June 19, 2023: Hiking 20 miles to 3 Waterfalls in Yosemite in 1 Day
5:00 AM: Sunrise at Tunnel View
We woke up a 2:00 AM and drove 2.5 hours from Fresno in order to catch sunrise at one of the most scenic spots in Yosemite National Park – Tunnel View. The tunnel is 4,233 feet in length and is the longest highway tunnel in California. Entering through the South Entrance is the best way to truly experience Tunnel View. We drove through the tunnel to the beautiful overlook of Yosemite Valley.
We reached Tunnel View around 5:00 AM. We had to park in the second parking lot to the right as the other parking lot to the left was already full! There was already a decent crowd gathered at the overlook, but we still managed to find a perfect spot to watch the sunrise over the Valley.
6:00 AM: Swinging Bridge Picnic Area
We decided to make a quick stop at the Swinging Bridge Picnic Area to 1) use the restrooms, and 2) take pictures of the high flood waters of the Merced River with Yosemite Falls in the background. The bridge was still accessible to walk on, but the water levels were so much higher as compared to the first time we visited Yosemite in January 2023.
6:45 AM: Upper Yosemite Falls + Yosemite Point Hike
Now the fun really begins! Our first hike of the day was to the top of Upper Yosemite Falls. We parked at the Yosemite Falls parking area and began our trek to the top of Upper Yosemite Falls. I’m so glad we started with this hike because it was definitely the hardest and longest trail of the day!
Fun Fact: Yosemite Falls is one of the tallest waterfalls in North America! From the top of the waterfall to the bottom of the Valley floor, its height is 2,425 feet. Yosemite Falls is made up of three sections – Upper Yosemite Fall (1,430 feet), the middle cascades (675 feet), and Lower Yosemite Fall (320 feet).
There were LOTS of switchbacks because of the crazy elevation gain. The trail was well-maintained and easy to follow. As we got closer to the waterfall, we had to navigate up wet rocks and steps. I really need to invest in good hiking poles because they really would have come in handy on this trail, especially going back down.
The views along the trail were breathtaking! So many places to stop, rest, and enjoy nature. It made the steep incline much more enjoyable!
Don’t even get me started on the views at the top of Upper Yosemite Falls! We finally reached the top and took a much-needed long rest break. There weren’t too many people at the top when we got there. We were able to peacefully celebrate our accomplishment.
We noticed a few people going to a different area near where we were resting. We got curious and thankfully we followed them because it led to another viewpoint closer to the waterfall! The stairs going down to the viewpoint were a bit sketchy. There is a handrail on one side but nothing on the other. Also, it’s one-way so you have to wait your turn. We didn’t have to stress about people waiting on us to go across as it was not very crowded. But later in the day… I can’t imagine trying to get through there with so many people.
After we finished enjoying the views, taking a snack break, and taking lots of pictures/videos, we made our way back down the trail. However, Vikas decided to look at Google Maps for whatever reason and noticed something called Yosemite Point. It was only about a mile further up the mountain. We changed our plans and decided to hike to Yosemite Point!
We crossed over a bridge and watched the raging water of Yosemite Creek drop off over the cliff to form Yosemite Falls.
It was a bit scary just thinking what would happen if someone was dumb enough to jump in there. There were a few signs warning you not to swim in the waters. Just to reiterate, don’t do it!
We reached Yosemite Point. There was another overlook with guardrails to prevent people from getting too close to the edge. The views were AH-MAZING! We explored the area a bit and were in awe the whole time.
Want to know what Vikas was taking a picture of? Check out the picture below! You can see a glimpse of Upper Yosemite Falls plus a rainbow!
I remember sitting at a spot near Yosemite Point staring at Half Dome hoping and praying that one day my husband and I will be able to conquer it. We did not win the lottery this year (2023), but we will try again and again until we win permits! Or maybe one day we will climb it without the cables up. It’s one of our dreams to hike and climb to the top of Half Dome.
