Vernal and Nevada Falls: A Family History in Pictures

Although I started my older kids hiking short distances early on, our serious hiking adventures began in 2010, when my eldest daughter (then age 6) saw a picture of the Mist Trail in Yosemite National Park on the cover of my Falcon hiking guide. We started talking about doing the hike, and I told them that we would need to train if we wanted to start doing hikes like that. After all, it is a six mile loop, with a total climb of 2000 feet.

The oldest three were eager to give it a try, and willing to start hiking regularly. We began with a local trail, the Mill Creek Trail, which is a great cool weather hike. After making it six miles a couple of times, I figured we were ready.

Therefore, in June of 2010, we set out, along with a friend, to conquer Vernal and Nevada Falls.

This trail is one of my all time favorites, a trail I believe everyone should have on their “bucket list.” (I would also list the Angel’s Landing trail at Zion National Park.)

We revisited this trail in 2011, then again in 2013 with some friends who had never visited Yosemite, and then again in 2015 and 2016, as part of our “go hiking on Memorial Day” tradition. For 2017, a year of historical snowpack, we experienced the highest water levels I have ever seen in Yosemite. That first time, only the oldest three children came with me. After that, we added additional children, until 2015, when my youngest made it the entire way on her own legs. We try to introduce others to this amazing hike whenever we can.

Each year, we have taken a picture of some sort at the top of Vernal Falls, looking west toward Glacier Point.The pictures speak of the imperceptibly slow progress of geologic time, and also of the way that children grow up far too fast. 

2010: Ted, age 4; Cordelia, age 5; Eli, age 7 (Picture by an unknown fellow hiker.)

2011: Cordelia, age 6; Eli, age 8; Fritz, age almost 3 (he rode on my shoulders); Ted, age 5 (Picture by Peter Wonderly)

 2013: Fritz, age 5; Ted, age 7; Lillian, age 2; Eli, age 10; Cordelia, age 8 (Picture by Justice Gradowitz)

2015: Lillian, age 4; Ted, age 9; Fritz, age 7; Eli, age 12; Cordelia, age 10

2016: Ted, age 10; Lillian, age 5 ("Do we have to take another picture?"); me;  Cordelia, age 11 (Caught her off guard...); Eli, age 13; Fritz, age 8. Picture by Peter Wonderly.

And, for good measure, one of me (2016) by Nevada Falls (Picture by Cordelia).

 

2017: Cordelia, age 12 (who doesn't like pictures right now); Amanda; Fritz, age 9; Ted, age 11; Eli, age 14; Lillian, age 6; and me. (Picture by Elizabeth Haber-Lopez)

2017: This happened to be our 16th Anniversary, so we got a picture smooching beside Nevada Falls.

 2019: Ted (age 13), Lillian (age 8), Fritz (age 11), Eli (age 16), 
Cora - who still doesn't like pictures (age 14)

Half Dome

"Reading about nature is fine, but if a person walks in the woods and listens carefully, he can learn more than what is in books, for they speak with the voice of God."

~George Washington Carver

My blog is primarily about the written word. It is the record of my exploration of books, ancient and modern, fiction and nonfiction, covering a wide variety of topics.

There are two other important facets to my lifelong learning process. One is music, which finds its way into the blog from time to time. The other is the wilderness. I love to hike. I firmly believe that, whatever Spock might say, “because it is there” is a great reason to climb a mountain. For the most part, I hike with my kids. We started this tradition early on, when my eldest was a mere infant, but it really caught on when she was three, and I started a tradition of “daddy adventures.” In essence, I would take a child or two or five, and head into the hills somewhere and find an adventure. The kids really have gotten into it, and are eager to keep track of our mileage each year. (We hiked about 120 miles together last year.) Still, there is a limit to their endurance at their ages, and there are some places I cannot yet take them.

Last weekend, I fulfilled one of my mountain dreams. My brother-in-law, Josiah obtained a permit to hike Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. 

Half Dome is a strenuous hike of 17 miles, with a vertical climb of nearly 5000 feet. In order to reach the exposed cables at the top before it got too hot, we started hiking at 5:00 AM.

This is Nevada Falls and Liberty Cap after three miles of hiking, as seen from the John Muir Trail.

Half Dome up close, after about seven miles of hiking and about 4000 feet of climbing.

The brutal switchbacks on the flank.

 The cables, which were pretty terrifying.

This picture doesn't quite do justice to how steep and seemingly precarious they are.

This picture, taken by Josiah, gives a pretty good perspective.

At the top of the cables, with Cloud's Rest in the background. 

My favorite picture of the day. I'm at the top, with the high Sierra spread out behind me. There truly are some things that cannot be experienced in a book, and this is one of them.