Yosemite 2026
Day 1 We arrived at Yosemite early afternoon on a perfect Monday in mid May. El Capitan gave us an imposing welcome as we made our way through Yosemite Valley to our campsite at Camp 4. Camp 4 sits below Yosemite Falls (zoom in on the upper left of the picture above) and quickly fills with groups of climbers and hikers. REI gear everywhere. We set up camp, then headed east through the valley. After an obligatory (and lovely) photo op at Lower Yosemite Falls, we made our way to the trailhead for the Mist Trail. Lower Yosemite Falls My son Alec is one of my favorite adventuring companions. Nearing the end of his medical residency, he planned a quick trip to Yosemite to decompress and enjoy the best of California before moving. Happily, that coincided with my birthday. Win, win! First stop on the Mist Trail is Vernal Falls. The waterfall is impressive…as are the stairs that make up over half of the trail. With 7 miles round-trip and 2000 feet of elevation gain, that’s a...