Yosemite National Park Day 2

We woke up early (but not so early) at the hotel and dressed for the cold. We actually didn't have to deal with as cold of temperatures as I had thought--especially as we were hiking and going around, it was much warmer than I had expected. We felt very grateful! 

We grabbed our to-go breakfast and we ate as we drove the hour and a half to the Yosemite Valley. We were prepared to hike the Mist Trail up to Vernal Falls. When we got to the trailhead parking, we walked about an extra mile to get to the trailhead since the shuttle buses weren't running during COVID. We put all of our extra food into the bear lockers and set out.

As we ascended, we consistently commented on just how beautiful that section of the valley was. 

When we reached the Mist Trail, we, like so many others, were disappointed to find out that it was closed due to winter weather. As I proceed forward in my tale, I would like to point out that the winter trail route also had a good deal of winter weather :D Nick and I determined that we would extend what we thought would be a .8 mile hike into a 6 mile hike to go all the way to the top of Vernal Falls. Ladies and gentlemen, we are SO glad that we kept going, as this easily became one of the top 5 favorite hikes that  we have ever done. 

The going was tough (much more so down than up) because of large patches of snow and ice on very precarious turns. I was so grateful we had our hiking poles (chains for our hiking boots would have been nice too)! 

Once we started to reach the top, that's where the real magic started to happen. The views became truly out of this world! We enjoyed incredible views of the famous mountains (El Capitan, Half Dome) and then were able to see Vernal Falls in all of its' majesty + get up close and personal + see Nevada Falls in the distance. Essentially, two waterfalls for the "hike" of one! :D We enjoyed our lunch up at the vista point above the falls, and were able to Facetime both of our mothers--it's crazy where you do or don't get service in the park! 

We were pretty darn tired after our 6 mile hike, so after making it back to our car, we decided to take an early evening. We went to the gift shop and drove around to various vista points. We watched two people rock climbing El Capitan and saw a coyote in one of the meadows. 

What a glorious second day soaking in all of the natural splendor at Yosemite National Park!