1:00 AM: Lunch + Searching for a New Parking Spot
After hiking nearly 10 miles (according to Vikas’s watch), our tummies were rumbling! For lunch we ate in our car because it was too risky to leave and try to find a parking spot at a picnic area with how many people were in Yosemite at this time.
It was extremely packed now! Unfortunately, it was about a 20-minutes’ drive to the trailhead to our next two waterfall hikes. At the time, we didn’t think to leave our car and take the shuttle bus. Instead, we made the mistake of driving from our current precious parking spot to find another parking spot closer to the trailhead.
Let’s just say, it took us about an hour to find a parking spot. We made like 20 circles around the Curry Village parking area before finally snagging a parking spot. Lots of other cars were doing the same. It was hectic!
3:15 PM: Vernal Fall Hike via Mist Trail (+ an oopsies moment)
Finally! We were parked and ready the start hiking to the next waterfall. We were hiking this trail a bit later than expected due to spending so much time finding a parking spot. But not a big deal! We began our trek from Curry Village parking area and followed the signs for “Mist Trail”.
The hike started off on a paved path, but it was uphill and pretty intense. The first one mile led us to the Vernal Fall Footbridge. It was very crowded, so we by-passed it quickly and made plans to stop and enjoy it on the way back down.
Soon after the footbridge, we got to a junction in the trail where it split into Mist Trail and John Muir Trail. Here’s a bit of background information as to why an “oopsies moment” would be made later on. So, the upper portion of Mist Trail past Vernal Fall was closed at this time. The NPS.gov website noted that you could still reach Nevada Fall from Vernal Fall using the connecter trail to Clark Point where you will then get onto the John Muir Trail.
For some reason, I thought this first junction in the trail was the connector trail to Nevada Fall. I really don’t know what I was thinking. I guess this is foreshadowing what will happen later on. Anyway, we were focused on Vernal Fall first, so we veered left to stay on the Mist Trail.
Now for the most exciting part of the Mist Trail! In order to reach the top of Vernal Fall, we had to navigate up more than 600 granite steps. It’s a lot of steps, but not too crazy, right? Well, try being BLASTED by the power of Vernal Fall at such high intensity you can barely see where you’re going! Plus, the steps are extremely wet and slippery.
The first half of the stairs were not too bad. It felt like a light rain shower. It was nice and refreshing. And the views of Vernal Fall were magnificent!
There was a little cave-like natural landmark about half-way up the steps. We were not ready for what was about to happen after walking through the cave.
Basically, we got assaulted by the waterfall. Like completely drenched. It’s like we were in a massive hurricane! It was so intense yet SO much fun! And this only happens in the late spring or early summer since the waterfalls are raging from the winter snowmelt.
We reached the top of Vernal Fall! There was a pretty big crowd up there, but everyone was relaxing and having a great time. We saw lots of people laying out and trying to dry off in the sun.
It was so crazy how close you could get to the edge of the waterfall! There are guard rails to prevent any scary accidents. There was a small line we had to wait in to take a picture at the corner of the guard rails near the top of the waterfall. You can get a really great look at the water rushing over the cliff to form the waterfall.
We did not bring ponchos or rain jackets with us. We were soaked from head to toe! Thankfully, one of our backpacks came with a waterproof cover, so we put all the electronics in that bag to protect them. My backpack I recently bought off Amazon was supposed to be waterproof, but it was no match for Vernal Fall. All the snacks in my bag were wet, but it was only Cliff bars and Lara bars, which were wrapped. No snacks were ruined during this hike. 🙏🏻
After taking some pictures, eating some snacks, and drying off in the sun, we made our way back down the trail to hop on the John Muir Trail leading to Nevada Fall. First off, like I already mentioned, the connector trail was NOT located at that first junction at the beginning of the hike.
