Vernal Falls

Height of falls:
 317 feet
Watercourse:
 Merced River
Elevation of crest:
 5044 feet
click for a larger picture
Named vernal, for springtime, because the canyon below the falls is kept lush and green all year by spray, this falls is broad and square, in contrast to the horsetail plumes of most of the other falls in Yosemite. It forms the bottom step of the Giant Staircase that begins with Nevada Falls and is so striking when viewed from Washburn Point (next to Glacier Point). Because, like Nevada just above, it is on the main stem of the Merced River, Vernal never dries up, though the roaring torrent of spring diminishes to a filmy curtain by late summer.

The busiest trail in Yosemite (perhaps in California) leads steeply up from Happy Isles, clinging to the precipitous canyon wall above the frothing river hundreds of feet below. The trail leads to a bridge over the river with a charming view of Vernal Falls, framed in dark green conifers and bright maples. Most people turn back here, missing the even more dramatic trail to the top of the falls.

Every spring thousands of people enjoy a close encounter with this beautiful waterfall. The well-named Mist Trail ascends the canyon below and alongside the falls, climbing steeply on hundreds of huge stone steps. Icy spray from the falls lashes across the upper part of the trail, drenching hikers, as the thunder of the falling water, just a hundred yards away, deafens them. The final pitch is up a steel staircase wedged into a crack in the cliff. Suddenly one emerges into warm dry sunlight above the falls and walks onto a broad flat open expanse of granite. The roar of the falls is muted, heard partly reflected from cliffs near and far. It is possible to walk right up to the railing at the very brink, where the river rolls green and silent over the brink, curves suddenly down, then explodes into silver and drops out of sight.
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