Ribbon Falls Unmarked Trail in Yosemite National Park

Another week and another hike in Yosemite. This time the group decided to hike an unmarked trail to Ribbon Falls. The trail cannot be found anywhere on maps, and it is rather difficult to figure out the way up without knowing the way. Our hike leader has hiked the trail once, so he had the route recorded on Gaia GPS app. Even with that recording we got off track a few times.

The trail appears to be relatively easy on paper: 2.5 miles round trip with 1,000 ft elevation gain. In reality, you really feel the elevation gain since the trail is literally straight up. Certainly a challenging cardio for me since I rarely engage in any cardio activities at the gym.

The trail begins with a slight incline, but quickly becomes steep and continues so for the rest of the hike up. The views on top are unique, and the falls are definitely something to put on your bucket list.

On the way back, as I was exiting the park I saw a line of cars trying to get in. A line probably over 2 miles long... And this is not the busy season yet, just a long weekend. Glad I got there early...

Chilnualna Falls in Yosemite National Park

To this moment I don't know how to correctly pronounce Chilnualna Falls, but I figured it's no big deal. At first I thought that this is going to be one of those "kick ass" trails, but it turned out to be not so bad.

Parking was easy and had a restroom right nearby. The initial stretch of the trail is a bit on a strenuous side because of the significant elevation gain, but it only last half a mile at most. After that elevation is gained gradually but constantly until you reach the upper falls. Lower falls are within the first half mile and are absolutely gorgeous, probably even nicer than upper falls.

Lower Falls

As you go along the trail, you are exposed to beautiful forest, streaming water, open fields and amazing views. I even saw a family of deer crossing the trail.

Upper Falls

Upper Falls

Elephant Seal Walk in Año Nuevo State Park

I wanted to do something different this weekend and join a meetup group that planned an outing to Año Nuevo State Park.

Every year from December to March they have guided walks to show visitors elephant seals that migrate to the park for mating and giving birth to pups. Here is where you can get more information about the guided walks.

The walk is about 2 hours and covers about 3.5 miles of the park both ways.

The guides are very knowledgeable and provide you with cool information about elephant seals and their migration patterns.

A bit morbid, but still...

Elephant Seals shed their skin in patches like that annually

You get to come close to elephant seals, but not too close.