The connector trail was literally at the top of Vernal Fall!! How did we miss it?? I don’t know. Just don’t make our same mistake if you plan to see both Vernal and Nevada Falls. Look at the map and do your research very carefully. I did look at a map, but still messed up. Oops!
Anyway, we headed back down the Mist Trail, which means heading back through the “hurricane”. We got drenched again. At least we were cooled off and ready to hike up to Nevada Fall because it was going to be a grueling hike.
5:25 PM: Nevada Fall Hike (via John Muir Trail)
Once we reached the junction in the trail, we were debating whether or not we should do this hike. It was almost 5:30 PM and the hike up to Nevada Fall, according to the sign, was about 2.5 miles one way. That means 5 miles there and back to that sign. Then a mile back to the trailhead, and about another mile back to the car. So that’s about 7 more miles of hiking!
We knew it would start getting dark on our way back down. We had flashlights with us and felt confident in our ability to get up and down the mountain quickly before it got too dark. I’m personally not a big fan of hiking in the dark.
We decided to go for it! Our legs were a bit fatigued from the other hikes, but we powered through. This trail started off steep with lots of switchbacks. It was brutal. We had to take a few rest breaks, but we were on a time crunch, so the breaks were short. We quickly reached Clark Point. I was still salty about my mistake, but you live and you learn!
Thankfully the trail went downhill for a bit and flat for a while which was very much needed. Still rocky and tough on the legs. The views from the John Muir Trail were amazing!
The elevation gain started back again as we got closer to the waterfall. We passed a lot of people who were going back down. They probably thought we were crazy for hiking up to Nevada Fall at this time.
The last few miles took a lot of strength both physically and mentally. The views of Nevada Fall were amazing as we were hiking up the mountain. It kept us motivated to finish the hike strong.
We finally reached the top of Nevada Fall. I knew it was going to be worth it! The views at the top as the sun was setting were amazing. There was a footbridge that crossed over the Merced River. We watched the insane amount of water falling over the cliff to form Nevada Fall. There was another really cool overlook, a bit hidden, which showed a closer look of Nevada Fall.
There were actually a few people at the top with us. We found a nice place to sit and took a quick snack break. Unfortunately, we couldn’t enjoy the views too long since we wanted to get down the mountain before it was too dark.
Going back down was a lot faster than going up. But we were careful since it was so very rocky. I ended up rolling my ankle a tiny bit and Vik rolled his ankle like 10 times! It’s only funny because we didn’t actually hurt ourselves. Our bodies, especially our legs, were so tired that we could barely stay upright.
We somehow caught up to a few people we passed on the way up. We were booking it down the mountain! Our legs were screaming, and our tummies were growling. It was quite dark by the time we got down to the Vernal Fall Footbridge.
We had to take a pit stop at the restrooms that were nicely placed near the footbridge. Then we basically jogged down the paved path back to our car. We ended up getting a bit lost trying to find the parking lot since it was dark. We somehow missed the road we walked up earlier to get to the trailhead, so we cut through Curry Village because we knew our car was parked in the Curry Village parking area.
We eventually found our car. We rested for a bit and filmed a few videos for our vlog before heading home. I cannot believe we hiked nearly 20 miles with a total elevation gain of about 6,700 feet. That was the most either of us have ever done in one day. It was one of the hardest things we have ever done in our lives, but 100% worth it!
9:30 PM: See You Again Soon, Yosemite National Park
The drive home was 2.5 hours long. We were so tired and exhausted. I wish we had a place to stay in Yosemite. We would have slept in our car if it was legal to do so in the Park. But unfortunately, we had no place to stay so we had to make the drive home. We had to take turns driving because we were so tired. We kept each other awake by either talking, playing loud music, and blasting cold air.
I was so exhausted when we got home. I didn’t want to eat. I just wanted to go straight to bed. But Vikas convinced me to eat a real meal after all the hiking we did. I’m glad I did. I don’t like going to bed hungry. Our bellies were satisfied, our hearts were full, and our bodies were achy. It was one of the best days of our lives!
