Yosemite National Park
National Park #4
In October 2018, we decided to visit Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. And we were going to do it all in 3 days! before finishing up our Fall Break at Disneyland. It was an ambitious plan with lots of driving but it was ah-mazing!
First stop, Yosemite National Park.
We arrived in Yosemite Valley mid morning and it was packed! We we not expecting it to be so busy and our best guess was the Columbus Day weekend had drawn in the crowds. It was so busy that we had trouble finding a parking spot and just about as Caleb was ready to give up, we finally snagged a parking spot.
After doing quite a bit of research, I decided we would tackle the Mist Trail. The to Vernal Falls Footbridge part of the trail is the easiest and it’s paved. But for some reason it’s the part of the trail the kids complained about the most. Once we hit the footbridge, we didn’t hear another grumble out of kids for rest of the hike.
After we continued on from the footbridge, the trail became more strenuous but also more interesting and we we started to get excited about Vernal Falls. The path becomes 600 hundred granite steps as it nears the falls.
Vernal Falls is breathtaking!
Everyone was doing great so we decided to make the trek up to Nevada Falls.
Instead of hiking back down the Mist Trail, we decided to make a loop and hike down on the John Muir Trail. The John Muir Trail was much less crowded and we didn’t have to navigate down those granite steps.
It was epic! Five miles and over a 2,200 foot climb. And I would happily do it again in a heartbeat!
We were all ready for a break after the hike so it was off to our hotel. When I booked our hotel stay, there was no lodging in Yosemite Valley; well, at least lodging with four walls and indoor plumbing. So we stayed at Tenaya Lodge near the south entrance. Unfortunately, that meant that was the end of our time in the valley and it would have been great to hike and explore more.
But it also gave us the opportunity to check out another area of the park. First stop on day 2 was the Mariposa Grove.
We hiked the two mile Grizzly Giant Trail. It’s the perfect place to take in the giant sequoias especially if you’re not heading to Kings Canyon or Sequoia National Parks.
After our hike, we headed to the Wawona Vistor’s Center to finish up the Isaac and Zoe’s Junior Ranger books. During this trip, one of the requirements of the program was to participate in a ranger led program. The rangers for our program were amazing and they taught us all sorts of interesting facts about Yosemite.
Our last adventure for the day was a trip on the Yosemite Sugar Pine Railroad. While this adventure was not in the national park, I thought it was definitely worth a mention. The hour long ride on the historic steam train was a great break from all of the hiking. Plus, the train ride was filled with fun facts about the Sugar Pine Railroad.
Yosemite is marvelous! I would love to visit again and explore more of the park and I couldn’t recommend it more to anyone that loves the great outdoors!