Getting Out: On any trip into nature, whether a day hike or an
extended backpacking trip, I always give a good deal of thought to
avoiding crowds. Where can I go for solitude? And it’s true. There
is nothing quite as peaceful and powerful as sitting alone and
gazing across a grand and wild setting. However, strict adherence
to this policy overlooks another important fact: Crowds go to
fantastic places.
On any trip into nature, whether a day hike or an extended backpacking trip, I always give a good deal of thought to avoiding crowds. Where can I go for solitude?
And it’s true. There is nothing quite as peaceful and powerful as sitting alone and gazing across a grand and wild setting. However, strict adherence to this policy overlooks another important fact: Crowds go to fantastic places.
Last week, my wife, Renee, and I threw out any consideration of solitude and headed for California’s No. 1 spring and early summer tourist destination: Yosemite Valley.
It had been some time since I visited Yosemite Valley during peak runoff. When we entered the valley and saw the falls — the flow of water over the two falls visible from the valley floor, Bridalveil and Yosemite — was staggering. Even Ribbon Falls, seasonal falls near El Capitan, sent a lovely wind-wisped flow down its 1,600-foot face.
We decided to take the one-and-a-half-mile walk to the top of Vernal Falls. The trailhead to Vernal Falls, which is also the beginning of the 210-mile John Muir Trail, is at Happy Isle. The road beyond Curry Village to Happy Isle is closed to cars, so we parked near the village and hopped on the shuttle.
You know you are on a popular path when the trail is paved. If it weren’t, the incredible amount of foot traffic here would soon excavate a thigh-deep trail gully. The Merced River gorge here is narrow, and the trail is etched into a steep granite wall. As I have so often seen in the Sierra Nevada, this is another example of impressive trail engineering.
Less than a mile out, we reached the Vernal Falls bridge, and photo-op central. With Vernal Falls as a distant backdrop, point-and-shoot cameras and their subjects lined up for a scrapbook remembrance. We crossed the bridge, weaving between cameras and subjects, and pushed on to the Mist Trail.
It is just more than a half-mile from the bridge to the top of Vernal Falls — but what a half-mile. Here, the trail closely follows the furious and deafening Merced River, and the awesome falls are just above you and almost within reach. The trail becomes a steep granite staircase glazed with mist from the falls. With each giant step up, the mist more closely resembles a torrential downpour that soaked Renee and me to the bone.
Near the top, trail builders have chiseled a narrow path into a sheer granite wall that is protected by a railing and brings you over to a broad granite bench at the top of the falls. Before we sat down for a snack, we leaned up against the railing at the very edge of the falls where calm blue water instantly bursts into raging white foam. The view beyond the falls is a vertigo-inducing drop that reveals how much you have climbed over a short distance.
A couple words of advice: Bring rain gear because you will get drenched. I would wear some kind of trail shoe with a waffle sole, because my running shoes did not give me adequate purchase on the wet rock.
Renee and I did this trip as a very manageable day trip. When you go, you will hear German, French, Japanese and other foreign languages being spoken by people who have come half way around the world to see these wonders. It is mighty sweet to have them just three-and-a-half hours from home.
Note:
Ron Erskine will be giving a one-evening Introduction to Backpacking class through Gavilan College Community Education on July 7. To enroll, call (408) 852-2801 or visit: www.gavilance.com
