Mist and John Muir Trail

Well the original goal of this trip was to hike the Half Dome. However, it is only accessible when the cables are up and because of the nearly 200% snow pack this year, the cables were not up (until exactly a week after we hiked it I found out). Regardless we still decided to hike the trail because it still has a lot going for it.
Hidden Falls

The Mist Trail is one of the most popular short hikes in Yosemite. The hike follows the Merced River, starting at Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley, past Vernal Fall, Emerald Pool, to Nevada Fall. And boy was that river raging! It is called the Mist Trail for a reason and in the spring you are guaranteed to get soaked. After awhile you can barely see for all the mist and the trail is basically covered by running water.

I did manage to get shot of the falls when I finally emerged from the mist. The viewpoint at the top is gorgeous though because of the rainbow. It looks magical!

The river is raging up top and even spilling over the barriers!

Next up was Nevada Fall and you could see the mist from this one coming from a long ways away. This is one of my favorite shots.

I actually liked the side view of Nevada Fall better because you could actually see really well without a lot of mist obstructing the view.I have never seen a waterfall with such concentrated power (and I grew up by Niagara!). The water was literally shooting down from the mountain tops. All the falls and rivers were just roiling white.
Past Nevada Fall we stopped at the Emerald Pool for a snack break.
We finally reached the top where the trail splits off to Half Dome. There was a mule train passing through that was so cool! How awesome would that job be? After looking down from atop Nevada Fall we started our descent down the John Muir trail.
There were amazing viewpoints of Nevada Fall. Check out the sky-literally not a cloud in it.
I had so much trepidation about hiking Half Dome but after hiking the majority of the trail I am eager to come back and finally conquer it. I was expecting myself to be completely out of breath all the time from the elevation and altitude but I never once felt exerted. California's climate certainly agrees with me :)