Yosemite / Upper Yosemite & Bridal Veil Falls
Day 3 in Yosemite National Park | Hiking the Upper Yosemite Trail | Hiking to Bridal Veil Falls | Tunnel View | Camping in Fish Camp | December 2025
We rose early this morning, despite having sore legs and aching feet, eager to make the most of our last day in the park. We were a little indecisive about where we wanted to hike today, as there were several trails that appealed to us, but I didn’t think I had enough energy to hike as far as we did yesterday. We ultimately decided on Upper Yosemite Falls Trail, with the goal being to get to a better view of the upper falls but not necessarily all the way to the top of the falls.
After checking out of our campsite, we drove over to the trailhead and had a quick breakfast. It was still chilly on the valley floor, but we remembered what a ranger had told us about how much of this trail was in direct sunlight and chose not to dress too warmly. Sure enough, not far into the switchbacks heading up, we had to stop to remove our sweaters.
I pushed through the steep switchbacks as we made our way up, my legs already feeling worn out. But I wasn’t concerned about how I was feeling now — I was more concerned about how I would walk down later with legs feeling like jelly. We made it up to our initial goal, which is referred to as “Oh My God Point”, and stopped to take in the view of the valley around us. It’s definitely appropriately named! I felt up to going a little further, so we continued following the trail until we rounded a corner and found an excellent view of Upper Yosemite Falls. We sat down on a rock in the shade and took in the view, and contemplated going further. I ultimately decided this was good enough for me for now, and so we turned around and made our descent.
As the ranger had warned, the trail was now fully in the sun and it actually felt hot! I didn’t envy the people hiking up at this point. When we were making our way around a switchback, Curtis thought he saw something moving behind the trees above us, and sure enough, it was a bobcat! Thankfully it was focused on a squirrel so we just kept our distance and watched it creeping around. I think this is the first time we’ve seen a bobcat on a trail (we know we had seen one once crossing a remote highway in the Oklahoma panhandle). We had been hoping to see a bear after hearing about them so much around the campground, but I guess this was pretty cool for our one wildlife sighting in Yosemite.
When we made it back to the valley floor, we stopped to get a sweet treat and then started to make our way out. We made two more stops in the park: first, we stopped to walk the short trail to a viewpoint of Bridal Veil Falls, and then walked a stretch of Artists Point Trail starting from Tunnel View. The falls were beautiful, though I think the far off view of them from Tunnel View is even better than looking up at them from the base of the falls. Hiking the Artists Point trail isn’t necessary to enjoy Tunnel View, as the lookout from the parking lot is excellent, but we did enjoy finding a quieter place to enjoy the view from higher up.
And that wrapped up our time in Yosemite National Park. We were so thankful we were able to behold its beauty and cross this gorgeous park off our bucket list. We left with lots of pictures and good memories from the valley, and also with a Nat Geo map of the park and plenty of ideas for what to do should we ever find ourselves back here.
We exited the park heading South on Wawona Road, driving an hour to Fish Camp where we had heard there was free camping just outside national park boundaries. Sure enough, we found a large lot where overnight parking was allowed. I’m sure it’s much busier in the summer, but on this Saturday evening in December we shared the lot with only 3 other vehicles. Unfortunately one of them was a minivan filled with boys who had apparently come into the woods just to scream, and another camper nearby who wanted to play loud music, but that’s what you get for choosing to camp in the free lot near a popular national park. They also left a considerable amount of trash, which Curtis cleaned up the next morning. His motives for doing so were both out of hope that this spot wouldn’t be shut down because of littering, and also because they left behind many bottles and cans, which he was able to deposit on our way to Fresno the next day for the cash redemption!
Besides all that, our night here was fine and we’re glad to know it exists for future visits. There also happened to be a meteor shower going on that evening, and the lack of light in the area made it a great show for us!
