 minutes just walking around looking in every direction and the various waterfalls, valleys and mountains we could see. Once we’d had our fill we drove a couple miles back down the road to the Sentinel Dome/Taft Point trailhead parking. This is another spot that is extremely busy and you need to get there early or use the shuttle. We thankfully managed to get a spot so we threw on our boots, grabbed our bags and headed off to hike Sentinel Dome.
The cool thing about this trail head is that it is 1.1 miles in either direction to go to Sentinel Dome or Taft Point. Sentinel Dome is up hill on the way and down hill on the return. Taft Point is the opposite. We opted to do Sentinel first so we wouldn’t be hiking back up hill for 2.2 miles. I’m so glad we made this decision because once we got to Taft Point we happened to be in just the right place at the right time for a very special wildlife sighting. But more on that later…
Like I said, the Sentinel Dome hike is 1.1 miles and you’re going steadly uphill the entire time. It’s only 459ft of elevation gain, but since you start out at over 7500ft you might find you are breathing heavier than usual for what is a pretty easy hike. The views start out as just forest, before you climb out of the forest onto some rocks. Just before you reach the end there’s a moment where the view really opens up and you can see down into the valley and it’s just stunning.
Once we got to the end (we opted not to climb up the snow to the very tippy top) we had a snack break and sat for 10 minutes to take in yet more amazing views. The hike down oddly felt longer than the hike up for some reason, not sure why. When we got back to the trailhead/parking lot, we continued on to the Taft Point trail. This trail almost immediately was muddy. Since it’s downhill of Sentinel Dome, I’m pretty sure all the snowmelt water just flows right down the trail. It wasn’t terrible, but you definitely don’t want to be wearing white sneakers on this one. In early May there was still some snow on the ground that we got to walk in through a forested area, it felt very Narnia. Which made it all the more special when just moments later we stumbled upon a black bear just off the path. Tim actually didn’t see him, I had stopped to take a photo of a tree and when I turned to continue on I saw him probably less than 100ft away from me. I did a very bad stage whisper to get Tim’s attention and call him back to see him. Thankfully he was heading away from us so it felt safe to stay and watch him. Yosemite National Park only has black bears in it, which are the kind that you can scare off by making yourself big, so I knew theoretically we were okay but I will not lie and say my heart wasn’t pounding watching this giant creature just ambling through the forest.
Once we had recovered from that little episode we continued on the trail and eventually made it to Taft Point. If you have seen any elopement photographer photos of couples standing on a cliff face, that is more than likely Taft Point. I’ve seen these photos many a time but I have never appreciated quite how big a drop they’re standing at. Until I was standing there myself. Or as close as I could. I could only bring myself to stand on the area with a guard rail because it is quite literally a 1000+ foot drop off the cliff so there was no way I was going near it without the guard rail! Even leaning on the guard rail feel entirely too unsafe for me so after taking some photos I quickly went back down to where Tim was waiting for me. Am I glad I got to see the view? Yes. Will I be going to that viewpoint ever again? Probably not.
After driving all the way back down to the valley and then out to our campground, almost two hours of driving all told, we had a quiet afternoon and explored the campground a bit. We went to bed early again to get up before the sun for maybe the hardest hike we’ve ever done!
DAY TWO: THE MIST TRAIL
We woke up early again and drove into Curry Village to park for the mist trail. We actually ended up parking in the wrong place but thankfully we did manage to snag a spot. The parking for Vernal Falls/Nevada Falls/The Mist Trail is actually about 0.8 miles away from the trail head. There is a shuttle that can take you from the parking lot but it’s also flat road the whole way if you want to walk. The shuttle doesn’t start running until 7am so we had to walk. Once you get to the trailhead you get to walk along the river for about a quarter of a mile before your uphill slog begins. And what a slog it is.
