Finding A New Rainbow

By Jim.

“This is, like…pinch me, right?”

That was Ginny’s perfect summary of today’s perfect hike from Yosemite Valley up to Vernal Fall.

It was four hours of granite cliffs, a white-water river (the Merced), waterfalls and assorted breathtaking vistas (at one point, we were over 6,000 feet up), in sunny, 80-degree weather.

We ascended a rock pathway carved out of the side of a cliff.  

The scenery could be distracting, as we frequently looked back down on where we’d just been.

On our way up, we hiked past the bottom of Vernal Fall.  The mist cooled everyone off (and then some) and made the trail slippery at times, but the reward was a full-arc rainbow where the fall hit the river pool!  We decided on the spot that it was time for a new front page photo to this blog.

The climb got even tougher as we approached the top of the fall (no time for photos), and when we made it, Ginny did a victory dance…

…and we savored where we were!

We were able to get right next to the fall and almost feel the power of the water…

…then we could turn around and look upstream to yet another amazing view.

That upstream water was coming from the Nevada Fall, another mile away.  We had hoped to hike up there, too, but we didn’t have time, due to our dogs-in-the-RV curfew.

The hike back down the mountain took us a different route, which involved a lot of climbing towards Nevada Fall before heading down, so we got a good look at it.

Our descent wasn’t as dramatic as the trip up, but we were rewarded with some amazing granite striations…

…and we even went past some of the final  snow of the season.

With one final leg along the Merced River…

…we were back in the valley, then home from an unforgettable day (where Advil awaited our sore muscles).

We say goodbye to Yosemite tomorrow morning and head to the Southern California coast.