Leon Turnbull Photography

January was a bust. I think we basically received zero precipitation in the entire month. As of Feb 1, the snow pack is at 100% of normal (northern CA), 98% (central Sierra), 100% (southern Sierra). Rain is at 117% (north), 103% (central), 95% (south). That may seem ok but all the bonus accumulation we received in December is now all gone and February is starting off as dismally as January. I just pray we get a lot more in the next couple months.

In the last few years I have tried to go on one winter backpacking trip each year. Most waterfalls do not flow in winter but this year right from the start I had my eye on Yosemite National Park. To be specific: Bunnell Cascade and Merced River Falls on the Merced River. These would definitely be flowing and the hike should be do-able in the winter. I have been to them a couple times before but I did not have any good photos of them. It is a long hike from Yosemite Valley.

I was planning to go a couple weeks prior but unfortunately the COVID bug hit our household. I did not get very sick but the rest of my family did. Essentially all I got was a cold for a couple days (just a stuffy nose). I am 100% sure I did not get very sick because I had the booster shot (whereas the rest of my family did not have it). My wife does not agree with me but that is what I believe. Anyhow the first weekend I did not hike because I thought I might get sick (I did not). The second weekend I had the cold so I did not feel like hiking. By the third weekend we were all recovered and I was going hiking. No matter what. Yosemite here I come.

According to the Yosemite National Park website if you are backpacking from Happy Isles in winter you must get your permit from the visitor center in person. They don’t open until 9AM. So … I planned to be there by exactly 9AM. I needed to get as early a start as possible as it is a long hike and there is not much daylight in winter. When they opened at 9AM the ranger told me it is all self permit issuance in winter (even from Happy Isles). Ugh. I could have arrived earlier and started hiking much earlier. Oh well.

I was on the trail by 9:30AM. Of course the Mist Trail is closed in winter due to icy conditions but even the winter route is fairly treacherous. There is a lot of ice on the trail. Without spikes or crampons it is extremely dangerous. I had figured that since a lot of people would be hiking this trail every day it could not possibly be so bad. Wrong. Fortunately I did bring my spikes and it is not hard or dangerous at all if you have the proper footwear. However, I was following a couple other people up the trail who did not have any spikes. They wisely turned back when we got to the first bad icy section but the next day coming back down I could not believe it. It was a Saturday and there were a ton of people coming up the trail and many of them did not have proper footwear (and they were NOT turning back). The conditions were even worse on Saturday than Friday (a lot more icy). All these people who went up the icy sections did not even think to wonder how they were going to get back down later? (frankly I wonder how they even got up these sections in the first place – but going back down is 100 times worse). I would be surprised if not one of these people broke a bone (or worse) coming back down the trail. People really need to use their brains more. Is it really worth the risk going on this hike in winter without proper gear?

It took me FOUR hours to get to the top of Nevada Falls. It has never taken me that long before. I figured there were a couple reasons: 1. I had a very heavy pack carrying all my winter gear, including extra clothes, spikes, snowshoes, etc. (it was about 38 pounds). 2. I had not hiked at all in a couple weeks because of the COVID thing and not much more since Christmas so I was quite a bit out of shape. I was completely spent by the time I got up there and I was not even close to being done yet. I still had 4 or 5 miles to hike from the top of Nevada Falls. At least it is flat from there.

Flat does not mean easy. I had to break out the snowshoes before I even got to Little Yosemite Valley. Not a lot of people had been up this way past Nevada Falls. (which I thought was surprising). Once I got past Little Yosemite Valley there was no one at all. I was breaking the path. It was so incredibly beautiful walking up the valley in the late afternoon and being the only one who has been up there this winter. But it was also very tiring.

It was 4PM when I finally reached the first waterfall: Merced River Falls (58 ft. high). With only one hour until sunset and also the fact that I was so incredibly tired I decided to camp here instead of going on to Bunnell Cascade as originally planned. I setup camp, took my photos of Merced River Falls, made my dinner, and then went to bed. Could I get to Bunnell Cascade in the morning?