I grew up with the natural splendor of this incredible national park. I visited Yosemite as a child several times with my family, often bringing others to share its' beauty. It took two times for me to conquer Half Dome in a day. My first try with my husband was while we were dating. We had a late start to our hike that ended with me being concerned that the last two miles or less would result in us hiking in darkness, so we bagged the ascent. The following year, even through some travel mishaps, we finally conquered Half Dome. We hiked up the top as boyfriend/girlfriend, and came down as an engaged couple. It still holds as one of the biggest surprises ever in my life that my love proposed up there. Since then, I've always wanted to go back. As the years brought on new challenges of everyday life, a visit to my favorite place never left my mind.
As a last-minute decision, the Mr. and I thought it was right time to share these imposing granite slabs with our kids. It's rare to secure lodging at Yosemite so last minute, but we luckily we got to use some points to cover a one-night stay at The Tenaya Lodge, located about an hour away from the valley floor. Our family had done some light hiking this past summer and I knew the kids could handle a little more adventurous terrain. We opted for a hike to Mirror Lake (which at the time of our visit, was more of a meadow, compared to early spring/summer). Yes, mM came with us. This girl has been to Europe and several places in her first year of life. What a lucky stinker! Since baby was with us, we had to choose which hike would be safe and yet, somewhat challenging enough for the big kids. Only two waterfalls were still going. Vernal and Bridalveil. The latter was more like a strong mist blowing off the top of the rock. The Vernal Fall hike is ok for the first mile, but becomes more challenging with steep inclines. Mirror Lake, which we had done earlier in the summer (do not take the paved path if you want more "rocky" terrain), was our best bet for a short hike with the all the kids. It's 1.2 miles one way. The big kids loved climbing up and over some huge boulders and probably could have handled rougher terrain. Below are some pictures. Note, these pics were taken two months ago.
