One of my favorite hikes I've ever had the privilege of doing. We started in the morning, passed by…read moreVernal Fall, and went all the way to Nevada Fall. It was a scorchingly hot day when we hiked, so we took many breaks throughout. Luckily, there are plenty of shady, comfortable resting spots. The view from the top of Vernal Fall was already lovely, but I would highly recommend the trek all the way to Nevada Fall. The scenery from the top of Nevada Fall was breathtaking, and it was so lovely to see the beautiful rainbows at Vernal Fall. Keep in mind that there are slippery, steep steps on the way to Vernal Fall. It was a pretty steep hike up to Nevada Fall as well, with many loose rocks - we saw quite a few individuals slipping around. I'd recommend taking your time and going slow for the steepier sections.

We hiked From the beginning of Mist trail to base of Vernal fall. Parked at curry village and took…read morea shutter #14 to #16. It's a paved path with immediate incline. Like many people, we stopped a few times to catch our breath. Took our time and enjoyed the views and took lots of pictures on the way. When you get to the flight of stone stairs, you do have to climb up the stairs to reach the bottom of Vernal fall to get the whole experience of the mist. NO PONCHO or Raincoat needed at this point. Nice refreshing mist. You will not get soak or wet. After this point you will need it. We turn around and took the same route back down. Hope this help for people that does not want to hike the whole way up but still able to enjoy the view and experience the mist from the spectacular Vernal fall.

We came from Tenaya lake and it was my favorite hike in Yosemite. The trail and the rock…read moreformations were utterly stunning. Summit allows you to have an amazing view of Half Dome. Please come and create your own adventure.

My first hike in Yosemite, and it happened to be this one...I didn't know what I was getting myself…read moreinto. Cloud's Rest is a strenuous and challenging hike that will exhaust you for a couple days or more! This hike isn't for beginners, if you want to attempt this, you will have to actually enjoy hiking. Cloud's Rest takes around 6-8 hours to complete and is a 14 miles hike with an elevation gain of 2,700 ft. Parking - We arrived around 9:30 AM and found parking at the Sunrise Lakes Trailhead. The earlier you arrive, the better, to avoid crowds and get a good spot to park. There is one pit toilet at the trailhead and would be my first stop after arriving because you're going to be consuming plenty of water during this hike, including many more bathroom breaks in nature. Don't be afraid to take plenty of breaks during the hike, rest stops are great to enjoy some snacks and water. After crossing the wooden bridge, follow the signs pointed towards Cloud's Rest and you'll be right on your way! What I like about this hike is the changes in scenery throughout the hike. It was like a different hike every couple of miles! The first part takes you through a forest-like scenery and then the incline switchbacks, which were extremely tiring and difficult. After conquering that part, the trail takes you through a well-deserved flat area with a nice view of a lake. The final stretch includes a steep, straight incline and then finally the granite steps, which requires a bit of climbing to reach the summit. The views are spectacular at the summit, you will be able to see Half Dome and the Yosemite Valley. We arrived at the top around 1 PM and took a lunch break as well as many pictures. The descent was just as challenging as the ascent, if not more, because you're already pretty tired. Take your time and pace yourself, I think we took ever longer breaks on the way down. Overall, if you're looking for a challenging hike in Yosemite, Cloud's Rest is that hike! Great views at the summit and changing sceneries makes this hike a great one to reflect back on and tell stories.

