As you might have seen in this recent blog post, my husband and I spent a week in Yosemite for our babymoon! We truly had the most incredible time, and ever since posting recaps on Instagram – I’ve been getting a lot of questions on any tips, tricks and trail suggestions I have for those visiting Yosemite.

I figured I’d go ahead and make a little blog post for you to reference now if you’re going soon, or later on if you decide to go (and I highly recommend it – even if you’re not a “camping” kinda person, they have a ton of cabins and glamping options).

So first things first, the trails!

#1 recommendation: Vernal Falls

This was our FAVORITE hike, by far! I feel like the views and the experience completely blew everything else out of the water. This is an intermediate hike, and there are about 600 stone stairs you’ll climb on the “mist” trail.

One thing to note: if you go in the spring, please note that the “mist” trail feels a little more like a “light soaking” trail  -*highly* recommend bringing a rain jacket and hitting this in the middle of the day so you can dry! 

#2. Lower Yosemite Falls

This is about a 10 minute hike all around, and super easy. Totally flat, and a super simple loop. We even found free parking across the way.

The waterfall (and mist from the falls – at least in the spring) are so strong, powerful and beautiful. This provided an incredible view and was super simple. An easy thing to knock out and help you decide if you want to do the upper fall!

#3. Upper Yosemite Falls

TBH, we were disappointed by this hike. It’s quite strenuous (or so we thought as averagely fit people) and it literally took us all day. The hike up was only 3.5 miles, but took us 4 hours. It was roughly an incline of approximately 271 floors (or 2,710 feet up) and is straight switchbacks pretty much the entire way up. 

What made it disappointing though is these three things:

1) You couldn’t even see the top of the waterfall, really! We climbed all this way and it was really hard to get a half view of the falls. 

2) Once you got to the top, to see anything you had to do additional climbing/hiking/walking, whereas on the other trails once you arrived, you saw the views. 

3) Honestly, the view of the valley wasn’t really any more epic than what we saw walking up… Again, it was hard to get to a point where you could view it well. 

So our recommendation is to only hike halfway up! You’ll be less exhausted (because the Upper Falls up and back is a solid days worth of hiking and energy levels)

#4. Mirror Lake

This was a really beautiful walk, and an easier intermediate walk. We walked around half of the lake, and found that the views really didn’t change much from the views once you got to the lake – so our recommendation is to walk to the lake (worth it) but then turn around because walking around the lake (at least from what we saw) wasn’t really worth the time when there are other epic trails. 

#5. Nevada Falls

We didn’t do this trail, but I wish we had. The Nevada Falls trail is after Vernal Falls – so the mist trail and Vernal Falls are literally on the way to Nevada Falls. We did Vernal Falls at the end of the day, so it would have been dark had we tried to hike up to Nevada Falls (and we didn’t have enough food in us to do so). But I remember doing this trail as a kid, and if I remember correctly, there’s a river/lake at the top that you can swim in (far from the waterfall, obviously) and it’s a lot of fun.

It’s a 3.5 mile hike from the bottom to the top of Nevada Falls (again, with the mist trail and Vernal Falls along the way) and if you only have one day and want to see some epic views and waterfalls, this would be my top recommendation! When we go back, this will be my #1 priority for hiking.

Then if you’re feeling REALLY ambitious, Half Dome is “along the way” another 4.5 miles after Nevada Falls! I don’t think you can climb all the way to the top without a permit (those get randomly raffled off), but I’m sure you could walk part way and it would be pretty epic. 

NEXT UP, TIPS + TRICKS!

Going on a bunch of hikes, I was reminded of some tips and things that we were totally prepared for, and things that we totally weren’t prepared for.

#1. Bring a water filter!

Especially if you want to do the longer hikes. For the smaller hikes, there are usually water filling stations that have potable water, but we quickly learned that this wasn’t the case for Upper Yosemite Falls. Even in the 60-70 degree weather, in full sunshine, our 70 ounces of water seemed like chump change for the day. I’m a big water drinker, so that’s no surprise for me, but Daniel – who normally struggles to drink 1-2 8 ounce glasses a day, was really wanting more water!

We’ve heard really great things about the LifeStraw (even bought one for ourselves after the trip to have in the car and for future trips). If you don’t want the straw, then there’s the LifeStraw waterbottle, which just seems super practical and helpful – you basically can take water from any source, and it will purify it on the spot for you! 

#2. Have lots of hardy snacks on hand!

Even if I wasn’t pregnant (so obviously it was a little amplified because I am) I would still bring and recommend snacks. Again, especially for the longer hikes – you’ll appreciate the sustenance and extra calories! We had beef jerky, nut and dried fruit trail mix, granola bars and fruit. For the longer hike day, we even packed a bunch of sandwiches to eat along the way (and I was so grateful for this). Whatever healthy snacks that add a little protein/carbs/natural sugar to keep you going when you need a little pick me up was definitely helpful!

