Thomas and I had the opportunity to go hiking in Yosemite between our two California weddings this past August (check them out – Joyce & Waine at Grand Island Mansion and Marisa & Sean at The Club at Ruby Hill).

Thomas was super ambitious and wanted to hike pretty much all day long, but the blackout curtains at our Airbnb did us in that first day and we slept in. Also, my phone alarm somehow didn’t go off (totally not on purpose….). We were staying about two hours away from the park. I know, I know – that’s crazy. But the lodging at the park and near the park is sub par (well, I guess camping would have been cool – but those all fill up months in advance – plus, we didn’t have any serious gear with us). Airbnbs close to the park are around $250 a night – eek! We opted to stay in Merced, for less than $100 a night, and drive back and forth to the park both days.

The first day we arrived in the afternoon. Yes, it was busy, but we did find parking pretty easily. We opted to do a short hike, as our time was somewhat limited. We walked to Mirror Lake and it was definitely worth it. A short, two-mile hike that had a rewarding view for sure!

As we made it back to our car we debated whether or not to head up to Glacier Point, as it was already late. At the last moment, we decided to go for it! Well, about 40 minutes later, we made it to the top (and I pretty explicitly thanked Thomas for not making us hike that distance)… What a view! We watched the sun set and soaked in the incredible view! What a world we live in!

The next morning we woke before dawn to be sure we could get our full hike in (needless to say, we didn’t get much sleep…). We had a longer trek on our agenda – Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls. There were a lot of uphill stretches this time around (which resulted in…. errr… some complaining on my end) but the views at the top were incredible! Be sure to pack a lot of water – or a filtration system of some sort – you’ll be glad you did!

Thomas took most of these photos – as he was pretty much always ahead of me and would snap as he waited for me to catch up. Pretty incredible, hu?

Here are some photos from our hike of Mount Tamalpais outside of San Francisco.