Four Mile Trail - Yosemite

Last weekend, Carrie and I met up to go hiking in Yosemite for the day. It was an early morning for the both of us; getting up at 5:30am on a Saturday is not the easiest thing to do! We met up in Manteca to carpool together. It was a 3 hour drive just to get into Yosemite. The who drive was pretty beautiful though; I am still amazed at how much the scenery changes in California, even if you only drive an hour or so in any direction.

We arrived in Yosemite National Forest around 9, which was what we were aiming for. The drive through the forests was somewhat depressing, because there had been a bad forest fire a few weeks before. You could still smell the smoke in the air and see the burnt forest for miles.

First arriving in Yosemite Valley, we were greeted by El Captain, which was quite an impressive site driving through the valley. It's a popular place for people to rock climb.


We started making our way up Four Mile Trail around 10am, a little later than we planned, but it was still cool out. It was a cloudier day than we were used to! Hiking in California is very different from back home. You're at a higher altitude, it's a lot drier, so it makes breathing a little difficult at times. The views are stunning, though! On our way up the trail, we could see this dried up waterfall that must have been rushing with water during the spring season.


Four Mile Trail gains a lot of altitude quickly. For most of the hike we were on switchbacks climbing up the mountain. We gained about 3,200 feet in altitude on this hike, and ended up at an elevation of 7,124 feet. The views off the mountain were amazing. There were no trees blocking the sights for the entire hike up. Every twist and turn up the switchbacks brought us to more beautiful sights of the valley and rock faces.


It was probably over an hour or so into the hike before we got a glimpse of Half Dome! It was such a beautiful sight, and much bigger than I pictured it being! It is impressive, and incredibly intimidating, but someday I will hike it!


At one point in the hike, we were deep into a forest. It was peaceful and quiet, with the huge trees keeping us shaded and cool. They smelled wonderful too. The forests are so different from back home, just covered by massive trees.


It took us about 2.5 hours to hike 4.2 miles to the top of Glacier Point. There were so many people at the top of the mountain, because there is a road going up it. It took away from the scenery, seeing all these tourists who just took their cars to the top. I was still proud that I hiked my way to the top of the mountain and earned that view. There are so many domes and rock columns to see from the top of Glacier Point!


Carrie and I had to pose with Half Dome in the background. It is just such a beautiful sight! On the right side of the picture are also waterfalls, that hikers get to enjoy when hiking up to Half Dome.


I still cannot get over the vastness of Yosemite, and all the rock faces and domes there are to see! It is by far one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I was in awe of the scenery the entire hike, and especially looking out over the valley and at Half Dome.


Even the hike down was amazing! We had a whole new view of how we had gotten up the mountain. This view is looking down all the switchbacks that wind back and forth to get us up the mountain. There are at least 3 in the photo below! My legs were like jello getting down, it was an especially sandy and rocky hike, so most of the time we had to be careful not to slip!


I love hanging out with Carrie. We had some great times just chatting and sweating our way up and down this mountain. I am so glad she took me on this trip, and we're definitely going to have to do it again!