Upper Yosemite Falls Trail, May 2019

Total Distance: 7.2 mi
Total Elevation: 2,700 ft

In early 2019, two of my co-workers asked me if I wanted to run a half marathon in Yosemite National Park with them. Having ran many races before, most often through major cities or quaint coastal towns, I jumped at the opportunity to run through a terrain I’d never experienced before and in one of our nation’s most beautiful national parks.

Skipping ahead past a couple months of training in Boston, the three of us found ourselves on a shuttle bus at 5am in the Sierra National Forest, just South of Yosemite. Unbeknownst to us, it was going to be a 40 minute bus ride up 2,000 feet of elevation in order to arrive at the starting line. By the time we arrived, we had just enough time to go to the bathroom, strip down and start our race at 6am. The early morning start, however, was unquestionably worth it for the beautiful sunrise that greeted us as we began our race on 3 miles of National Forest trails. The race continued on pavement as we descended 2,000 feet over the middle 5 miles, and finally, we traversed around Bass Lake to the finish line.

Thanks to the massive downhill, we all managed to PR and, amazingly, we realized it was only 8am by the time we had finished our 13.1. The sun was shining, we picked up our race goodie bags, and sat by Bass Lake taking in our accomplishments.

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Perhaps the most satisfying part about finishing the race, however, was knowing that we could now focus our energy on exploring Yosemite Valley.

That afternoon, we drove into the Yosemite for our first glimpses of El Capitan, Half Dome and the rest of the Valley. After a brief stroll to Vernal Falls, we settled into El Cap Meadow with a bottle of wine and stared at the monstrosity that is El Cap. The 3:30am wakeup from that same morning seemed like an eternity ago as we watched climbers make their way up the amazing facade.

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But in my opinion you can’t experience a National Park, especially one like Yosemite, from the vantage point of all the other tourists. This is why the next day, just 24 hours after running a half marathon, I encouraged our crew to hike 7 miles and about 2,700 feet up the Upper Yosemite Falls Trail.

The trail was pristine – mostly flat rock, sand or packed dirt – and we had another beautiful day. However, given our nearly 12pm start time, it was hot! While getting up close to Upper Yosemite Falls was breathtaking, the highlight for me was the stunning views of Half Dome and the Valley below that the trail offered.

This was such a different experience for me hiking with two people I’d never spent that much time with. Our paces and attitudes towards hiking were all different, but we were all mesmerized by the grandness of Yosemite Valley. We were all climbers – Katie and Mikaela much more so than myself – but it was so fun to experience this place with two people that understood the significance and history of this place, especially for the sport of climbing.

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Needless to say, we got our workouts in over those couple days, but I don’t think any of us wanted to leave. The next morning we woke up again at 3am in order to drive back to San Francisco and catch our flight back East, but I know that won’t be my last time in Yosemite.