the next morning we woke up, ate breakfast, then went to find another campsite. the spot we had wasn't bad but there was a group nearby that was being extremely loud and playing music past midnight. we were lucky that a family reunion group was just leaving giving us a huge, secluded site.
we planned to spend the day in Yosemite Valley. Yosemite Valley is where a lot of the best waterfalls, hikes, etc. in Yosemite are but it is also the most crowded. we were there in the summer peak and it is a huge family vacation destination. the Valley is set up for tourists with buses that take you to different destinations, souvenir shops, and a paved walkway to the largest waterfall, Yosemite Falls. despite being so commercialized the valley is incredibly beautiful.
we saw many beautiful views and waterfalls along the drive there.
the waterfall below is Yosemite Falls. we did the 1 mile hike to the lower falls which is super easy with a concrete path.
we got to the bridge where you can see the falls and it was ridiculously crowded. we went through some woods to the side of the bridge and found a spot closer to the falls that had way less people. we ate our lunch there and took in the scenery.
we climbed on the rocks to get closer.
we climbed really close to the falls where we could feel the mist. we sat and enjoyed the stunning views of the Valley and it was so nice I could've stayed there all day.
Jason took this panoramic pic with his phone.
we hiked back and explored some more.
we decided to
hike the Mist trail to Vernal falls next. it is only about 3 miles but
it is all uphill there so it was definitely tiring.
there are these stone steps you walk up near the end that go up right next to Vernal fall. we were so close we got soaked from the mist from the fall. the view was unbelievable and it was one of the coolest hikes I've ever done, especially for it being such a short hike.
double rainbow! :)
the trail keeps going and you can go to the top of the falls. to get there you have to climb up these fun stairs (pic below). good thing there was a railing otherwise there's no way I would've climbed them.
we followed the river up a little bit and find and nice spot on some rocks to eat a snack. it was so beautiful and peaceful. there are these pretty blue birds with black heads we saw around the park and I was feeding one some granola bar :).
we climbed back down and went by the fall again. I had to put my camera away and just use my phone for pics because the mist was strong and we were soaked!
we hiked back to our car and then made our way back to our camp. we stopped at this lookout to watch the sunset on Half Dome.
back at our camp we made our dinner on our camping stove. honestly on all our previous trips we just ate sandwiches or we would get take out to take back to our camp because we didn't know how to cook while camping. before we left on this trip for my birthday Brin put together a camping package with meals that you just add hot water to. they were actually really good and much better than just eating sandwiches the whole time. our second day in Yosemite was incredible and we couldn't wait to see more the next day.
