All alone in Yosemite Valley

Between Christmas and New Year's Day we were up in Yosemite, looking for some nice hikes and hoping to avoid most of the crowds. And we were pretty darn successful. Here are two hikes that gave us hours of enjoyment, and we didn't meet another soul. And yet the trailheads are right in the heart of Yosemite Valley.

In fact, on our way to one hike we heard a couple of people on the shuttle bus complaining about the crowds and the crush. Fifteen minutes later we were alone in the woods, and didn't see anyone else until we returned to the trailhead three hours later.

So where did we go?

lllilouette Canyon: The rangers in the park will not recommend this one. In fact, we know at least one person who was told that you need ropes and climbing gear to get here. You don't. You need arms and legs, and an indomitable will to plug away uphill through some dense brush and really big boulders. And you need to be smart, not stupid.

There is no trail. You start by the Happy Isles Nature Center, and follow the Panorama Trail there up into the canyon. But when you get to first bridge across Illilouette Creek; stop. Do not cross the bridge. There should be a huge water tank on your right. Turn right and go past the tank and keep climbing up the canyon, always staying to the right of the creek. There is no trail. It gets steep. It gets brushy. But you eventually get up above most of the trees, and at that point you have some great views of the back of Half Dome, and up Merced Canyon above Vernal Falls.

Illilouette Falls themselves are lovely, but that's not the real reason for this hike. The real reason is to get away from everyone in the Valley and see a part of Yosemite that very few people have ever seen.

It's only about three miles round trip, but we recommend at least three hours to make this scramble/trip. And be careful. There is plenty of evidence of bears in this area...and if you get hurt up here, it will be really hard to get you out of here. Be safe.

Ribbon Falls: Speaking of getting away from it all...there are people who rock climb all over Yosemite Valley, and they don't see many people at all! This "trail" is a use trail that was created by some of those climbers on their way to climb the Golden Wall--a section of granite just west of El Capitan. They've left a ducked route that you can follow, if you pay a lot of attention, and it goes just about straight up. This is a very steep trail, as these guys don't believe in switchbacks. They just go straight up the side of the canyon, and so do you if you follow them!