We drove to the park on Friday afternoon and got there just before sunset. Just inside the park and on our way towards our tent camp we stopped and had a great view of El Capitan and Bridal Veil Falls. The sunset on El Capitan was very pretty, this has not been edited for color. For reference, this peak is about 7,500 feet tall.
To enhance our "camping" adventure, we stayed at Curry Village in "tent cabins." It was basically canvas on the outside and some wood board on the inside with no insulation. Luckily our tent cabin had heat because the weekend was pretty chilly. It worked out pretty well to have a warm place to sleep at night, but the beds were not the most comfortable.
The next morning we woke up early and prepared for a hike towards Half Dome. This is one of the highest peaks in the park and you could see it from the parking lot at the camp. Half Dome is about 8,800 feet tall.
We packed water bottles, sun screen and snacks in a backpack and dressed in layers. At the start of our hike we saw a couple deer, but we were keeping our eyes open for the bears or mountain lions we kept reading about. We read that if you see a bear you should stay still whereas if you see a mountain lion you you should wave your hands and shout to scare it away. We also read that if you are attacked by a mountian lion, fight back. No joke, that's what the brochure said. Joe was prepare to jump on the back of one and fight. Thank goodness we didn't see one.
The trails started steep right away and stayed steep for most of the way. It worked our leg muscles pretty well, what a great workout.
We stopped to rest at a spot with a great view of Vernal Falls. Unfortunately this time of year the falls aren't as powerful and have as much water as Spring or Summer. That's the time when the snow is melting and the falls are gushing with water.
The view from the top was amazing, but most of the view was still shaded by the higher peaks so the pictures didn't turn out the best. This was at about 5,000 feet. We got a great shot of all four of us thanks to some fellow hikers.
The next landmark we had in sight was Nevada Falls which was about another 1,000 feet higher. This was the view from the top.
And this was the view directly down the falls. It took my breath away when I first looked down.
We took a different and longer route down. This was Nevada Falls from the other side along with Liberty Cap in the center and Mt Broderick on the left.
After our long 5 hour hike on Saturday we rested and ate pizza in the lodge at Camp Curry while enjoying a well deserved beer. We ate pizza for dinner on Friday and Saturday night and packed peanut butter sandwiches, homemade granola bars and apples for lunch on our hike.
On Sunday we allowed ourselves to sleep in a bit before deciding to tackle a much less strenuous hike near Yosemite Lodge. I can't speak for everyone, but I know I woke up with some stiff muscles and I needed to stretch out. We had some great views of Upper Yosemite Falls and Lower Yosemite Falls.
We had a great weekend camping and hiking. It was a fun way to spend Joe's birthday weekend with his parents.
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