Melanie and have always been avid adventurers constantly searching for trails off the beaten path. Obviously, now that we have children that’s a little hard than it used to be. While exploring Yosemite Melanie mentioned she would love to climb the Mist Trail again.
She had previously climbed the trail a couple years back with her older brother, Matt, where they had quite the adventure climbing up the slippery soaking wet rocks that encompass the trail.
At the time we visited, the road to the mist trail was closed to all public vehicles, only the shuttle buses, which leave from the visitor center, travel out here.
So we parked our little rental Jeep as close to the trail as we possibly could and walked the half mile to the trail head.
The beginning of the hike is pretty easy but then begins to climb pretty quickly. The first half of the hike up to Vernal Falls is mostly paved so you can bring a stroller up part of the way, however once you reach the bathroom after the bridge, the trail becomes a bit treacherous to bring the stroller up. This photo was taken from the first real viewpoint only about a quarter of a mile up the trail.
Another view of the first scenic overlook without us in the photo. The view is truly spectacular in person.
After the overlook it’s back into the beautiful woods of Yosemite.
This bridge marks about half way up to Vernal Falls. There is a very convenient bathroom just past this bridge and this point ends the areas accessible by strollers and wheelchairs.
The view looking toward Vernal Falls from the bridge.
Once you get past the bridge, the real hike up to Vernal Falls begins. The trail goes from smooth pavement to climbing over boulder after boulder.
We got lucky this time around and the falls were not gushing rapidly over the edge as they usually are. Instead the mist trail was surprisingly dry, which made the climb relatively easy.
The last time Melanie hiked this trail though, the falls were coming down quite heavily. Her and her brother have both stated many times how difficult the climb is when the trail is wet and that they both almost died the last time they hiked the mist trail.
There are ample spots along the way to the falls to stop for some awesome photos. It took us a long while to get up because we kept finding cool spots for photos.
Many of the rock formations made for perfect backdrops to our photos.
This photo really illustrates the immense size of many of the boulders and rocks along this trail.
As mentioned before, Vernal Falls was not falling as rapidly as usual. However, the smaller flow of water created a beautiful rainbow and turned the raging river into a an awesome swimming hole.
There was a good amount of people around the bottom of Vernal Falls and even a few a jumping into the frigid waters.
Mel and I were able to find a private little spot within the rocks (usually covered by the raging waters of Vernal Falls) to hide away from the crowds of tourists. It was awesome getting to feel like we were the only ones sitting underneath the falls. A rare treat at such a heavily trafficked trail.
The view of Falls is beautiful in an epic way but the way back down is also just stunning. The mist trail is literally overflowing with beauty all around.
It’s honestly a challenge to keep walking because all you will want to do, is stop and just continuously take it all in. Every step unveils a breathtaking view of Yosemite.
The hike back down to the Yosemite Valley on the mist trail offered some really good opportunities for me to snap some black and white images.
Even the patches of trees along the trail look amazing in black and white.
There is truly nothing like the trails in Yosemite, the mist trail is no exception. Each turn reveals something new to photograph.for the majority of these photos , Melanie and I used a Nikon D750 with a Nikon 20mm f1.8 and Nikon 50mm f1.8. Occasionally, we would also whip out our Fuji X100T to snap some shots as well.
I really like to use the people around us on the trails to help lead the viewers eyes through the photo.
While the trail automatically lends itself to beautiful photograph, the images become much more elluring when you add some people to your shots.
Mel stopping to pose for a photo along the way back down.
The mist trail has a lot of features to help lead your eyes through the photo like this stone wall.
This boulder above was just too cool to not get a photo of.
A horizontal image of showcasing the full landscape of what you see in the two images prior to this one.
We got really lucky towards the bottom of the trail and found these two bouldering around this outcropping of rock. They were more than nice and happily agreed to be in some of my photos. Just goes to show how easily you can acquire subjects for your photography by just asking.
As you can see, the rock they were bouldering was not small but they were quite experienced and made it up the face of the rock quickly. I even tried my hand at this boulder, it was a lot of fun.
The photo above is probably one of my favorite photos from the hike. It’s funny how sometimes you go on a hike planning on taking photos of something like Vernal Falls and end up taking your favorites back where you began the hike.
Back at the bottom of the trail is beautiful Merced River which runs through the Yosemite Valley. My wife always thinks I’m crazy when I do this but if I can find a pool of water with mountains and woods around it, I have to jump in. So I did just that. The water was icy cold but I will never forget how beautiful the view was from my spot in the river.
We literally made it down the trail at the perfect time. As we made it to the road the sun set behind the mountains and the night began.
