Yosemite – Vernal Falls

Posted by Karen on 11-May-2009

(Click photo for all 66 photos)

Our last day here in Yosemite this weekend, so I suggested we hike over to the Vernal Falls footbridge (according to the map, 3/4 of a mile one way) and check out Vernal Falls before heading home because it’s a beautiful waterfall, complete with tons of rainbows. We reach the bridge and ooh and ahh and then decide to climb the granite steps of the Mist Trail to the top of the waterfall.  We don our ponchos and get soaked thoroughly on our way up; at this time of the year it should be called the Soaker Trail instead of Mist Trail.. LOL!  At the top, we decide to cut over to the John Muir Trail instead of going down the wet granite stairs.  While the path on the park map looked relatively short, it didn’t show that it was all uphill, but we made it, hot and tired and then took the JMT trail back down to the car.  And that is how you accidentally climb a mountain and turn a 1.5 mile short hike into 5+ miles!