To get to the top of Vernal Falls is 1131ft of elevation gain. Which doesn’t sound terrible, except for the fact you hit that in just over a mile so there is a lot of steep grade parts. About halfway there’s a bridge crossing the river that a lot of people hike to and then turn back, but you should keep going because it’s definitely worth it. Once you get closer to the falls the ground turns into cobblestones that are slick from the mist of the falls. Thankfully there is now a railing but there didn’t used to be until a few years ago. We were there in early May so they water was flowing hard and the mist had us soaked within seconds. The last part of the trail has you climbing stone cut steps, while getting showered with mist. Later on in the day you also have to deal with people coming back down as you go up. Thankfully we were there earlier enough that that wasn’t happening yet because I cannot imagine having to try and pass people. Once you make it to the top you are on a flat triangle that juts out to the top of the waterfall and you get amazing sweeping views into the canyon below. From here you can turn around and go back to finish the Vernal Falls trail, and we had initially thought we would do that, until we went up the stairs and realized that to go back we’d have to go down them again. So even though it meant doubling our elevation gain, we continued on to Nevada Falls.
The beginning of the Nevada Falls part of the trail offers you a bit of a reprieve from constantly ascending. You get to walk alongside the river for a while as well as into some lovely forested areas. But don’t worry, you’ll be ascending again before long and this might even be scarier than climbing up the wet steps of Vernal Falls. There are a lot of switchbacks where you are quite high up without rails and the steps are very uneven. Just go slow and watch your step and you will be okay. Once you reach the top you head right to get to the top of Nevada Falls, if you go left you can start the climb to Half Dome which is in fact the most dangerous hike in America. We of course, turned right.
The top of Nevada Falls is almost exactly halfway through the trail so it’s the perfect place to stop and eat a snack or lunch, hydrate and have a rest before you continue on. The view from up here is incredible and you can go down a little bit to get right to the edge with a guard rail if you aren’t comfortable without one. Once you’re ready to continue you cross the river via a wooden bridge and start back down on the John Muir trail.
This part of the hike was a lot less scary than the way up but it was still quite challenging. Almost immediately you come to a part called “the cliff” where you walk a part of the path that has some overhang from the cliff above and because all the snow was melting, this turns into quite the shower scenario. So after donning our rain jackets again we ploughed through. From there back down to where the path meets the Vernal Falls trail again was a constant descent of switchbacks. Trekking poles are extremely useful in this scenario if you don’t want sore knees. The path also turns into loose gravel at time and we saw a few people (who were wearing sneakers) nearly take a tumble.
We made it back down to the earlier part of the Vernal Falls trail around 1pm and the trail coming up was absolutely mobbed. After making it back to the trailhead we popped into the Happy Isles Nature Center to get Tim the stamp for his parks passport. When we got back to the parking lot, it was completely full and there were cars circling for a space so we didn’t hang around and headed back to the RV for a well deserved nap.
DAY THREE: A BIKE RIDE AROUND THE VALLEY
For our last day in Yosemite National Park, we decided to take it somewhat easy and not doing any hiking. Instead we parked up at Bridalveil Falls parking lot and took our e-bikes through the rest of the valley. It was a Sunday so we knew the park was going to be busy and this seemed like the perfect way to explore the valley a bit!
We started with the short hike to the viewpoint for Bridalveil Falls which is the falls that does the famous “Firefall” earlier in the year. It was cool to see it flowing so hard compared to the last time we were here. After hiking back to the bikes we continued on to Cathedral Beach picnic area where we had stopped before and got a photo of the three of us. We were planning to recreate it but the water was much higher this time and the beach barely existed! Whomp whomp. Our next stop was Swinging Bridge which offers great views across the valley to Lower and Upper Yosemite Falls.
By this point we were getting kind of hungry so we cycled to Yosemite Lodge and hit up the Starbucks there for some breakfast. Amazingly the prices weren’t too much higher than what you’d expect to pay at a Starbucks. Once we’d finished up breakfast we left our bikes chained up at their bike parking rack and walked over to the Lower Yosemite Falls trail. This short 1.2 mile loop train offers you great views of the Lower Yosemite Falls as well as some lovely forest including some of the area where John Muir spent his two years living in Yosemite Valley. It is a very popular trail though so don’t expect to get a photo without people in it.
When we got back to the bikes the weather had taken a bit of a turn and it was cold and starting to sprinkle rain, so we made the decision to head back to the car and spend the rest of the day relaxing at the RV with Loki.
Yosemite National Park has always been one of my favorite national parks that we’ve ever visited, even though before this trip we spent less than a day there. Now after spending three full days there I’m surer than ever that this is one of the best national parks in the whole country. It’s got accessible views but if you’re willing to work for it you can take them to the next level also. It does get very busy but if you don’t mind getting up with the sun you can be in and out before everyone else.