Yosemite

Visited Yosemite National Park with my sister last week. Our first hike on Sunday was Sentinel Dome. From the trailhead on Glacier Point road, we followed the trail up the north side of the dome. Nice views from the top in all directions on this cool morning. This might be the highest peak I have ever summitted. Next, we took the Pohono trail over to Taft point. There were some crazy people walking a rope across a chasm here.

Summit Elevation: Sentinel Dome 8122 ft
Round-trip Distance: 5.0 mi
Elevation Change: 1000 ft

On Monday, we drove south and visited Mariposa Grove. But first, we did a short hike to a Chilnualna falls (about 0.5 mile round-trip). At Mariposa, we followed a loop in the lower grove. Saw lots of giant sequoias including the largest one there - Grizzly Giant.

Round-trip Distance: 3.0 mi
Elevation Change: 520 ft

Also, we visited Yosemite valley in the afternoon and took the short paved trails to both Bridal Veil and lower Yosemite falls.

On Tuesday, we did a hike to Vernal falls. Near the trailhead, we got to see a coyote. Took the Mist Trail to the top of Vernal falls. Continued on up to Clark Point and then down the Muir trail. This was the most strenuous, but satisfying, hike that we did. On the drive back, stopped at the tunnel view and there was a rainbow.

Round-trip Distance: 5.0 mi
Elevation Change: 1510 ft

On Wednesday, we visited a fire lookout on the drive out. A short 0.5 mile walk.

Overall, a very nice trip ... got to see some spectacular scenery and had decent weather.

Yosemite