Leon Turnbull Photography

I did not sleep well. It was about 27 degrees which is the coldest I have ever backpacked but I was not cold in my tent and I did not even need all my layers. I had two sleeping bags. I wore my long underwear and three tops. Nonetheless I only got about 4 hours of sleep and I am not sure why. It was quite a bit windy all night long but I don’t really think that was the main reason.

Anyhow I woke up early, packed everything up and then hiked up to Bunnell Cascade. It is only about a mile further up the canyon. The snow was hard packed and I did not even need snow shoes. I made it to the falls in short order. It was quite a bit colder up there so I was all bundled up (or bunnelled up?) in my warm clothes while I took my photos. It also seemed that there were better camping spots (remember that for next time).

I like Bunnell Cascade a lot more than Merced River Falls. Even though it is slightly smaller (53 ft.) it is much prettier. I took my time, took many photos, had my breakfast, then scooted back down to collect my gear back at Merced River Falls. It was 9AM when I started back down the trail for home.

From Nevada Falls down to the bottom it took 2 hours and 15 minutes (compared to 4 hours hiking up!). As I already mentioned there were a ton of people and many had improper footwear. Considering the horrible icy conditions I was very surprised there were so many people. It was like a typical summer day on this trail! I made it back to my car by 2PM, very tired and very sore. I was home by 5:30PM. It was a fantastic winter trip to Yosemite National Park.