“I did a run last week and none of the trees had changed,” the YARTS driver said to one of the regular passengers.
“It happens fast” the passenger replied.

So fast, I thought, that one moment you have golden trees and the next it’s snowing. I guess autumn is short here…or maybe it just seems that way since you can see winter in the snow at the tops of the mountains while the valley lingers through an autumn of golden maples and oaks and meadows of crisp yellow grass.

I’ve been fantasizing about long distance hikes: the Pacific Crest, the Appalachian, and the John Muir trails. In reality, I’ve been on only a few overnight hiking trips. It will be a while before I get to the point where I could spend 30 days on a trail. Of course, if Bill Bryson tackled the Appalachian Trail with next to no preparation (see his book A Walk in the Woods), I guess I could hike the John Muir Trail if I set aside the time for it.

Well, even if I don’t have 30 days to spend on the John Muir trail, at least I could spend a couple hours on it. It made up a nice loop to Nevada Fall combined with the Mist Trail.

I started out with the masses on the Mist Trail. The first part of it was paved and finished at a footbridge with a view of Vernal Fall. I hiked this part fairly quickly (for me) mainly because the crowds made me less willing to linger.

It was a relief when the trail split with one side going to the top of Vernal Fall and the other going to the John Muir. Though many people turned back at the footbridge, quite a few continued on to the top of Vernal Falls. I happily left them and started up the Muir Trail

The beginning of the John Muir Trail is marked by a giant boulder the size of an old ship’s prow. A tree grew from the top front part like a figurehead. A tall pine behind it gave the impression of a mast. Even though it seemed like I was the only hiker who went up this way, I wasn’t alone. There was some trail maintenance involving moving rocks, drilling, and paving the trail with granite stones. It made me think of cobblestones in old European streets. Like in Europe (and the US), the cobblestones on the trail looked nicer and seemed to age better than the black asphalt which I’d seen crumbled into ugly pieces on some of the trails.

It was an easy hike compared to the Upper Yosemite Fall hike (and compared to the Mist Trail from the footbridge to the Nevada Fall as I was to later find out). It wasn’t very steep and the switchbacks were long and gradual. Soon I got to the top of a ridge where I could see Nevada Fall plummeting from a steep cliff, the back of Half Dome, a beautiful blue sky, and the valley below full of trees. Here the ground was made up of granite slabs with a few trees. The sun was bright and warm on my back. I sat like a content lizard on a rock. I considered not hiking any more and instead just hanging out on the rock for a few hours with the sky, hemlock, fir and pine trees.

I ate lunch and then forced my aching limbs to move. The trail was worth moving for. Each bend presented a new postcard view of the falls and mountains framed by trees or revealed beyond stone.

The trail followed a wet rocky area then met up with the Mist Trail on the top of the falls, a stone table cracked by the flow of the river.

The hike down was steep and quite hard on my knees. My good deed of the day was telling a hiker who was having knee problems close to the top about the gentler Muir Trail which he ended up taking down. I felt a little guilty about taking the easy way to the top of the falls, but maybe if I’d gone the other direction my knees wouldn’t have ended up so sore. Rowshan and I had hiked to the top of Vernal Fall when we were here before, but we didn’t go all the way to Nevada Fall.

I walked down through autumn sunlight through golden maple leaves. I wanted to pile up the leaves and jump into them. I imagined the warmth and crunch and sweetness of the sun turned to sugar.

Useful Information The Mist Trail/John Muir Nevada Fall Loop is about 5.7 miles. Round trip on the Mist Trail is 5.4 miles. The Mist trail from the footbridge to the top of Vernal Fall and then from Vernal Fall to the top of Nevada Fall is steep (2000 ft gain) and involves a lot of granite steps. The direction you do the loop depends on whether you prefer to go up stairs or down stairs. The most popular route is the straight round trip on the Mist Trail. However, there did seem to be quite a few people who returned via the John Muir Trail. Both trails have parts that may be closed in the winter due to hazardous conditions. To get to the trailhead, take the free shuttle to the Happy Isles stop (#16).