Vernal Fall y Mirror Lake (Yosemite Valley)
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 6.71 mi
- Elevation gain
- 1,440 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Moderate
- Elevation loss
- 1,450 ft
- Max elevation
- 4,665 ft
- TrailRank
- 74
- Min elevation
- 3,634 ft
- Trail type
- One Way
- Moving time
- 2 hours 23 minutes
- Time
- 3 hours 51 minutes
- Coordinates
- 1797
- Uploaded
- May 14, 2019
- Recorded
- May 2019
near Curry Village, California (United States)
Viewed 882 times, downloaded 69 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
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In Yosemite Valley there are several parking areas, but it is convenient to arrive early so as not to take surprises. The park shuttle operates regularly: the frequency is not very high; It makes a circular route in only one direction, so if you want to get to a couple of previous stops, you better go walking; They are quite crowded; the indications are given by a guide shouting ...
We take the shuttle to the Happy Isles stop (no. 16) to start the route to Vernal Fall, which leaves the valley following the course of the Merced River. The road is followed without too much difficulty, in an ascending route of great beauty, by the views to the walls of the canyon, which, in the month of May, were furrowed by small and not so small waterfalls. Of course, the journey is quite crowded.
When you reach the bridge that crosses the Merced River, you can see the Vernal waterfall. Soon after, a slightly harder climb begins, in which it becomes necessary to protect oneself from the vaporized water that cascades off and that becomes a shower when approaching it. We did not want to continue until Nevada Fall, so we turned the same way.
Back in the valley, instead of taking the shuttle to advance a stop, we started almost at the same point as before the route to Mirror Lake. The road follows a path parallel to the road, but at a sufficient distance so that it seems that you are isolated. This first section we did it alone, we can see that people prefer to go by shuttle, but when we find ourselves with the "official" road, we start to coincide with a large audience.
The road is comfortable, sensibly flat, following the Tenaya stream, in a quite wooded area. The lake, which is artificial, is very pleasant because of the reflections it generates from the rocks and surrounding trees.
The return was made by the same road, although this time we went by the official way to stop 17 of the shuttle, which is Mirror Lake.
We take the shuttle to the Happy Isles stop (no. 16) to start the route to Vernal Fall, which leaves the valley following the course of the Merced River. The road is followed without too much difficulty, in an ascending route of great beauty, by the views to the walls of the canyon, which, in the month of May, were furrowed by small and not so small waterfalls. Of course, the journey is quite crowded.
When you reach the bridge that crosses the Merced River, you can see the Vernal waterfall. Soon after, a slightly harder climb begins, in which it becomes necessary to protect oneself from the vaporized water that cascades off and that becomes a shower when approaching it. We did not want to continue until Nevada Fall, so we turned the same way.
Back in the valley, instead of taking the shuttle to advance a stop, we started almost at the same point as before the route to Mirror Lake. The road follows a path parallel to the road, but at a sufficient distance so that it seems that you are isolated. This first section we did it alone, we can see that people prefer to go by shuttle, but when we find ourselves with the "official" road, we start to coincide with a large audience.
The road is comfortable, sensibly flat, following the Tenaya stream, in a quite wooded area. The lake, which is artificial, is very pleasant because of the reflections it generates from the rocks and surrounding trees.
The return was made by the same road, although this time we went by the official way to stop 17 of the shuttle, which is Mirror Lake.
Waypoints
Photo
3,874 ft
Waterfall
River
Information point
Bridge
Lake
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