The BIG Little Lies California Road Trip - 6th August 2019 - Mist Trail & Rafting Merced River

[smithlane]

Day 20

Last day today . But don’t worry it’s a day of epic proportions

I actually slept through the night, woohoo! That was until a little brat woke the entire campsite up at 7 by running round all the tents shouting and generally being obnoxious . I seriously don’t understand how parents think it’s ok to allow such behaviour, totally selfish! We could hear them sitting around talking so they knew full well what he was doing .

Couldn’t get back to sleep so got up and went outside where Jim was sat talking to our nice Texan neighbours. Chatted to them for a good half hour about life over here and life back home. I expected them to be Trump fans but surprisingly they were quite scathing about him

Once we were all awake we got ready and went to get breakfast in the dining hall. Huge long queue with only 2 people serving as one side of the restaurant was shut. We haven’t been impressed with the services in Curry Village. It’s peak season and they are running as if it’s at half capacity! Not good at all.

Eventually got served, Jim and I had the Half Dome breakfast which was scrambled egg, bacon, hash brown and toast and Sam had the junior breakfast which had a pancake, scrambled egg, bacon and orange juice. Hope just had her usual croissant. With a coffee and a soda it came to $36
Quite possibly the worst breakfast so far! It was luke warm at best, the hash brown was undercooked, the bacon rubbery and the toast stone cold. I left most of it.

Hope was sat over at the Guest lounge as they had plug sockets so she could charge her phone so I went over to join her as mine was on 45% and as we were doing the Mist Trail this morning I wanted more charge on it.

Once we were done we went back to the tents to sort out our bits for the walk. It was decided, Hope, Sam and Jen would stay here and go to the pool for the morning as they really didn’t want to hike. We took Sean with us though as we wouldn’t want to leave him on his own.

By 10 we were ready. As we’re so close we walked to Bus Stop 16 which is at the start of the trail.

The first part is relatively flat and easy but boy does it get tough with quite steep inclines. My thighs were burning by the time we got to the Vernal Fall’s footbridge.

This was really sad to read

The view was just amazing and the roar of the water was so loud even at the bottom.

It was only 10.45 so we’d made it in good time. It was decided we would have enough time to walk to the top of the Falls and get back for 1pm as we had the rafting booked for 2pm.

If I thought the first bit was tough it was nothing in comparison to this hike up. It really hit home just how unfit I am . The steps you have to climb were relentless and really high and with my short legs I really had to concentrate! You also had people coming back down so you have to keep stopping to let them pass.

It was totally worth it as look at what we were rewarded with as we got to the top? Quite simply breath taking, I’ve never witnessed a sight like this. I felt quite proud of myself that I had made it, even though I felt like my legs were going to collapse beneath me

We spent a bit of time just taking in the view and of course resting our weary feet. Even with the sign down by the bridge there were still some idiots padding in the water at the top of the Fall. This was only a few days after a tourist had died after falling down Bridalveil Falls

It was now around midday so we needed to get a wriggle on.
We all needed the loo but of course like a running theme only one was in service and the queue was a mile long so we made the executive decision to find a rock to go behind instead

There had been an information board I had seen on the way up saying it was safer to take the John Muir trail back down to the valley so as none of us wanted to combat walking down the steep stairs negotiating all the walkers coming up we followed the sign that way.

We weren’t sure we were on the right track as we were going uphill for quite some time and we were obviously expecting to be going downhill. At one point it looked like we weren’t far off the same height as Nevada Falls

Helen and I finally found an appropriate boulder that was sheltered from all angles to have a wee. Men have it so easy don’t they, but we had to scramble up the hillside to make sure we weren’t seen! We both felt a million times better after though, it was getting quite desperate

Eventually found a sign telling us we were on the right route and we started to descend. We were now thankfully in the shade which was well needed. The sun was relentless on us!

