Happy Isles to JMT/Merced Lake Junction

Mileage (8.7 miles/14 km)

We began the day bright and early at the campground. It was busy with lots of tents and the night before was quite noisy with so many people around. We were keen and enthusiastic to get started on the trail as it had been a lot of waiting and planning to get to this point.

Campground at Yosemite

We caught the shuttle bus and started our walk from Happy Isles.  We crossed the Merced River and started our long walk south towards Mount Whitney. Yosemite itself was very busy (unsurprisingly) and it felt a long way away from the remoteness we knew we would soon encounter.  It was great at the start of trail to reach the High Sierra Loop Trail sign which I’d seen many times in photos and guidebooks. It was also hard to believe that there was 211 miles of trail ahead of us through some of the most majestic scenery in the Sierras.

JMT sign

High Sierra Loop Trail

The start of the trail climbing out of Yosemite Valley

The intial path was paved and curved up steeply beneath Grizzly Peak. As we passed across a small bridge (which has the last treated water source for the whole trail), we climbed up switchbacks up to the top of Nevada Falls. The Sierras has had a very low snow year in 2015 and the falls were nowhere near as impressive as I can imagine they are when they are at peak snowmelt. However, it was an absolutely stunning view taking in Nevada Fall and Mt Broderick. It was also hot as we reached the Falls towards the warmest part of the day.

Nevada Falls

As we had a short day, we took an extended break at the top of Nevada Falls where there were some nice spots to relax and cool the feet. I didn’t get too close to the Falls themselves as I understand there have been lots of fatalities over the years.

Merced River

After the break, we climbed futher up towards Little Yosemite Valley. The area where we finished up for the day unfortunately had been subject to extensive burns and was not exactly the nicest place to spend the end of our first day. However, it was where we needed to camp to meet our mileage goals so we made it home.

Leaving Yosemite Valley behind

Burnt out areas