Gary-Summer: April 30, 2026 - East Side of Yosemite Valley

Thursday, April 30, 2026

April 30, 2026 - East Side of Yosemite Valley

Title: April 30, 2026 - East Side of Yosemite Valley
Hike Info : Description : Background : Extra Photo's : Flowers and Plants

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking

Trail head: Camp Curry Parking Lot

Trail: Valley Loop

Destination: Loop

Distance: 5.83 miles 1

Start Time: 11:26

End Time: 4:10

Travel Time: 4:44 (1.23 mph)

Moving Time: 2:42 (2.16 mph)

Elevation Rise: 591 '

Descent: 595‘

Maximum Elevation: 4,072'

Minimum Elevation: 3,992'

GPS Tracks

¹The actual GPS track includes two times on the tram. I have removed those times from these figures.

Description:

Looking up the Merced from the Fens

I got up at 6:20 wondering if I was going to go on today’s hike in Yosemite Valley. Reason why I am unsure? Yesterday I had my COVID-19 vaccine. Usually this only leaves me with a sore arm. But last night I was really sore and tired.

Sherri comes in and wonders if I am going. I have a weak Yes. It will be just Sherri and I. We take off at 8:15 with me driving. It goes pretty smoothly until after Oakhusrt. Hazardous trees are being removed from along the side of the road. Looked like a guy is just about to fall one when we pass by. But this puts us behind a long line which plays into when we get to the entrance station. We get into a line which is about half an hour long, finally entering the Park at 9:40. Lesson learned is to start earlier. There is a stop at the Glacier Point Road. The lot is full with bicyclists as the road is closed to motorized traffic, but bikes are allowed. We finally get to Camp Curry’s parking lot at 11:05.

Gary, the Hiker

Our boots hit the dirt at 11:25. Our first stop will be Happy Isles. We walk to the backpacker’s parking lot, then take off on a trail which leads us away from the road, not that there is traffic on it. A backpacking couple with a foreign accent came upon us. We talk-they are heading up to Cloud’s Rest with the goal of Sunrise Creek tonight. That is adventuresome, particularly since they are starting around noon. But they are in the same situation as what I have been in: wondering if they are on the right trail? Yes. I tell them how to get on the JMT.

Tenaya Creek Bridge

Lost Arrow

We stop briefly at Happy Isles before going on. There is the obligatory stop on the bridge to look up the Merced. Then we continue on the Valley Loop on the east side of the Valley. While eyeballing a dogwood, another hiker passed by, and we exchanged greetings. Then he stopped and we talked for a time. He talks about his wandering, having visited several national parks in California. He is from Illinois and has been on this wander for over a month.. I am surprised that he is in his 50;s. He explains that he is retired military and just in his 50’s. We probably talked for about 15 minutes when I realized that Sherri had gone on. My new friend told me to tell her that Lyle is to be blamed for holding me up. In reality, we both enjoyed talking and exchanging stories.*

When I catch up with Sherri, she is at the Tenaya Creek Bridge. We crossed it and found a nice log by Tenaya Creek to have lunch. Around 1:15, we started walking again. The big decision is do we go to Mirror Lake or go further around the Valley. We chose to go further around the Valley.

Base of Yosemite Falls

We got off on a paved path which will run us around past the backpacker’s camp. A few steps later a bicyclist comes by and says there are a couple of bear cubs ahead. Oh, be still my heart! Will we actually see a bear? We walked aways and there was no bear. But about ten minutes later a couple more people told us about a bear. And then we see the crowd gawking-a sure sign something is up. And there are two cubs and a mama bear scurrying away. I guess we are really too late for a good sighting.

We walk under the Royal Arches and its falls. This takes us past the Ahwahnee cottages and to the hotel itself. There we relaxed for a little while, enjoying Glacier Point to the south and contemplating how much more we wanted to do. Sherri would like to get close to Yosemite falls. We missed the tram, so we started to walk towards the Falls. We got to the Village. Sherri’s foot was starting to bother her and there was a tram bench for us to sit on. While we wait, I study a tram map-remember this because it gets into play later on.

The tram lets us off at the start of a quarter mile walk to the Falls. We go counter-clockwise to get to the falls-it is a bit dryer this way as well as a gentler incline. The spray is not too bad and we cross the bridge without getting soaked. Standing in the viewing area, we get to talking with a couple from upper Michigan. Fascinating how hiking we can talk with people, finding out different things. It just reinforces that talking with strangers can be good for us.

Yosemite Falls

We leave Yosemite Falls and walk back to the Northside Drive. Instead of waiting for the bus-it goes all the way around the Valley as far as the Pohono Bridge before getting back to Camp Curry, about a 45 minute trip. Even with that time, maybe we should have taken it.

But we did have a good walk through Cook Meadow. Looking east gives us a great view towards Half Dome. Plus the walk is relaxing. I thought I had seen where there was a tram stop at Sentinel Bridge. But when we got there, we did not see a sign for the tram. There was a guy dumping trash. So we asked him about the tram. He said no, but gave us directions to the nearest tram stop-over at the other large parking area.

We walked over there and a few minutes later, we were resting ourselves on the tram as it went past Housekeeping to Camp Curry. It is good to be back at the car. We shed our boots and take off. There is not a whole bunch of traffic, except around Wawona where we follow a pretty slow car. The next question is where to eat? I suggested El Cid in Oakhurst. Sherri did not object. It was a filling dinner. We made it back to our house by 7:30, a bit tired, but glad we went.