We saw lots of what looked like horse poop and it smelt fresh but our over dramatic minds decided it must be from a mountain lion or bear. No idea whether we were right or not

It was gone 1pm when we made it back to the footbridge so we were running seriously behind. What we didn’t realise was the John Muir trail is twice as long as the Mist trail. Oops

We power walked back to the camp and made it for 1.30 and got the kids sorted. They had thankfully got themselves a hotdog and fries but there was no time for us to eat. I needed to get into my swim gear so told the others to go on without me and I’d meet them there. It was like a sauna in our tent and I had a banging headache from the walk so I had to stop in at the shop to get some drinks and snacks. I don’t think I’d have lasted 2 hours with nothing to eat! Got 4 bottles of soda, a packet of cookies and a big bag of crisps.
I then power walked to the meeting point where I’d missed the Orientation but it wasn’t important. I now had a banging headache and was gasping for a drink.
I had just enough time to put my life jacket on which is mandatory then we walked down to the river.

We had a kids boat and an adults boat. Ours was considerably heavier .
Helen and I sat in the middle whilst Jim was at the back and Nick at the front doing the paddling. Hope and Sam were paddling for the kids raft.

The rafting tour is a 3 mile stretch of the Merced River. The guide told us to go under 4 bridges then the end stop is just after the 4th one. You can stop at as many places along the stretch as long as you’re back after 2 hours at 4pm.
We were off! The kids sped away

Our first stop was at the beach area we went to yesterday at Housekeeping Camp.
Quick dip in the water as I was very hot and sweaty after my recent power walk!

We had a few moments where the water became too shallow so one of us had to jump out to give us a push over the rocks, I blame the weight of our raft as the kids seemed ok

It's a hard life Jen

On again we didn’t stop until we could see Lower and Upper Yosemite Falls. Simply breath taking! I could have stayed here all day just taking in that view.

Our next stop was at the Swinging Bridge where we could see people jumping off into the water. Hope, Sam and Jenny decided to give it a go, they’re a lot braver than I am!

Waited a few minutes until it was their turn then they jumped, well 2 out of the 3 did as Jen bottled it
I only have a video of it, so these are screen grabs from it.

It took a lot of encouragement from us and people on the bridge then she finally did it after a few false starts. She said she had made life long friends with kids up there as she took so long

It was now nearly 4pm so paddled up to the end point and dragged the raft up to the waiting shuttle bus.

Got back to Curry Village by 4.30, we were starving so went straight to Meadow Grill to get something to eat. The kids weren’t hungry so I said I’d get them something later. I ordered a hotdog for me and the chicken quesadilla with fries for Jim.
This tasted so good, I had worked for every single bite of it!

After food everyone bar me, Hope and Sam went to the pool. As I'm a glutton for punishment and I've obviously not had enough exercise for today we were going to do the Lower Falls Trail. The kids hadn’t seen a waterfall up close yet and it was one of the trails I really wanted to do. I also wanted to take some photos from the various scenic stops around the valley floor.

There was apparently a bear over in the long grass but despite zooming in we couldn't see anything unfortunately

Got parked up on the road by Bus Stop 6 which is at the start of the trail. This is an easy trail with a flat path the whole way. Only a 15 minute walk to Lower Yosemite Falls.

I didn’t realise that Upper Yosemite Falls is the 4th tallest waterfall in the world! We didn’t have time to climb that one, will certainly come back one day to do it.

Took some photos. Sam is such a poser at times, he will not smile unless you catch him unaware!

After 10-15 minutes we made our way back to the car. It had been lovely to spend some time with just me and the kids.
On the way back I pulled in a couple more times to take photos, in every direction you look there is another spectacular view its hard not to.

Got back at 7, the kids were now hungry so I took them down to Meadow Grill.
Sean was very happy to have Sam back

Whilst they were eating I got some ice creams to take away. They met us back at the camp once they were done.

We all got changed into some trousers as tonight we were doing the Starry Night Skies Tour. We needed to be at bus stop 6 for 9pm so left at 8.30 just in case we got held up.

Got parked up where I had earlier and waited for our guide to arrive. There were quite a few people waiting, it’s obviously very popular.

Just before 9 our guide Marty turned up, took everyone’s tickets and lead us 200 yards back from the road where he had laid huge tarps down in a field. We all laid down looking up.

This was an absolutely fascinating hour, Marty told us all about the solar system, the constellations, the ancient Greeks and Egyptians and the 2 Voyager pods that departed Earth in 1977.
We were all in awe, he was so passionate about astrology he certainly knew his stuff.
We saw 5 shooting stars and Jupiter which looks just like a really bright star. Also saw the ISS fly by! Sorry no photos as phones were strictly prohibited.

