The Mist Trail is one of Yosemite’s iconic hikes and an absolute must-do if you visit the Valley. We only had time to make it to Vernal Fall this time around, but it’s on our list to one day be lucky enough to get a permit and continue on to the top of Half Dome.
We woke up in the dark on our second day in Yosemite in an attempt to photograph the Valley at sunrise from Tunnel View. We got there way too early, so we sat in the car until the sun started to creep up behind Half Dome, but there was unfortunately just too much smoke for a good picture.
We bailed on Tunnel View and headed for the Mist Trail. The parking lot still had a few available spots at 7:30AM and there were relatively few hikers – just 3 JMT hikers with way too heavy packs and a smattering of day hikers with the same idea as us.
The trail isn’t really a trail, but rather a paved path paralleling the Merced river that flows out of Little Yosemite Valley. Once the path starts to climb there are nice views back to Yosemite Valley and south into Illilouette Gorge.
After a bit more climbing up the steady incline, the path crosses over the river on a bridge. We got a real sense of its sheer power standing over the plunging water. The Merced River is steep in this section and flows around huge boulders and fallen trees.
Just a bit further up we started hearing the roar of the waterfall as the trail turned into steps. Finally we got a peak at Vernal Falls just as started to get “mist”-y.
It was just as powerful as the river below, plunging over 317 feet onto the rocks below creating the mist that the trail is named for. The waterfall was in its own little alcove that was 20 degrees cooler and extremely wet from all of the mist, which was quite pleasant on this warm summer morning.
After snapping a few pictures we headed back to the car to start the 2 hour drive back to Mammoth Lakes. On the way down we passed a steady stream of people heading up the hill, speaking all sorts of languages.
We definitely recommend going up this trail as early in the morning as possible to avoid the hundreds of people that make this hike every day.
Aside from the crowds, the Mist trail is a Yosemite classic and must-see when visiting the Valley. Next time we plan to hike further up the trail and see Nevada Falls.
