Nevada and Vernal Falls Hike

Tuesday 29th October

The alarm went off at 6.30 am for the second day in a row. Fortunately the necessity to plug the iPad in on the other side of the room overnight to charge it meant that I had to get up to switch it off. Otherwise I fear the temptation to stay in bed would have been overwhelming.

Half an hour later the car was packed, we had coffee and toasted fruit bread from the motel's complimentary breakfast bar to go and we were on the road for Yosemite........unfortunately we had forgotten that we were low on petrol and had meant to fill up before we left town. This posed a dilemma, go back and fill up or go on and risk there not being another petrol station. We took the safe option and 20 minutes later had the déjà vu experience as we drove back up the same stretch of road again.

It was about an hour's drive to the Park and we went straight to the camping reservation office to see what our options were. We decided to upgrade from Camp 4 ($10 a night) to Upper Pines ($20) for the privilege of our own bear locker and being able to park the car right by the tent. Such luxuries!

Once we had put the tent up, explored the village (all food outlets closed for the season, gulp!) and checked in with the ranger we set off on a hike.  Unusually well organised (except for the petrol issue) we had prepared packed lunch the night beforehand. We had even put extra containers of ice from the motel ice machine in our cooler (that proved unnecessary since the bear locker was probably about the same temperature as your average fridge!).  It was about 10.15 by the time we set off and it was still cold enough for fleece, buff, gloves and hat to be necessary.

We set off up the Mist Trail without any definite plan as to our route and as we climbed the sky cleared a bit and we began to warm up. We have looked at maps and details of hikes in Yosemite so many times in the past few months that it was hard to believe that we were actually here. First we passed the Vernal Falls turn off and at the point where the trail split to Nevada Falls we continued climbing up the Panoramic Trail towards Glacier Point. However it quickly became clear that this trail was going to involve paddling through ankle deep snow so we retraced our steps and walked up to the Falls instead.  This was amazing but as expected of such a beauty spot there were quite a few people there, even given the inclement weather conditions. We admired the view, took some photographs, crossed the Merced River and continued on up the trail towards Little Yosemite Valley.

The path became much snowier and less well defined here and my feet quickly became soaked in my totally unsuitable Saucony running shoes! The clouds had gathered again and the air seemed much cooler. The camp ground was closed for the season and completely deserted. The quietness was almost eerie and we decided that we had gone far enough as it looked very much like it might start snowing again.

We were (as usual) very hungry but I was also far too cold to consider stopping so we split a sandwich and ate it on the move. My feet were freezing and my enjoyment rating on a scale of 1 to 10 was down to a 4 at best. Once we got back down almost to the Nevada falls we took the north route back down and both the going and the temperature improved and we were able to appreciate the stunning Falls from below. In fact we even paused briefly to eat our salad and remaining sandwich watching the water plunging into the Merced River below us.

The Mist Trail back down was much steeper and slipperier than the outward hike but also afforded better views of the river, beautiful Emerald Pool (aptly named) and both Nevada and Vernal Falls. Unfortunately the sky appeared full of cloud again although no fresh snow had fallen (yet).  We finally arrived back at our tent having completed 12 miles and reached a height of just under 2000 metres.

It was time to head over to Curry Village for take out Peet's coffee from the store to enjoy in the camp lounge where an amazing fire was burning. We stayed there for as long as we could but eventually hunger drove us back out into the cold.  We lit the stove and cooked our boil in the bag Indian food. Unfortunately due to the small pan we had to do them one at a time and as soon as they were cooked eat them as quickly as possible as they got cold almost immediately. Sitting in the dark, freezing cold, tepid boil in the bag food, we know how to live!

Bed time took some preparation due to the amount of clothes worn, t-shirt, 2 long sleeved shirts, sweater, hoodie (hood up), fleece, hat, gloves, 2 buffs, 3 pairs of socks and the sleeping bag covers over the top! Our light weight running sleeping bags proved totally inadequate but we had borrowed a blanket from Sherry and were delighted to find my Long Beach Marathon space blanket tucked in the side pocket of the tent!