For our second day in Yosemite National Park, we opted for one of the most popular full-day hikes: Four Mile Trail. The trail is oddly named, as a full round-trip hike will clock in at around 10 miles (10.12, according to my MapMyRun log). At over 3000 feet of vertical gain, it’s considered fairly strenuous—but the elevation increase happens at a constant gradual pace over the 4-5 mile ascent (via a series of seemingly never-ending switchbacks), so it never really feels too steep. Except on the way down, where we were both sliding all over the place on the copious amounts of loose gravel littering the path!

On the trail, we were treated to some fabulous views of Yosemite Falls on the way up, and then a great look at iconic Half Dome when we reached the top. It took us a bit over six hours to finish the hike (including all of our photography stops and a fairly long break at the top), so the sun was setting by the time we were done. Overall it was a really enjoyable hike; I’d easily rate it in my personal top five.

We both took quite a few photos, and I haven’t finished sorting through mine yet. I need to get to sleep, so I’m going to share a photo of Half Dome from today, along with a few pics from our day in Yosemite yesterday (click for larger versions):

Half Dome as seen from the Four Mile Trail.

In front of Yosemite Falls yesterday—we’re adorable!

View from the Vernal Falls Bridge, about halfway up our Mist Trail hike yesterday.

Looking out over the top of Vernal Falls. Lori wrote about our hike up to the falls yesterday.