Yosemite Valley

Yosemite Valley

We spent our first day in Yosemite in the valley area. It was fairly busy with both pedestrian and car traffic. We stopped for the viewpoints of El Capitan and Half Dome, but much of the valley has lots of tall trees, so it actually feels enclosed. We visited the Ansel Adams Gallery to see many of his prints of the park. Then onto the visitor center for a artistic film about the history, and seasons of the park. The theater had a terrific sound system adding to the feeling of majesty in the park. By the time we walked back to our car, it was lunch time. In the afternoon, I headed off to do the hike to the top of Vernal Falls. It definitely deserved the appellation, “very strenuous”. 

Vernal Falls Rainbow

While it was only 1.7 miles in length, most of the last 3^rd is climbing granite steps to the top of the falls. Since it was fall, the volume of water was down, so the trail didn’t deserve its name, “misty trail”, but it was still spectacular. The falls made lots of different noises as the wind caught the spray and it was well decorated with a rainbow. At the top of the falls, was the Emerald pool where people were cooling off in the water. From there you could also see Nevada Falls in the distance. You really understand what a special place this is with all the waterfalls and granite formations. We ended the day by having a terrific dinner at the Savory restaurant in Mariposa.