The Arid Mist Trail

November 18, 2013
Mist Trail, Yosemite National Park
Total distance walked:  6.5 miles

Extremely happy is how I felt after completing the amazing Mist Trail. Hiking it in November meant that Andrew and I didn’t get to see the spectacular show of water spewing forth from the featured falls. We also didn’t get wet, the trail wasn’t slippery, and the crowd-factor was minimal.  I am highly impressed with our National Park System’s maintenance of this heavily traversed trail, one that thousands of people hike each year.

It was a cold morning as we began our walk from Curry Village, having parked the car there. The trailhead was a mile beyond at Happy Isles. The one-thousand-foot climb to the precipice of Vernal Fall began at the trailhead. We came upon a trailhead sign that displayed all the destinations accessible from this starting point.

A paved trail stretched nearly a mile, guiding us beneath a canopy of trees and through a boulder garden currently under renovation. The park is rehabilitating the lichen and moss on the boulders that have been defaced with initials, words, and symbols by vandals. This type of destruction is known as eco-graffiti.

The brief ascent continued until we arrived at the scenic overlook at the bridge.

The view from the bridge was the first chance we had at seeing the massive Vernal Fall. What we saw instead was a massive, water-stained granite wall with a narrow ribbon of water spilling over. At its capacity, Vernal Fall sprays the trail like rain from a torrential downpour.

Andrew pressed on up the granite stairs beyond the bridge.

When I stopped to catch my breath more than once, he looked down and asked, “Are you sure you want to do this?” “Of course I do,” I replied, “because there’s no way that I’m walking down these steps.” Down is always harder for me.

The sound of Vernal Fall cascading onto the rocks below created a symphony of mountain music, accompanying us as we ascended the granite staircase. As we climbed higher, I thought of all the people who had died there and said a prayer for them and their families.

Each step was deep enough to fit my small foot. Some steps were steep, but for the most part, it was a comfortable climb until the last section when I happened to look down.

The last section of steps was protected by a guard rail. I used the guard rail as a handrail until it veered away from the steps. Upon reaching one of the steepest steps of the day, I stopped and looked over the edge of the cliff, then froze with fear and couldn’t move. My hands began to sweat. Looking towards the wall, I climbed up the boulder-sized step bruising my shin and bumping my head on the granite above me. Once I was up the step and mentally back on track, I quickly caught up with Andrew.

At the top of the waterfall, we watched a woman climb over the guard rail and walk down to the water completely ignoring the sign that said not to do that. Even though the water was low, and the rocks appear dry, they can still be very slippery. I wanted to shout at her to stop, but I didn’t.

We kept walking up the trail and found a pleasant spot near Emerald Pool, where another sign warned hikers not to get into the water. We sat there and ate lunch before continuing.

We passed water cascading down rocks like a water slide known as Silver Apron, then a thread of water—Nevada Fall—came into view. One mile farther up the trail you can cross the top of Nevada Fall.

Through a series of switchbacks (another three-hundred-foot climb), we reached Clark’s Point, Andrew’s favorite spot on the trail. The view from Clark’s Point was outstanding. We saw Grizzly Peak, Mt. Broderick, and Liberty Cap as well as the back of Half Dome and Nevada Fall.

Here, the trail intersected with the John Muir Trail (JMT), our return path. The JMT guided us downhill, winding through about twelve switchbacks. Along the way, we traversed a section that seemed to have experienced a rockslide, as indicated by the debris scattered near the path.

The JMT eventually connected with the paved Mist Trail where we retraced our steps to the car.

This trail was challenging but doable, and the conditions were excellent. It’s a hike that I would like to do each autumn. As an added bonus, we saw a bear! As we were driving away, a bear with a tag ran in front of the car. The image was captured using Andrew’s cell phone.