Upper Yosemite Falls trail was definitely the hardest hike I've done. It was about 7.2 miles…read moreroundtrip, took exactly 7 hours starting at 10:40am and finally making it down at 5:40pm (5 hours going up, 2 going down), and was 2,700 ft of elevation gain. The terrain is mostly rocks and goes up most of the way, so it's an insane leg workout that left me sore for a couple days after. Going up was exhausting, but there's plenty of spots to sit down and take breaks. About halfway through, we stopped and ate snacks. Going down felt more difficult on my knees, but it was a lot faster. It also started to rain so we had to be careful about slipping. The views were absolutely beautiful and worth it every step of the way. I constantly stopped and took photos and admired it all. Once you get up to the top, you can get really close to upper yosemite falls on a narrow path along some rocks. If you're afraid of heights, you might be a bit scared. It was super chilly when we got up there. Almost everyone we encountered on the trail was super friendly, and it was fun to see familiar faces when we got up to the top and overhear people exclaiming how proud they are of themselves. Going in May when the weather was still cold (about 40° when we were here) was definitely helpful. I don't know if I would have been able to do it if it were hot outside. I get lightheaded pretty easily and there were times I felt like I was going to pass out, but I did it!! Definitely take breaks, don't rush yourself, drink plenty of water, and bring snacks. Make sure you have hiking boots!!! If I didn't have hiking boots I probably wouldn't have been able to do it.

Went mid-March valley floor hardly any traffic early 8 am. Got busy after 10am. Rode bikes Yosemite…read morevalley loop El Capitan, Half Dome, Horsetail, Bridal veil, and Vernal falls. Tried singletrack that paralleled then the crowds at Yosemite village slowed our pace to a crawl. A family of four walking side by side blocking the path completely. Even oncoming hikers gave them dirty looks. Selfish people have zero consideration or self awareness. If you go biking, go early to avoid crowds.

Classic Yosemite backpacking route. 30 miles, +/- 4000 feet…read moreelevation. White Wolf to Glen Aulin/Tuolumne Meadow. Either way is good, it goes down and goes up, so either way is similar elevation wise. This is one way route, so carshuttle is required. Or you could catch YARTS but it could be full, so it is risky. 2 night/3 days is appropriate. This route is along Tuolumne River. This has massive amount of water. Since there is a lot of elevation gain/loss, you can see many beautiful waterfalls. The most specutacular falls is Waterwheel falls. As the name indicates, the falls look like waterwheel. It is gorgious. I was just staring at the falls for a while. Not only waterwheel falls, california falls, White Cascades are also very pretty. This is real wilderness Yosemite.

We enjoyed our visit to Hetch Hetchy Reservoir located in the northwest corner of Yosemite National…read morePark. If staying at Evergreen Lodge at Yosemite, Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is about a 7 minute drive to the main entrance of the park and it's about an 8 mile drive until you get to the reservoir. The views are incredible getting there. We recommend parking near the restrooms and walking down towards the entrance of the dam it's not very far. Hetch Hetchy is known for its stunning scenery, waterfalls (like Wapama and Tueeulala Falls), and hiking trails, but it is also famous for the controversial O'Shaughnessy Dam, which created a reservoir to supply water to San Francisco. There's a cool tunnel you can walk through to get to the other side of the dam where people start their hike. Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is a must visit if staying at the Evergreen Lodge at Yosemite since it's very close to it! The location is kid and stroller friendly. Happy Yelping :)