If anyone reading this is planning a trip to Yosemite I urge you to book this. It’s only $10 each and worth every penny.
This was just the perfect last thing to do on our final night on what has been an epic holiday.
We were all gutted it had come to an end but we had packed so much in we’ve got memories to last us a lifetime

We drove back to our tents and sat out having a drink and played a couple of games of Articulate until 11pm.

There was a really large and loud French family who had just arrived and were making a racket. I mentally gave them until midnight to be quiet before I went out but thankfully they died down just before. I’d taken my paracetamol PM again as it had worked wonders the night before

[Macca04]

Another amazing day, shame some campers were oblivious to their fellow guests.

You got loads packed in to a couple of days. Again thanks for sharing.

[4fromsuffolk]

What an amazing day. I loved reading all about it.

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by Macca04

Another amazing day, shame some campers were oblivious to their fellow guests.

You got loads packed in to a couple of days. Again thanks for sharing.

See more...

It really does beggar belief where some people's manners go on holiday, just totally selfish!
We still had the most amazing day though

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by 4fromsuffolk

What an amazing day. I loved reading all about it.

See more...

It really was! Thank you for reading

[Goldia]

What a fab last day. I love all the photos of the climb up. It must have been a hard climb. The waterfalls though are amazing, making it so worth it. I can't believe the kids stayed at the pool! The rainbows and the waterfalls are stunning. It looks really hot though, you must have been shattered. Those stone steps look really steep and must have been punishing.

And it wasn't like you had a nice relaxing afternoon, because then you went rafting! It looks fun all of you look like you're enjoying yourselves. I have to say I would not have been brave enough to jump off that bridge, well done to everyone who did it!

The evening stars tour sounds great. Marty seemed to know his stuff and it sounds like a magical end to the trip.

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by Goldia

What a fab last day. I love all the photos of the climb up. It must have been a hard climb. The waterfalls though are amazing, making it so worth it. I can't believe the kids stayed at the pool! The rainbows and the waterfalls are stunning. It looks really hot though, you must have been shattered. Those stone steps look really steep and must have been punishing.

And it wasn't like you had a nice relaxing afternoon, because then you went rafting! It looks fun all of you look like you're enjoying yourselves. I have to say I would not have been brave enough to jump off that bridge, well done to everyone who did it!

The evening stars tour sounds great. Marty seemed to know his stuff and it sounds like a magical end to the trip.

See more...

I can safely say it was the hardest activity we did that holiday, the climb was relentless! It was so so worth it though.
I know right? I have a feeling in years to come they'll regret the decision to come with us. It was the right thing to leave them by the pool though as they would have definitely moaned, bloody teens!
The rafting was great fun, I was so glad we booked it.
Dear God no, neither was I. Couldn't think of anything worse! The kids enjoyed it though.
We were all really pleasantly surprised with the Starry Night tour, we didn't really know what to expect but it was fascinating. The perfect ending

[WileyCoyote]

Oh my this truly was an epic day ! The views are breathtaking, so worth the trek. Eek to the way down tho and goodness to having to rush straight in to the rating ! I’m knackered just reading it.
And then out again. Wow. You totally maxed it with activities today.
But just wow. It was awesome.
Except loud kids and inconsiderate other guest. No volume control. Totally annoying.

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by WileyCoyote

Oh my this truly was an epic day ! The views are breathtaking, so worth the trek. Eek to the way down tho and goodness to having to rush straight in to the rating ! I’m knackered just reading it.
And then out again. Wow. You totally maxed it with activities today.
But just wow. It was awesome.
Except loud kids and inconsiderate other guest. No volume control. Totally annoying.

See more...

I think today was one of my favourites of the whole holiday. I would have been so disappointed if our last day was a bit meh!
It did get a little fraught though when we realised we were cutting it fine for the rafting.
After the first night of no sleep I discovered Paracetamol PM was a god send so all was good 😂

[juliab]

What an amazing day you had! Waking, rafting and stargazing wow. Yet more fantastic photo's Yosemite is so beautiful and I've so enjoyed reading about your stay here