3-4 days starting july 27

[unathani]

This will be the first time to Yosemite. Planning for 3 to 4 days between July 27-july 31 with my wife. Both have moderate physical abilities - have hiked a max of 7 miles on an easy to moderately difficult trail. Love falls and being in water but seems may-June is the best time for that and July will be extremely crowded. Still, how would you recommend we plan for this trip? which trails would you suggest? Willing to hike quite a bit for two days and may be one easy day. Thanks.

[WanderingJim]

The Mist trail up to Vernal Falls and then up to Nevada Falls would be the big 'falls' hike to do in the Valley. May be busy, but the water flow should still be high due to all the snow still melting.

Might need a rain jacket, since the Mist trail lives up to it's name (and then some... it can be 'Soaking Trail' at times)

The hike up the Yosemite Falls trail to the top of the falls is good too, but more demanding (steeper).

Another nice hike (very full day) is to take the hiker's bus to Glacier Point and hike the Pohono Trail down to the valley. 15 miles or so, but it's mostly downhill after Taft point. Takign the Panormaic Trail down from GP tot he valley also is nice and lets you see Nevada Falls and Vernal Falls.

[Dave_Ayers]

If you've not seen Giant Sequoias, you should do that, Tuolumne Grove or perhaps Merced Grove. The Pohono suggestion at 15 mi seems too ambitious to me if your previous best is 7 mi easy/moderate. The longest I'd recommend for you is Glacier Point down the Panorama trail is about 9 mi and mostly downhill if you can get a ticket up to Glacier Point on the shuttle.

Since it's your first time, see all the classic sights in the Valley: Vernal/Nevada Falls (as Jim suggested, 5.5 mi steep round trip climb, but you can stop at Vernal if it's too much); Yosemite Falls; Bridalveil Falls; Mirror Lake (and perhaps the trail beyond). Consider climbing up to Columbia Rock and Oh My Gosh Point (steep, ~3 mi round trip). Try to get to the tunnel views on 41 and 120 and stop at Valley View too.

With 4 days, take a drive up to Tuolumne Meadows at least one of the days. There are several easy/moderate hikes within your previous mileage range there: either north or south on the PCT along the river (both are flat); hike around Tenaya Lake (flat); Elizabeth Lake (moderate 5 mi round trip); Cathedral Lakes (moderate 7 mi round trip); etc.

Check out (and maybe print out) the Hiking Maps for the Valley at https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/ ... hikes1.pdf and Tuolumne Meadows at https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/ ... mhikes.pdf .