I was at Tenaya Lodge for a conference and realized I had never been to this part of the park before. Just inside the Route 41 entrance in the Wawona area is this trailhead. A spring pineapple express had come through which was a bit of a dud relative to the forecasts but was enough to close Yosemite Valley further north, and get the falls really roaring. In 20 years of going to Yosemite I had never even heard of these falls, much less been to them. The Sierras continue to be full of surprises. The trail is a "short and sweet" 8.4 miles RT with 2400' gain, which works out to about an 11% average grade. Oddly only right at the start of the trails next to the lower falls is there any kind of exposure. Only downside, I didn't see much wildlife except of course swallows in the mistiest part of the falls (who eat the bugs that stay around all the humidity) and the night before, either a fox or ringtail run across the road when I was out for a walk.
Above, looking across the chasm, the mist from the falls is visible. Below, looking down into it from near the dropoff; deep enough that you can't see the fall itself.
Above, where the water goes off the edge; below, there's yet another fall right above it. And it turns out in some kind of MC Escher or fractal thing, another one behind that, but this was enough for me.
Above, streams cascading over the Sierra granite where they probably are usually not. Although the sky was perfect blue the trail was noticeably muddier on the descent as all that rain from the day before got to the lower elevations. Below, it's not a real hike unless you get to the snow line (or 10,000'.)
And then of course some more from the top.
Videos from the falls right at the start of the trail:
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