This morning we get up early and at 7.30am we drive again to the 'loop' as it is very quiet that early in the morning and you can get some nice pictures without all the people walking around. Then a short hike to the Lower Yosemite Falls but we decide to come back in the afternoon to see it in the sun. We walk on and decide to try the hike to Upper Yosemite Falls in order to enjoy the view.

These falls are known to be the heaviest in the park and we now experience that it really is extremely strenuous especially with the sun shining on us the whole time, it is very hot today which makes it even more difficult... The bottle of water we have with us is almost empty after about 2 hours of constant climbing so we decide not to climb any further but we stop about halfway to enjoy the amazing view from this elevation. Then we decide to hike back down, the view is really fantastic.

We walk back to the car where we meet two friendly rangers (two young students who are doing this as a holiday job) and we have a long chat with these two girls. This year already 4 persons died in Yosemite NP, mostly unexperienced climbers on El Capitan. Then we go to get some more water from our car and walk back to the Lower Falls with much nicer pictures and later on we drive on over the loop to Yosemite Lodge where we have a late lunch. The 'restaurant' at Yosemite Lodge is a real hell as it is extremely crowded. We are lucky to find a table, there is garbage left all over from the people who were here before us! But as it is the only place around we decide to stay and have a quick lunch, a salad and some fresh fruit. We take some extra bottles of drinks with us for tomorrow.

After a refreshing salad and some drinks to cool us down we drive on passed El Portal and check out the surroundings but there is not so much to see. After a short trip of about 45 minutes we decide to turn back and drive again over the loop for some last pictures with the early evening sun... a really nice time of the day to take some beautiful pictures as it is not so crowded anymore. Then we drive back to our hotel for a long shower which we really deserved after the hike this morning and then a last dinner at the River Restaurant where we enjoy once more the fantastic Red Zinfandel wine! Hik!!!!

Daytrip approx. 45 km