Up the Merced River

Merced River

Hiking the Merced River in Yosemite National Park

For me, to go to Yosemite valley and not climb feels somehow strange. It would be like going to Paris and not visiting the Eiffel Tower. But on this trip the granite walls were not our objective. Neil and I were here to hike into the upper basin of the Merced river during the spring runoff.

Our intention was to follow the Merced upstream to where it branches into three forks (Merced Peak fork, Triple Peak fork, and Lyell fork). Contrary to other Yosemite hikes, this hike was relatively flat, staying at around 7500 feet elevation for the bulk of the trip.

The first stage is to climb from the valley floor at 4000 feet to Little Yosemite Valley at 6000 feet. This is accomplished by taking the aptly named Mist Trail. This trail leaves the valley at Happy Isles and passes by 300 foot high Vernal Falls and 400 foot high Nevada Falls. At Vernal falls, you hike up quite close to the falls and are likely to get soaked by the spray if you don't have a rain jacket. This four mile uphill stretch was the hardest on the whole hike, since you are fully loaded and not broken in yet.

Two days later we arrived at our destination, the upper Merced. Neil had seen this waterfall from afar on a previous hike and wanted a chance to get up-close and personal. This amazing waterfall is created as the Triple Peak fork pours down over a quarter mile of giant granite slabs.

Up until this point, the weather had been typical Yosemite summer weather, hot and clear. However, overnight a good ol' Sierra storm blew in and dumped a couple of inches of wet, sloppy snow on us. It continued through the next day, melting almost as fast as it fell. It was just yucky enough for us to not really want to move, so we spent the day in the tent reading and pigging out on our extra food.

The fourth day broke bright and clear. Since the previous day was a rest day, we put in an 18 mile day cruising back down the valley. We took a little used high trail that stays above the river and joins the Cloud's Rest Trail near Half Dome. The views from this trail were fantastic. We camped that night high on the shoulder of Half Dome.

We got up early the next day and took a side trip up to the top of Half Dome via the cables. The view from the top is incredible, especially in the early morning. After mugging for the cameras, it was time to pick up the packs and pound back down the trail. Back to civilization, pizza, beer, and ten thousand other tourists in the valley.