Double Weekend Update Part I

Once again it's been way too long since I last posted, so I will be posting twice in pretty short succession.  This is Weekend Update I: Glacier Point.


Have you ever had one of those times where collectively you have an idea, and initially everyone is on board but then, as the day draws nearer, everyone bails?  That was last weekend.  Initially I thought we had at least six people to go hiking for a couple of days, but the final count ended up being only myself and two others.  But on the bright side, three people hike much faster than eight, which allowed us to cover almost fourteen miles on Sunday.

Our hike started out from Mono Meadows on the road to Glacier Point.  We dropped off a car at Glacier Point and then drove back to the start so we could hike one-way.  I'd never done a one way hike before and it was really a great experience.  We started out hiking from the side of the road down into Mono Meadow, where we immediately ran across not one but two black bears foraging in the meadow.  They briefly looked up at us as we quietly walked past, but from that point on the first day was pretty uneventful.  As the sun set behind the hills we rolled into camp along Illilouette Creek and pitched our tents in a sandy area.

Really, they need a sign to tell people not to swim in this?  Keep in mind its only about a hundred feet upstream from a thundering waterfall.

The real scenery started the next day when we got on the Panorama Trail to Nevada Falls.  We got an early start and hiked for the entire morning down into canyons then back up over the other sides until we reached Nevada and Vernal Falls.  These falls are formed when the Merced River plunges from the highlands over the edge of the cliffs not once, but twice, each time throwing off huge clouds of mist.  In fact, the trail from the Valley floor that runs next to the falls is named the Mist Trail.

View from the Panorama Trail just down from Glacier Point.  On the left is the back of Half Dome, while on the right are the falls.  The upper is Nevada Falls and the lower is Vernal Falls.

From Vernal Falls we backtracked up the hill again back on the Panorama trail and then began the climb up to Glacier Point.  For those who haven't been to Yosemite before, Glacier Point is one of the iconic lookouts over they Valley.  From the point, you can see both directions down the valley and among other things, the view of Half Dome is awe inspiring.  I wish words could do it justice, but there is really no way to describe the breathtaking beauty of the view.  Unfortunately the point is pretty crowded, but after a long hike up to the point, the view is well worth the people (and so was the ice cream I bought).

I wish had a better way to describe the majesty of the falls and the views and the grandeur of Yosemite Valley, but there is really no substitute for seeing it in person.  Yosemite Valley should be on everyone's list of places to visit.  It is really one of the natural wonders of the world that will not disappoint.