We didn't get a super early start on the day today, but we managed to get to the valley at a good hour. We drove back past El Capitan to a trail that led to Mirror lake. We parked and hiked the couple of miles to it. Since it was fall, there wasn't a lot of water in it so it wasn't spectacular, but it was still cool to see.
A better look of El Capitan.
A part of mirror lake.
After walking along its banks, we head back. We didn't go back to our car, but instead we hiked another mile to the trail that leads to a couple of waterfalls--Vernal and Nevada falls. The 3.4 mile trail made the hike up everything else we have done look like a walk in the park. The beginning, the easy part, was a steep slope up. Once we topped that, we crossed a bridge at the base of Vernal falls.
The bridge gave a good view of the falls.
We continued up a steep rocky trail for a short distance until we reached really steep rocky steps. Lots of them! Mounting those, we managed to reach the top of that water fall.
Water cascading over Vernal Falls.
Our view from the top of the falls.
After taking that in, we continued hiking until we reached another bridge that gave a nice view of Nevada falls. Then, it was even more steep hiking up rocky trails and then some more rock steps. We got to the base of the falls and still had about a half mile to go to get to the top.
Nevada Falls from its base.
We started to go up, but I was stumbling a bit with a painful foot (courtesy of walking the hills of San Francisco) and from being a bit tired. I knew I would need some energy to make it back down the treacherous path safely, so I told Nathan I needed to head back down. He was fine with that, so we started our descent. It took a lot of concentration to make it down. We always had to pay attention to where we placed our feet. In some areas, where the rock steps where, we actually slide down a few feet on large slanted rocks. Eventually, we made to the first bridge saftely. About that time, it started to sprinkle on us. We stopped and got something to eat and then tried another trail that lead to El Capitan. Unfortunately, the path seemed to end so we couldn't get all that close.
El Capitan...again.
After that, we up to Glacier Pass, which is near the Mariposa Grove. The view from there is BREATHTAKING! It may be one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. Pictures or words can't even give a glimpse, you just have to see it.
Me with Half Dome in the background.
A close up of Half Dome.
Vernal (lower) and Nevada falls (higher).
Any takers on a zip-line ride from that to Glacier Point?
If there was one, I would SOO do it...I think. :)
Looking straight across the valley.
We enjoyed that for a while. I entertained myself by looking straight down over the wall to the valley floor below. It gave me the chills, but I kept doing it anyway. It was so incredible!
Its hard to see how far up we are from this picture, but we are looking down onto the valley.
That is some lodge that I am not sure how to pronounce, let along spell. :D
Wanting to get back to our camp before dark, we pulled ourselves away from the view and drove back into the valley and then up to our campsite. Along the way, we stopped to take in a beautiful sunset. Nathan was talking on the phone, so I grabbed his camera and snapped pictures of the amazing scene.
Sorry, that one is a bit blurry.
I really love the color changes from east to west.
I could have spent ages there taking pictures, but i knew we had to get going again. Getting back in the car, we made it back to our camp, only to find that it had poured there and our tent was all wet. Nathan set about drying it while I got a fire going and started to cook a can of chicken noodle soup. After all that we had done, it tasted good. Bear-proofing our camp and car we headed to bed. Nathan did a good job of drying it off, but the walls were still damp. That was no big deal for me though, since I had finally figured out the best way to stay warm at night. I scrunched up and then pulled the sleeping back up over my head (It is too short to do that if I stretch out fully). It was soo warming! I only wish I had thought of that earlier on in the trip! Oh well. Even with some sprinkles, I fell into a good sleep. Then again, we did hike over 10 miles on some really steep trails, so I should have.
End day 23.
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