Hiking: Yosemite Valley

The Yosemite Valley is an absolutely gorgeous valley east of San Francisco in California. I was there in July 2008 during my vacations. I spent two days in the valley, one day hiking the Yosemite Falls and the next day on the Half-Dome Trail. You don't need to be a hiker to enjoy Yosemite Valley as this valley is blessed by a beautiful landscape and much needed sunshine for those who are used to San Francisco weather

The signature "day" trail of Yosemite Valley is the Half-Dome trail, a 22.4 km hike with 1450m of up elevation. If you aren't camping directly in Yosemite Valley, you'll want to start early and make sure you have enough water as this trail is quite long and there is no water fountain beyond a certain point.

 

The Half Dome trail is named after the "half dome" shape of the peak.

Unfortunately, the last part of the trail is a heavily crowded ladder and depending on how crowded it is, it may take you up to an hour to reach the summit from this point. I therefore chose to go back as I feared to miss the last bus. Well, I am honest about it, I never finished the half-dome trail, but I was that close.

 The last stretch of the Half Dome Trail

The day before, I hiked the Yosemite Fall trail which is also extremely gorgeous. Yosemite Fall trail is shorter than Half-Dome trail and can be done in half a day (for a seasonal athletic hiker). This makes it a perfect hike if you arrive in the valley later in the day if you want to reach the summit before sunset.