Vernal Falls Hike

Years ago, I went on my first camping trip in Yosemite during college. A humongous group of 30 of us booked a group campsite right outside of Yosemite and spent one summer weekend hanging out in the Valley and in Tuolumne Meadows.

Oh man, I remember doing the short Vernal Falls hike and young self wanted to puke from the inclines. I was young, but I was very unfit. I took a lot of long breaks on this trail. I also didn’t bring enough water for a summer day (one bottle of Crystal Geyser) and when I made it to the top, I nearly wanted to pass out from dehydration. Some squirrel tried to steal my PB&J sandwich while I was lying half-dead on the floor. That was my experience with Vernal Falls.

Fast forward to 2018. I booked a campsite in Upper Pines (and had to do it almost half a year in advance at 7am) for a weekend at the end of June.

My group and I left in 2 separate cars and made it to Yosemite Valley around 1 or 2. We checked into our campsite and settled in really quick before deciding to do a quick hike. We wanted something short and closeby, so we chose Vernal Falls since the trailhead is less than half a mile away from our site.

Looking up at the trees from my camp chair:

After putting all of our food into the cabinet, we headed out.It was about 3:30 around this time.

Up we go. After some uphill and downhill (mostly uphill), we made it to the footbridge. There’s Vernal Falls in the distance. It doesn’t look that big from here.

20 minutes later:

It really wasn’t so bad this time. Around this part of the trail you’ll be able to feel the mist coming off the waterfall, which is pretty refreshing.

Hitting the trail later in the afternoon meant lower crowd level, although there are certain parts that still get pretty congested. The last bit of stairs to the very top was quite slow moving as partway through it was only wide enough for one person to move through at a time.

Once we got to the top though, it was basically empty:

Yay. I didn’t feel like puking.

We took some pictures, enjoyed the solitude that comes with hiking up in the late afternoon, and rested for a few minutes. No squirrels taking any food from me this time!

5pm. And back down we went. They don’t call this the mist trail for nothing:

2009 vs 2018. Let’s just say I felt much better about this easy 1.5mile hike in 2018. I had enough water, I didn’t have to take any breaks, and for sure I didn’t feel like puking from exhaustion. I still feel pretty much just as unfit as ever, but at least now I have a much better experience with Vernal Falls. And this time I have pictures!

Vernal Falls

Length: 3 miles roundtrip
Elevation change: About 1000ft
Parking: There is a parking lot at the trailhead. Alternative parking lot is Curry Village. Campers and just walk straight up to the trailhead!

Til Next Time.