Yosemite Valley with the Fam!
- Greg Luesink
- Sep 2, 2024
- 7 min read
Updated: May 9
During a combo vacation-wedding trip to California, Jas, myself, Lucas, and Jenni checked out Yosemite National Park before getting our fancy clothes on for a friend's wedding. Rather than insights to the park, this post is mostly just a fun way to share photos from a very memorable trip!
Travel Day
After a gruelling drive from Chilliwack to Seattle, we boarded our plane and landed in Sacramento. We jammed our bags into the rental car and set off for THE Valley. While Chilliwack River Valley will always be the primary valley of my heart, it is undeniable that Yosemite is arguably the most recognizable valley in the entire continent. After grabbing groceries for our 3-day-stay, we arrived after dark in the park, catching a shadowy glimpse of El Cap backlit by the starry sky. We'd booked a site at Camp 4, the iconic spot for historic climbers to stay while in the valley.
Day 1 - Yosemite Falls & Eagle Peak
As I recall, I couldn't sleep for very long on the air mattress, so I got up pretty nearly around sunrise. We pulled out our cooking gear and made some eggs for breakfast before packing our gear and setting off up the trail to the top of Yosemite Falls! The trail starts right from Camp 4, so we didn't even have to drive. About 30 minutes in, we reached a lovely viewpoint above our campsite. We couldn't have had any clearer skies! Although that did make for a boiling ascent...
One of the most impressive aspects of the trail was the nearly continuous stone staircase from valley to summit. Unfortunately, this resulted in us feeling like we were walking deeper into a stone-pizza-oven as the sun continued to climb in the sky. We caught a glimpse of the late-season trickle of Yosemite Falls before climbing up the trail to its left.
After about 2.5 hours, we reached the top of the Falls and were treated to some impressive views of Half-Dome and beyond. On the way up, we met some Californian YouTuber couple, Sam and Tyler. We all ended up at the same swimming spot, despite some warnings from elderly people saying "people have died falling off the falls." We had absolutely zero worries, since we were about 150m back from the edge and the flow of water was negligible into our little pool. The swim was beyond refreshing, and we took a nice long break to eat some lunch before continuing.
On the map there was a higher viewpoint just a short ways further, so we crossed to the other side of the water towards it. As expected, the views delivered!
Eagle Peak - 2372m
At this point, we were about to turn off down the trail back to camp, but I had an urge to run further to Eagle Peak to see the view. So, we split ways, Lucas giving me his phone with cell service just in case. It took me just under an hour to trot the 2.8 miles (ahem, 4.5 km) to Eagle Peak. It was a lovely trail with lots of shade from trees. It felt like I was in another universe! The dryness of the forest, the towering trees, the openness of the forest floor; it was a totally different ecosystem than Chilliwack. I snapped some self-timer photos on the film camera before running back to the stone-staircase and back down to camp to meet Jas, Jenni, and Lucas. In total, the day was about 8 hours with 25km and 1,500m+ gain.
After cooking some dinner, we excitedly drove over to the meadows below El Cap for sunset.
After a seriously successful first day in the park, we headed to camp to crash after a long day of adventuring.
Day 2 - Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls
We woke up once again to flawlessly clear skies. Before breakfast, I went to look at the famous "Midnight Lightning" boulder in Camp 4, as some climbers were warming up before trying it. Those were some polished holds if I'd ever seen any! Unfortunately, our lottery draw for Half Dome was not chosen, so we settled for a slightly easier day checking out Vernal and Nevada Falls on the same trail. We had a leisurely start just before 11 am, which made for a more relaxing morning.
We lucked out and had timed our hike so that we could hike down the trail back through Vernal Falls, which had been closed while we were hiking up. This proved to be the best part of the day, if not the highlight of Yosemite. There was a large pool at the bottom of Vernal Falls, and we all jumped in. Lucas and I swam to a ledge under the falls and clambered up onto it for a pretty epic photo!
After the falls loop, we checked out the Chateau in the village. Then we picked up some supplies for dinner and headed back to camp. Later we set out on the boardwalks for a dusk walk.
