Happy Isles & Rockslide and Yosemite Falls

Saturday was our chance to see Yosemite during spring, as we had plans to meet up with some rock climbers via a mutual friend. Snowmelt and rain means the waterfalls are at their prime this time of year, hence, we were welcomed with this dazzling sight of Yosemite Falls.

Unfortunately, our meeting time and place was compromised by several factors, so after an hour of waiting and wondering, we decided to take off in the direction of a prospective climbing area to look for them before setting off to wander on our own.

The weather was gorgeous, and this area of the park was not frequented, so even though we didn't run into our friends, we continued to hike along the climbers' path. We stopped on the edge of an old rockslide for lunch.

To be adventurous, we decided to scramble up the rockslide in hopes for a good observation point. The view wasn't much better than at our lunch location, and we realized on our way up that not all the rocks were as secure as we'd have liked. But even though we wouldn't recommend it to others, it was still nice to venture somewhere new, and we noticed we were even higher than the rock climbers adjacent to us too!

Patches of wildflowers growing haphazardly among the rocks showed a gentler side to the landscape. Taking a snapshot gave my knees a moment to recover from the tedious and slow descent.

We found a pathway connecting us to an easy, popular trail we believed would lead us to Vernal Falls. On the way, we saw the rough terrain we had just been on, farther off in the distance (the gray rockpile making a small dome behind the pine tree in the center). I'm sure some of the people on this trail had to have seen me up there with my bright pink shirt!

Notice in the last photo I have tape wrapped around my wrist. A large rock came loose and started to tumble down the hill so I grabbed it to stop the movement. It was a little heavier than I anticipated so I instead tried to control and decelerate its fall. But as it slid from my hand, it sliced across my wrist. It doesn't look too bad here (taken the next day), but I was dripping blood on rocks until I could climb up to Patrick and have him bandage me up. We had to rip it all off and put on new gauze & tape by the time we got back down again too. It made me respect the risks a bit more and take more caution!

This sign was a little further along the easy pathway, so it was neat to find out more about the rockslide we had just hiked on, and give us more perspective.

We thought the path lead to falls because we heard loud water and saw a lot of people on a bridge from our perch on the rockslide. Turns out it was just the swollen river! (It will take you to Vernal Falls too, but it was a farther hike along the path than we decided to go.)

The above video, taken from the bridge, should give you a better idea of how fast the water is running behind Patrick. It is beginning to isolate a few patches of boulders/land, gradually creating tiny islands (hence the name, Happy Isles).

We took a shuttle to Curry Village, before heading out to a different path, thinking it would be a last and unlikely attempt to find our friends. When we saw them from the window, we couldn't believe it, and I ran to catch up after disembarking. By that point Patrick and I were a little worn out for climbing and the wind had picked up quite a bit, so our group decided to get a closer look at Yosemite Falls via a more leisurely walk. In the above and below picture, you can see both the upper and lower falls together.

Below: At the bottom of the falls, mist flooded the air!

The day didn't follow our original agenda, but you simply cannot go to Yosemite and not enjoy what you do see & experience, regardless if it was different from what you planned. Even after our fifth visit there is still so much to see, and we look forward to next time, whether its for climbing, more hiking- or whatever!