Day 2:
Adventures:
- Mariposa Grove located in the southern portion of Yosemite has hundreds of mature giant sequoia trees. There is a large parking lot. The shuttle buses weren’t running yet for the season. Therefore, we had to hike 2 miles from the Welcome Center to reach the lower Grove trail. There is a significant elevation gain.
- Highlights: Faithful Couple, Grizzly Giant, California Tunnel Tree. Wanted to hike further up into the Upper Grove, but knew we had to hike another 2 miles to get back to the parking lot. We hiked a total 7.4 miles.
A piece of trivia about Grizzly Giant—the lower limbs on this tree are 7 feet in diameter!
Tips:
- Arrive early to avoid large crowds. We got there at 8AM.
- Take water and lunch.
- Make sure shuttle is running. If so, that shaves off 4 miles of walking.
- Swinging Bridge 0.8 mile—turnoff is near Wawona Hotel
You hike an old road by South Fork Merced River to a swinging bridge. We were tired by then and needed a short hike.
- Drove into Yosemite Valley and listened to Gypsy Guide app. Stopped at Bridalveil Falls and discovered the short trail to the foot of the falls was closed due to a rehabilitation project.