This review is about the hike around the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir (not my personal opinion that it…read moreshould not exist). Hetch Hetchy is part of Yosemite National Park, but it has its own separate entrance. From Yosemite Valley, Big Oak Flat Road takes you out of Yosemite, through Stanislaus National Forest, and then through the dedicated Hetch Hetchy entrance gate back into Yosemite. The fees and reservations to visit Hetch Hetchy are included in/the same as the fees to visit Yosemite. If you have a reservation to visit the valley, it counts for Hetch Hetchy, too (and vice versa). Lucky for me, I have a lifetime pass and an NPS pass, so I was just waved on through. I think there were only two other cars in front of me, so I barely had to wait to get in. Seeing Hetch Hetchy was on my bucket list for this summer, since I've read so much about it over so many years, and have such strong opinions that the reservoir should never have been created in the first place. I drove out here expecting to be heartbroken. I expected to feel whatever it was that killed John Muir. But, all I saw was a beautiful lake in the mountains that I wanted to hike around (sorry not sorry). I had read somewhere that, before the creation of the reservoir, Hetch Hetchy was like a second Yosemite Valley. I tried to imagine the valley floor unflooded with over three hundred feet of water, but it was hard to envision. Even though I came in late September, I still some some wildflowers-- mostly the same tiny purple flowers and yellow grass blooms which saturate the meadows in the valley. In order to get to the hiking trail, first, you hike across the top of the dam, and then through a tunnel with lights. Unlike most of the tunnels I've hiked through, this one didn't smell very much like bats. I was surprised that hiking across the dam is open to the public, since it has been banned in my hometown Folsom since shortly after 9/11. It was cool to see the spillway from the top of the bridge, though. I also wanted to hike the hundreds of stairs to the bottom (and back up, I love climbing stairs), but this was prohibited. My goal was to hike out to Wapama Falls, which I thought I did. I saw a sign saying that the waterfall was a couple of miles away, I felt like I hiked a couple of miles, and I found the scar of a dry waterfall. The mountain under the dry waterfall reminded me of the Royal Arches, which is my favorite rock surface in the valley. When I heard the group passing by me say that the waterfall was still half a mile away, I thought that they must have mis-navigated. Anyone could see that there was clearly a dried up waterfall here. Also, I wanted an excuse to turn around. So, I chose to believe that this was the waterfall. I made it. Later, I learned that I was actually at Tueeulala Falls, just about half a mile short of Wapama Falls, which flows year round. Guess I'll have to go back. I actually wasn't prepared to go hiking at all, so a couple of miles in each direction was not bad. I would definitely want to come back to backpack and explore this valley more in spring. In spite of my personal feelings about the illegal creation of the dam, I loved hiking around Hetch Hetchy. It was gorgeous, and there was barely anyone else here. It was so nice to get away from the crowds in the valley.

We had an excellent day with David. We booked a private tour for my wife and me. We are not so…read moreyoung so David tailored it to our pace and abilities (still made it to the top of Sentinel Dome- well worth the effort!). Literally went from the valley floor to the peak of sentinel dome. His knowledge of the park is outstanding. He picked us up at our lodge and dropped us there at the end of the day- even gave us the picnic we couldn't eat during the trip because clouds blocked the astrophotography portion. He even apologized for the clouds! An all day adventure; we were happily exhausted when we got back to Evergreen Lodge. Highly recommend.

Dave is AMAZING! We had the best day with him on our private tour of Yosemite. He is so fun,…read moreknowledgeable, a great conversationalist and made the day fabulous. I had the best time and felt like we got to really see Yosemite and get to know the park. I would 100% recommend booking with him and his company. Hands down the BEST!!

This is probably one of my favorite hikes as I love the view of the waterfall, how close the view…read moreis, the large rocks you can climb if you'd like and the walking bridge. If you are looking for a short and fairly easy hike, I'd add this one to the list. There are also man made seesaws from logs right outside the trail which are fun to check out!

A must do trail for anyone visiting Yosemite. Definitely very popular but for good reason!read more

Our tour guides were absolutely amazing (John and Mia) and they were very knowledgeable and helped…read moreanswer all of our questions (about Yosemite in general, specific famous features on our hike, and even random questions about birds and plant life). The hike is as advertised (in terms of ratings and what features you will see). They always put safety first and even offered to help carry our back packs when we got tired or were crossing a small stream! They treated us like close family/friends, were encouraging us along the way, and adapted to our pace and schedule. Our group ranged from age 6 to adult and we couldn't have made it to the end of the hike without them! Book them for your tours and have fun on your Yosemite Vacation!

Will definitely be booking again with John and Y Explore!!! Honestly when we booked the guided half…read moredome hike I went into it thinking we were just utilizing the purchased permits as hadn't won the lottery ourselves but as the day progressed I became more and more grateful for the wisdom and knowledge of our guide. From breathing techniques and tips for ascending and descending the cables to the order of of our group and perfectly timed rest breaks this was worth every penny as we had not only a successful summit but an overwhelming positive experience! Hubby and I are excited to travel again to more destination with Y Explore in the near future!