Yosemite Part 6 - Taft Point

On our last day in the park, with the sky very clear, we decided to drive back up Glacier Point Road with the intention of hiking Sentinal Dome again. As mentioned in Yosemite Part 1, our previous hike here was cloud covered.

When we arrived at the trail head, we noticed that the pre-Memorial Day crowds were increasing. Most everyone took the trail to the right at the junction to Sentinel Dome, so we turned left toward the less popular Taft Point trail. We were rewarded with fabulous views of Yosemite Valley. The dizzying heights were overwhelming at first. We found ourselves standing on the edge of a shear drop off of over 3,000 feet.


The easy 2.2 mile trail from the parking lot leads you past large fissures in the granite that seem to drop off into oblivion. These five huge cracks, often referred to as the "5 Fissures," shoot straight to the valley floor, so you don't want to venture into them. We also found them impossible to photograph.







From this overlook you can see Yosemite Falls, Cathedral Spires, Mt. Hoffman and El Capitan. Kurt is standing on the ledge below the ledge of the man in the red jacket in the previous picture.









Not to be outdone, here we are together on the same ledge. Notice we are holding hands for stability.

Full view, looking down, at Upper and Lower
Yosemite Falls

Spring flowers along the trail

We stopped at Washburn Point for another look at the valley and to have some lunch. Nevada Falls can be seen between the two trees in this picture. This trail is the easiest and the shortest trail in the park.



From here you can see Half Dome, Illilouette Falls, Nevada Falls, and the pictured Vernal Falls.








Our last stop was the Swinging Bridge Hike off Forest Drive near the Wawona Hotel.





We enjoyed our visit at Yosemite. We spent six days inside the National Park. Although we felt like we did it justice, to see it all could have taken the rest of the summer.