yosemite in 10 hours

Now my original plan was to go to Kings Canyon on my day off, but since we went there the day prior for work...and Yosemite was only 2 hours away from Fresno...I decided to Yo-Yo-Yosemite!

Now the weather for Yosemite all week had looked promising, but then I woke up at 3 (never adjusted to West Coast time after a week).. I saw that the weather had changed and it was actually looking kind of rainy. Regardless, I left at 330a or so and headed east.. and was pleasantly surprised throughout the entire day.

There is absolutely nothing like that moment when you come out of the tunnel to Yosemite and see this. It was like the park was still waking up...

My intention was to hike to the top of Yosemite Falls (tallest waterfall in the contiguous US).

The first two miles were fun.

The sky started clearing up!

Though I was not prepared for the waterfall shower. Sidenote: the sound of this waterfall sounded like a fighter jet and/or a truck. I was very confused when I first heard it. 

The view from the top of the falls. It didn't even seem like you were that high up...

Just kidding. The Park Ranger suggested that I go a little bit farther up to Yosemite Point and it was well worth this view. The clouds kept rolling through us on the top of Point and it was so neat. You could see peeks of Half Dome as well.

Then, the way down and the sky starting putting on a show.

Those who wake up at normal times were finally on the trail, hardly saw anyone on the way up, but made a friend on the way down, and we continued to venture the rest of the day.

Yeah, no biggie, just hiked up there.

We ventured on a "recovery hike" which was supposed to be a 1 mile hike that turned into a 5 mile loop around the lake. 

Half Dome was right there!

Needless to say the 5 mile hike ended up being a workout too, thanks to all this water. Three sections of the trail were flooded so the socks and shoes had to come off. It actually felt pretty good and I think the arctic cold water may have prevented a few blisters.

Now, you can see why it's called Mirror Lake. (at this moment I wish I had a wide angle lens!)

From here, we walked 2-3ish miles back to the parking area by Camp 4.

 

Overall, 47,000ish steps for the day (the most since my marathon), 20 miles of hiking/walking, and just a wonderful day off :)