The scenery got better with each day! Today we drove about 45 minutes into the valley. We stopped at the Tunnel View parking lot for our first views of the valley.
Stunning!
We found parking pretty easy and took the shuttle bus to Camp 4 for the hike up towards Upper Yosemite Falls. We knew we wouldn't go all of the way up, but wanted to make it to the views at Columbia Rock. The weather was beautiful for great views, but was a little warm for hiking. Luckily, most of this hike was through shady trees, but it was full of steep switchbacks which wore us out quickly!!
We stopped often for photo ops and drink breaks.
The landscape was truly magical
and I don't even think the pictures do it justice!
We have traveled to a lot of places, but Yosemite Valley is one of the most awe inspiring!
Our legs were like Jello, but this view of Half Dome made it all worth it! The hike down only took about 40 minutes and was so much easier.
Once at the bottom, we followed the Lower Yosemite Falls trail for a view of the tallest waterfall in the US. What a site!
Thanks to the recent rain and snow, the falls were flowing very strongly down the rock.
It was a busy holiday weekend in the valley, but the crowds didn't cause any issues.
We walked a little more and then took the shuttle to Yosemite Village for a delicious pizza lunch and ice cream at the general store before leaving the valley.
We spent our last few hours of daylight playing near the river by our cabin before one last dinner, fire and round of s'mores. It was the perfect weekend getaway and we are already looking forward to planning our next hiking weekend...
