Day 23

Today we got up early because we had to catch a shuttle to Yosemite Lodge before getting a coach up to Glacier Point. On the way there we stopped at Tunnel View where you can see over the valley to Bridal Veil Falls and El Capitan. Finally we arrived at Glacier Point where we got off the coach and made our way up to the Panorama Trailhead at 7200 feet, this was the start of our day’s hike which was to be around 8.2 miles. The first leg of the journey was a 2 mile downhill section to the Illilouette Falls where we stopped and ate some rolls for dinner. The 3 mile second leg started with a tough uphill section which seemed to last for ages and I got really hot and tired but kept going until we reached the peak and got our first glimpse of Nevada Fall. The descent to the falls took us down to 5900 feet and we rewarded ourselves by sticking our throbbing feet into the freezing cold Merced River. The third leg of our descent took us down around 1.8 miles of really steep and winding paths made of granite blocks to the Vernal Fall at 5000 feet. Our final 1.4 mile descent to the valley floor was down some really tall and steep granite steps where we had to be really careful as the spray from the waterfall made them very wet and slippery. We were all really glad to reach the end of our hike and happily waited at the bus stop for the shuttle to take us back to the campground. Mum and Chris both had sore calf muscles at the end of the day and my ankles ached from all the walking but all in all we had a really good hike. We ate dinner and sat outside for a bit but were soon tired and headed for bed.