#3. Carry a backpack (with good straps) to carry all the goods. 

This might seem like a no brainer, but I definitely saw people who were just carrying their water bottles, phones and car keys. That just looked like a pain. Especially if, like me, you also bring your camera, sunglasses, baseball cap, snacks, etc. – that’s a lot to carry in your hand! Some of the trails you definitely need your hands for the hand rails or to help balance you on a steep rock, so I would definitely bring a backpack. And not just any backpack – those ones with the thin, draw string straps definitely dig into your back and isn’t the comfiest. You’ll likely be wearing it all day, so make sure you have something that you’re fine with wearing all day!

 #4. Bring sunscreen, a baseball cap, a rain jacket and layers!

I always forget how different the California sunshine is from everywhere else. The sun is INTENSE! We visited in the spring and only had one sunny day – and definitely walked away with small sunburns. Thankfully nothing too bad, but I definitely wish I had worn sunscreen on our big hiking day. 

Additionally, I’m glad I had a baseball cap! I don’t wear them often, but I’m trying to be more mindful of caring for my eyes and protecting my face from the sun (because nobody likes wrinkles). This is something that is super lightweight and easy to throw into a backpack, so I’d definitely recommend!

Additionally, layers! It was weird how we’d be sweating in the sunshine, but then feel freezing in the shade. Again, the difference between the south and California is the humidity in the south basically makes the temperature the same sunshine or shade. 

#5. Bring a good attitude and know that you CAN!

I was amazed at how hard and daunting some of the hikes felt (mostly just upper falls). There were a couple times that I was like, “Is it really worth it, going all the way up?” Which I touched on the fact that I don’t think the hike particularly was – but the memory definitely was! 

I am a regular fit person – i.e. I workout regularly, not super hardcore, but enough to maintain a healthy fitness routine. So I’m far from a hardcore person – I’ve never run even a half marathon or anything like that, and have 0 desire to. I love my zumba and barre classes at the gym. Daniel doesn’t work out *at all.* He’s surprisingly super fit, especially for a tall guy that’s never done the gym or fitness of any kind really… but I say all this to tell you that we aren’t that “super fit couple” and we were able to do a lot more than I thought we would!

Unique opportunities like visiting Yosemite are a great time to push yourself a little further than you maybe normally would! Obviously, listen to your body, take breaks, hydrate and make sure your body has enough fuel – but know that this is a great time to push yourself. I’m always amazed that my body is capable of more than I give it credit for. Now granted, I don’t think I could (or want to) walk 11 miles, ~30k steps in a day and hike ~275 flights of stairs on the reg… But it was fun to do one time to the top of the second tallest waterfall and say that I did. Again, I was pregnant and the hike was hard for us so that 7 mile hike took us around 8 hours to complete… But it was worth it and fun!

#6. DEFINITELY honor the bear lockers and don’t leave anything in your cars!

You’ll see signs of this everywhere, and you’ll be overly preached about it from the local park ranger – but it’s definitely something to take seriously. I’ve seen cars legitimately ripped in half because a bear was trying to get a granola bar that was left inside.

There are bear lockers that have plenty of room on the campsites, and there are even some at the beginning of trail heads or parking lots in case you brought shower stuff, or something, and want to lock it away for awhile between hikes.

Now don’t worry – you’re totally fine to have food in your backpack as you are hiking – a bear isn’t going to come up and maul you! In fact, I grew up hiking in Yosemite and I’ve never seen a bear before… They aren’t overly friendly or overly starving. But they also aren’t afraid to come for the snacks if you’ve left something for them. So just be aware – we fell into a great rhythm of keeping everything in the locker or on our person, and it actually felt weird to come back and realize we could leave things in our car again… ha! So you definitely get used to it. 

#7. If you want to camp in the valley – schedule your visit WAY in advance!

I believe the campsites open up 6 months early, and fill up rather quickly. Daniel and I booked our trip “last minute” about 2 months out (and wanted to visit before the busy season even started) and we only found ONE campsite that was on the very edge of Yosemite. It was nearly an hour outside of the valley, so we had to make that drive for showers or hiking the popular trails.

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Well, I think those are the trails and tips I have for you in Yosemite! If you have any other questions or general wonderings, I’m happy 

P.S. I also had to mention… there were soo many parents carrying their littles in backpack carriers and it was just the CUTEST! Daniel and I definitely strive to reach a fitness level where we can go on up the inclines with a 20-30 pound kid on our backs. And I was amazed that it wasn’t just the men carrying the kids,