Staying in Yosemite Valley takes far more forward planning than Rachel and I can manage, so our plan was to get a backcountry permit instead. However, there’s still a lot of snow in Yosemite, so our options were pretty limited. We ended up choosing a short 15 mile overnight trip going up the Yosemite Falls trail and down Snow Falls.

Yosemite is particularly nice at this time of year as all the waterfalls are flowing. On a previous trip I’ve stood underneath Yosemite falls, but that certainly wasn’t an option this week, as you can see from the picture.

Rachel in front of Yosemite Falls

Despite the late spring, it was really hot hiking up out of the valley, so we were very glad of the spray from the falls, and eventually a cooling breeze as we reached the valley rim. From Yosemite falls we headed up the valley rim towards North Dome, but quickly encountered large amounts of snow. All the north-facing slopes were still thickly covered which made navigation tricky at times.

We finally reached a relatively snow free valley above Royal Arch Falls, and found a nice campsite with a nearby spring for water. We’d been there about half an hour when the local bear dropped in to see what was going on. He was more interested in eating the tops of the young pine trees than in us, and didn’t stay long enough to be photographed.

A (blurry) visit from our campsite bear.

On top of North Dome with Half Dome behind us.

Rachel on the arch at Indian Rock, again with Half Dome in the background.

After a peaceful night, we headed on to North Dome and a fantastic view across the valley to Half Dome. We didn’t have far to go on the second day, so took our time and explored various side trails, including Indian Rock, with a rather nice arch at the top. Navigation was again difficult as we had about three miles of solid snow, deep enough that the trail signs were all but obscured. Finally, we descended back into the valley.

The snow made navigation tricky at times.

This was a great overnight trip. The views from North Dome are some of the best in the valley, and once we got beyond the top of Yosemite Falls we were pretty much on our own. Yosemite is spectacular in the spring, and a backcountry trip is by far the best way to enjoy it, despite the long hot climbs out of the valley.

One of the secrets of backcountry trips in Yosemite is that you’re allowed to camp in the backpackers campsite in the valley the night before and after. However, the river was so high with snowmelt that the campsite was partly underwater and the bridge back to our car was awash. We had to move the tent as the rangers were expecting higher water than the previous day, but happily woke to find the water hadn’t reached our new pitch.

Saturday we had an easy day visiting all the usual Yosemite views, but beat a hasty retreat as all the weekend visitors invaded the valley.