Day 3 - Glacier Point and Sentinel Dome - 2477m
Day 3 started the same as the others, cooking breakfast on the Coleman stove. As per usual, the onslaught of wasps increased as the burger grease container filled higher and higher. Just as with dinners, we ran around the campground to evade the wasps, took a few bites, and repeated.
For day 3, we decided to check out Glacier Point, which was on the south side of the valley. Unfortunately, Jenni got some gnarly blisters from the previous two days of hiking. Fortunately for us, she planned to drive around to the top of Glacier Point to meet us after we hiked up, then we would all drive back down to camp together.
Jenni dropped us off at the start of the 4-Mile Trail before heading into the village to pick up more ice. Lucas, Jas, and started up on a paved concrete path leading to the hill-side. I've never seen anything like this on a trail before, but it is evident that even the pavement couldn't hold up to time, as it was falling apart in many areas. After about an hour, we reached a great viewpoint overlooking the West side of the valley.
After another hour of relentless switchbacks through the shady, North-facing trees, we reached the top of Glacier Point in the blistering sun. Due to the drive-able access, it is probably the top tourist viewpoint in the valley, and for good reason! Jenni met us at the top and we waltzed around the plateau enjoying the panoramic views of Half Dome, Nevada and Vernal Falls, Yosemite Falls, and beyond.
After Glacier Point, Jenni was feeling up for some exploration with less vertical gain. So, we pressed on to "Sentinel Dome", which was a few kms further from the viewpoint.
Sentinel Dome - 2477m
We plugged along under the blazing sun, thankful the intermittent shade. My Garmin watch had a helpful map amidst the twisting trails, and we finally found ourselves at some open rocky slabs leading to the summit. This is the weird part of Yosemite: the valley makes the towering walls feel like once you get on top, you'll be on top of the world. But nearly the opposite is true. Once on top, all around are rolling hills. Unlike back home in Chilliwack, where the pointiest and tallest mountain is Welch Peak at 2400+m, this 2400m peak felt rather insignificant.
Looking back into the valley, however, we were rewarded with an excellent view of El Cap's Nose profile. Another tourist was kind enough to snap a photo of us all on the summit overlooking the Captain.
After Sentinel Dome, we walked back to the car at Glacier Point. We drove the long way around back into the valley, enjoying the views, especially the stunning viewpoint on the other side of El Cap as we descended the winding, tunnel road.
That evening, Jas and I sketched some cards of our favourite pictures we'd taken to give to Malia and Dev, the soon to be married friends. We also trapped some more wasps in a grease bowl whilst making burgers... again.
Days 4 & 5 - The Nose, Travel to Wedding, Travel Home!
We packed our things in the morning, saying goodbye to our new camp friends. Jas and I walked along the trails towards El Cap with the intention of touching "The Nose." We were running low on time so Lucas and Jenni picked us up and we drove to the trailhead further along and raced to the base. I clambered up the first 15 feet or so, now I can say that I've "climbed" The Nose of El Cap!
We exited the park, making our way to the wedding outside of Sacramento. On the way, we did a pit-stop to change clothes, eat lunch, and brush our hair for the main event of the trip. All dappered up, we celebrated Malia and Dev's wedding at a beautiful venue! Spotlight on Jas' dress, which she made the top for using her impressive sewing skills!
One of the funniest things towards the end of the evening (aside from a classic grandpa move of trying to get ahold of the microphone during speeches) was the videographer coming up to Jas and me and telling us that he filmed us dancing and wanted to send us a little video edit he would make. It was kind of strange but also very thoughtful. The end result is very heart-warming!
Epilogue
With that, I conclude the tale of our grand adventure to California. So many fun memories and pictures to look back on from this time spent with Jas brother Lucas and sister-in-law Jenni. We'll always have some good laughs and smiles recalling this one.
I'd highly recommend visiting Yosemite. I didn't even get to climb and it was one of the most worthwhile trips I've done. Also, stay at Camp 4. It is a little weird since you don't have a site to yourself, but you get to meet some cool people that way (or there is at least a high chance you will... otherwise you might have terrible neighbours...). It is a very central location in the valley to access different trails and has hot showers and bathrooms - basically luxury camping! Half Dome would have been cool to do, but there are lots of back-up hikes that are just as good if not better due to less crowds. Perhaps one day we'll go back to rock climb and hike Half Dome.
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