We also drove through a fire damaged area where several square miles had been devastated a few years previous leaving only needles of bare trees across the landscape. It takes decades for this kind of destruction to be restored but it does have some rejuvenating factors for the area.
It was nice to get some clean fresh air from the rural park apart from the areas where the roads were being re-surfaced. We parked up and went to look up a walk for the afternoon. We decided upon the Mist Trail which seemed a decent length with good views of the waterfalls so we took the free shuttle to the start and donned our boots and shorts.
The trail started by taking us over the river that we would be following for the majority of the walk. It was fairy calm at this point as it casually wound its way through the valley. We carried on up the gradual climb until we hit a bridge over the river as it cascaded over and through a slalom of rocks. They certainly don’t call it the mist trail for nothing as we were soon climbing up an endless flight of steep stairs in the shadow of the first fall. We had timed it just right as the sun coming down through the spray thrown back from the water pounding on the rocks made a great rainbow. The spray also covered us in a refreshing shower leaving us soaked.
We made it to the top of the first fall to find a fairly flat open area with lots of people enjoying a break and a bite to eat while drying off in the sun. We took a few snaps and continued on our way to the next waterfall. This trail seemed less popular so there was less time spent trying to get past the panting overweight and elderly. We stopped off a spot where there was a really good view of the next fall from the path and I scrambled down over rocks to the river to take a better shot. I then had to do a spot of rock climbing to get back up and resume the walk.
This part of the walk took us off to the left of the river for the climb to the top in more of a wooded area through tightly packed towering trees providing some cooling shade. A steep zig-zagging path was taking its toll but the growing sound of the waterfall spurred me on. We reached the top and were greeted by great views of the park accompanied by thundering water rushing across the plain and over the top of the cliff. We stopped and had lunch at the top as I paddled my feet in the freezing water whilst sitting on a fallen tree which lay across the river.
We were dry by the time we reached the top of the second waterfall but that all changed again on our way back down along the same route.
The next day we had planned to do the Four Mile Trail which would take us up another part of the valley. A sign fairly early on said that the path was closed further up but we decided to try anyway. This trail consisted of a steep zig-zagging path and not a lot else but the views of the village and the park were magnificent. We plodded up and stopped every now and again to take in the view and get our breath back. We eventually got up to the closed off part of the trail and ate our lunch. There did look like there was a lot of snow further up but a couple of people did carry on and looking back I wish we had too.
We plodded back down again and it showed how high we had actually climbed. We would walk for a while and it didn’t look like we were getting any closer to the valley floor so we’d keep going and it still looked miles away. We eventually made it down and went to the village to watch a short documentary about the park. It showed how much care goes into maintaining the park as well as the history. I was amazed to hear the park spans 120 square miles, we really couldn’t fit anything like this in England.
We had a couple of hours to spend in the park before we had to leave but we couldn’t decide whether we could get anything done or not. We bit the bullet and headed up a trail towards Yosemite Falls. You can probably guess that this was another steep zig-zagging but it did have a few small downhill parts as a break. We reached the base of the falls and took some photos of our largest waterfall yet. There was also some mist here but it was fine enough to be refreshing without drenching us.
We climbed back down the way we had come, went for a shower and bid our farewells to Yosemite National Park.
J.
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