Day 105: Yosemite Falls
Posted by the girls on Monday, July 18, 2011
We got up early, ate oatmeal, and packed up our tents. We forgot to mention in the last post that we met some backpackers the night before. They were looking for space in the backpackers' campground, but it was pretty much full. We told them that they could share our site (we understand what it's like to not have anywhere to stay). We found out that the 3 of them had started out as a group of 4, doing a long hike through the park. Unfortunately, the trail was not passable because of icy conditions and other areas with flooding from all of the melting snow. They were kind of in limbo, deciding what to do now that they had 2 extra weeks on their hands.
In the morning, we talked to them a bit more and even saw a bear!!! It was just across the river from our camp site. It was hard to see since there was so much foliage. A few minutes later, a ranger came by and shot a pellet gun to scare the bear away. We walked with all of our gear over to the Upper Pines campground. After locating Gene and Joyce's site, we set our stuff down. We decided not to set up our tents because it was still so early and everyone nearby was sleeping. We just left a note and headed to the trailhead.
We took the shuttle bus to our starting point. The trail was supposed to be about 3.5 miles to the top of Yosemite Falls. Yosemite Falls is the tallest fall in north America and the 6th largest in the world at 2,425 vertical feet. The trail started out steep right away with lots of switchbacks. Luckily, we only had one backpack of gear between the three of us, so we switched off who had to carry it.
It took us about 2.5-3 hours to reach the top. It was well worth the effort though. The views from the top were absolutely breath-taking. We were able to see down into Yosemite Valley and across the valley to Half Dome and Glacier Point. Michelle and Rebekah braved the precarious stairs down to the falls overlook while Emily stayed safely on top. After resting and eating, we headed back down. It seemed a lot further going down and we were surprised by the number of people climbing up. Most of them had gotten a really late start and a long, hot day ahead of themselves.
Once we were almost to the bottom, Rebekah stopped in her tracks. She encountered a rattlesnake! What a cool sight to see. It was a bit scary, but the thing was very calm and just making its way across the trail. Upon finishing, we all had sore feet and were ready for some grub.
We headed to the Village Store where we bought frozen burritos to heat up in the microwave. For dessert, we bought a big tub of ice cream. As we were walking over to the tables to eat it, we ran into our 3 backpacker friends! We offered them to share our ice cream and they readily accepted. The 6 of us sat chatted and drank some beer polishing off the ice cream. It was a great time!
We headed back to Upper Pines to Gene and Joyce's site. We set up our tents and then headed to Curry Village to take showers. When we arrived there, we found out that the showers were closed for cleaning. We opted to wait til they opened back up because we found out that they were free after 6:30pm! That turned out to be a good decision because we were the first ones in line (the line quickly grew, but we got first dibs and HOT water).
After showering, we went back to the tents, cooked dinner, and chatted with Gene and Joyce. We also bought some s'mores ingredients and enjoyed making those around the campfire.
In the morning, we talked to them a bit more and even saw a bear!!! It was just across the river from our camp site. It was hard to see since there was so much foliage. A few minutes later, a ranger came by and shot a pellet gun to scare the bear away. We walked with all of our gear over to the Upper Pines campground. After locating Gene and Joyce's site, we set our stuff down. We decided not to set up our tents because it was still so early and everyone nearby was sleeping. We just left a note and headed to the trailhead.
We took the shuttle bus to our starting point. The trail was supposed to be about 3.5 miles to the top of Yosemite Falls. Yosemite Falls is the tallest fall in north America and the 6th largest in the world at 2,425 vertical feet. The trail started out steep right away with lots of switchbacks. Luckily, we only had one backpack of gear between the three of us, so we switched off who had to carry it.
It took us about 2.5-3 hours to reach the top. It was well worth the effort though. The views from the top were absolutely breath-taking. We were able to see down into Yosemite Valley and across the valley to Half Dome and Glacier Point. Michelle and Rebekah braved the precarious stairs down to the falls overlook while Emily stayed safely on top. After resting and eating, we headed back down. It seemed a lot further going down and we were surprised by the number of people climbing up. Most of them had gotten a really late start and a long, hot day ahead of themselves.
Once we were almost to the bottom, Rebekah stopped in her tracks. She encountered a rattlesnake! What a cool sight to see. It was a bit scary, but the thing was very calm and just making its way across the trail. Upon finishing, we all had sore feet and were ready for some grub.
We headed to the Village Store where we bought frozen burritos to heat up in the microwave. For dessert, we bought a big tub of ice cream. As we were walking over to the tables to eat it, we ran into our 3 backpacker friends! We offered them to share our ice cream and they readily accepted. The 6 of us sat chatted and drank some beer polishing off the ice cream. It was a great time!
We headed back to Upper Pines to Gene and Joyce's site. We set up our tents and then headed to Curry Village to take showers. When we arrived there, we found out that the showers were closed for cleaning. We opted to wait til they opened back up because we found out that they were free after 6:30pm! That turned out to be a good decision because we were the first ones in line (the line quickly grew, but we got first dibs and HOT water).
After showering, we went back to the tents, cooked dinner, and chatted with Gene and Joyce. We also bought some s'mores ingredients and enjoyed making those around the campfire.
