What an incredible place, everyone should see it at some point in their life. We caught the waterfalls during a great time due to their weather this past year. Besides the traffic heading into the park (expected due to Memorial Day weekend), the only negative was the bathroom situation. Bathrooms throughout the park were awful, imo (guess I’m not a communal bathroom person). We stayed in a tent cabin in Half Dome Village with no bathroom (location was great). If I were to do it all over again I would either get a cabin with a bathroom or backcountry camp so I don’t have to deal with smelling other people shite every time you walk into a bathroom. Porta potty throughout the park were equivalent to Mardi Gras or Jazzfest.

Day 1: hiked up to the top of Yosemite Falls about 7.5 miles round trip and 2,700’ elevation gain. Glad we did this on the first day, I think if we saved it for later in the trip our legs would have been shot. As flat landers, the hike was pretty tough, but nothing you can’t handle if in decent shape. Trail is switch backs most of the way and uphill. Had lunch at the top and enjoyed the views while drying out socks and shoes. Took us about 6 hours round trip. I would suggest starting early in the morning as the crowds build all day and there are limited places to pass if you get stuck behind someone slow.

Day 2: rented bikes first thing in the morning to cruise around the valley. I suggested getting there right when they open to secure a bike. Rode over from Half Dome Village to Mirror Lake and did a short 2-3 mile easy hike to and around the Lake. Left the lake and cruised around the valley until we had lunch at the Majestic Hotel (talk about lunch with a view and also nice to have a clean bathroom). Second half of the day was spent driving up to Glacier point and hiking Sentinel Dome. It was about an hour drive from Half Dome Village to Glacier Point. There are multiple turnouts along the way to catch incredible views of the valley and surrounding areas. We first stopped at Tunnel View, which is one of the more popular picture spots in the park. The next stop was Washburn Point giving way to amazing views of the surrounding domes and waterfalls (Vernal and Nevada). After leaving there we headed to Glacier Point which is similar to Washburn, but looks at a different part of the valley (El Cap and Yosemite Falls). The last stop (heading back towards the valley) was Sentinel Dome and Taft Point. It is about a 2 mile round trip hike from the trail head to Sentinel Dome. I highly suggest adding this to an itinerary as it provided the best views of anywhere we visited in the park (definitely a great sunset hike). Keep your eyes peeled the whole drive into the meadows along the road for bears.

Day 3: Hit the Mist Trail first thing in the morning to beat the crowds. This is a very popular trail and also the beginning for the Half Dome Trail. We had to leave this day so we hiked the trail to just above Vernal Falls and hopped on the John Muir trail back into the valley. I’d say this was about a 5 hour hike. With the weather this year I’d say it was more of a downpour than mist, but it was only for about 100yds of the trail near the bottom of Vernal Falls. On the way out of town we stopped at El Capitan to view some climbers doing crazy stuff, missed Alex Honnolds free solo by 3 days (I’ve been telling myself it was him practicing).

Tips: I would highly suggest hitting trails first thing in the morning to beat the crowds. It is extremely important to stay hydrated (brought 4 liters of water per person each hike), but be warned there are not a lot of places to get off some of the trails to pee (rocky terrain with nor trees or bushes). There are numerous unmarked foot trails throughout the valley floor, pick some and just go! This is probably one of the best trips that I’ve ever taken, words and pictures can’t describe the beauty of the place. I will be back one day because there is so much more to do in the park. The only thing I would change is the bathroom situation, but we booked really late so everything was full.