Lower Yosemite Falls and the Ahwahnee

After walking around the village, we rode our bikes down to Lower Yosemite Falls (the first picture). Someday I'll do the hike to Upper Yosemite Falls, but its takes about 8 hours. As we biked back to camp, we stopped by the Ahwahnee Resort and walked around the inside. This place is known for being about $600 a night and great food. It sure was beautiful. There are also cottages that you can rent out, but I heard they can be as expensive as $1200 a night. If you are going to get married in Yosemite, this is the place to do it. You can see in the last picture where they set up the chairs outside. You have Upper Yosemite Falls as your backdrop as you say your vows and then you hold the wedding reception in the Ahwahnee off to your right.
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Yosemite Village

So, after our almost 3 hour round trip hike to the top of Vernal Falls and back down, we continued our adventures. We rode our bikes along the bike path from our campsite at Upper Pines to Yosemite Village, one of the main hubs of Yosemite. I was able to get my National Parks Passport stamped and check out the museum at the Valley Visitor Center. The picture shows you how huge the trees are there and they have the rings dated using historically significant events. We walked through the Ansel Adams Gallery, a photographer who became famous by showing off Yosemite. We also walked through the replication of an Ahwahnee Indian village and through a small cemetery where many pioneers (from the 1800s and early 1900s) are buried. There is also a deli there, the wilderness center where you get permits to hike off the trails, and a U.S. District Court.
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Top of Vernal Falls

Saturday morning, about 8:30AM, we started the 1.5 miles hike to the top of Vernal Falls. It wasn't an easy hike, its uphill ALL THE WAY with the last section consisting of steep stairs that can get slippery from the Mist from the waterfall. It took us about an hour and 15 minutes. (You can see the hike in the last picture.) Stopped to eat an early lunch there since we worked up the appetite! Its such a beautiful place up there-- forested with lots of rocks to sit on and the wonderful sound of the water rushing by. One warning though: Watch out for the squirrels! People feed them so they're not afraid and they'll even go in your backpack to steal food. Do your part and scare them away!

You can continue on up to Nevada Falls, but we headed back down because we had so much to do! The hike back down all those stairs was pretty scary considering the lack of hand rails and steepness, oh, and all the people making their way up. You just have to take it slow and be patient. If you look into the mist caused by the waterfall, you can see a rainbow much of the time. By the time we made it to the bottom of the stair section, we all had wobbly legs. But, the rest of the hike down is pretty easy from there! Much more to come!
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