I was in the valley last weekend 7/10-11. I've been meaning for some time to check out Sunnyside Bench trail and see how far up towards Fern Ledge I could get.
I didn't get anywhere near Fern Ledge, in fact I never left Sunnyside Bench trail, but I did get all the way across to the top of Lower Yosemite Fall. As you can see in these videos you can get awfully close, suicidally close I'd say.
To get to the trail I rode the shuttle bus and got off at the Lower Yosemite Fall stop. I started the walk up to the bridge. You get to a junction where left takes you to the Lower Yosemite Falls bridge, and right goes up hill along the Valley Loop trail. I went uphill on the trail passing NPS employee residential housing on the right. You're in forest the entire time. You get past the housing and reach a couple of stock trails "Government Stock Only" heading down to the stables. As you reach the top of the hill and the trail flattens out you'll see the stables downslope on the right. You come out of the forest and have a creek gully and boulder tumble upslope on the left. Head uphill between the creek gully and boulder tumble. You should quickly find a climbers usage trail that'll be pretty clear the whole way across the bench to the top of the falls. I found the trail pretty easy to follow and safe for the most part. If you run into any trails going up stick with the lower one. The trail skirts the cliff face and is fairly exposed in a few places, so be careful and don't slip or else!
Slide Show of Photos
First good spot looking down at the precipice
Another video from the first good spot looking down at the precipice
I managed to work my way up the slabs up the gully to get a better look at the first upstream pool.
A few traverses across the slabs and grass spots took me a bit farther down/closer to the water.
Afterwards I just wanted to cool off. The breeze coming off the lower falls at the bridge was close and seemed like a nice spot. I sat there watching the tourists. Can you see the rope hanging off of Lost Arrow? The railing at Yosemite Point?
The Moon is Waxing Gibbous (61% of Full)
Re: Sunnyside Bench Hike: trail description and videos from the edge
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July 18, 2010 12:19PM |
July 19, 2010 07:15AM |
July 19, 2010 10:31AM |
Ok, The videos are now 'public' on youtube so everyone can see them.
There are 4 railings with amazing views on the Upper Yosemite Falls trail.
) Columbia Rock
) Oh-My-Gosh ( I've always called it Lower Falls overlook but I recently came across this name )
) Upper Falls overlook
) Yosemite Point
Columbia Rock and Yosemite Point are right on the trail and pretty obvious. The other two much less so.
You may think you've gotten to the Upper Falls overlook, but if you haven't leaned over a railing and looked at Yosemite Creek going over an edge into open air then you've missed it.
Slideshow of the Upper Falls area/Overlook
If you think you're there and don't see a railing, look to the left toward Half Dome, Lost Arrow, and Yosemite Point. Look for a trail that goes down the slabs.
Oh-My-Gosh is at the end of an unmarked trail spur off of Upper Yosemite Falls trail. As you're hiking up the trail you come around a left turn corner in the trail and get your first view of Upper Yosemite Falls. Turn around and start walking downtrail. As you go right around the corner, look downslope on your left. You'll see a rocky trail going down.
Slideshow of Oh-My-Gosh
I haven't managed to capture this entire view in a single photo. It's just too BIG!
I don't know why NPS hides this spot. Although it is pretty small. They may not want crowds for safety reasons.
I thought the hike was pretty easy. But I also think I hit it at a good time. A month ago the slabs above Lower Falls precipice would have been covered in water and slick as ice. I wouldn't have been able to get anywhere as near as I was able to this trip. The meadows would have been slick marshes.
I also think I stuck with the easy part of the trail. I didn't head up the slabs towards Fern Ledge. If people talk about how dangerous it is, or have died up there, I think it's much more likely they're talking about the slabs above Sunnyside Bench. I was only on class 1 or 2, the slabs above are class 3 or 4.
On the other hand you always have to be carefull and know your own limits. It's SSSSOOOO easy to die in Yosemite!
I'm making it seem easy. For another perspective read Fern Ledge: John Muir's Yosemite Falls
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/19/2010 10:38AM by qumqats.
There are 4 railings with amazing views on the Upper Yosemite Falls trail.
) Columbia Rock
) Oh-My-Gosh ( I've always called it Lower Falls overlook but I recently came across this name )
) Upper Falls overlook
) Yosemite Point
Columbia Rock and Yosemite Point are right on the trail and pretty obvious. The other two much less so.
You may think you've gotten to the Upper Falls overlook, but if you haven't leaned over a railing and looked at Yosemite Creek going over an edge into open air then you've missed it.
Slideshow of the Upper Falls area/Overlook
If you think you're there and don't see a railing, look to the left toward Half Dome, Lost Arrow, and Yosemite Point. Look for a trail that goes down the slabs.
Oh-My-Gosh is at the end of an unmarked trail spur off of Upper Yosemite Falls trail. As you're hiking up the trail you come around a left turn corner in the trail and get your first view of Upper Yosemite Falls. Turn around and start walking downtrail. As you go right around the corner, look downslope on your left. You'll see a rocky trail going down.
Slideshow of Oh-My-Gosh
I haven't managed to capture this entire view in a single photo. It's just too BIG!
I don't know why NPS hides this spot. Although it is pretty small. They may not want crowds for safety reasons.
I thought the hike was pretty easy. But I also think I hit it at a good time. A month ago the slabs above Lower Falls precipice would have been covered in water and slick as ice. I wouldn't have been able to get anywhere as near as I was able to this trip. The meadows would have been slick marshes.
I also think I stuck with the easy part of the trail. I didn't head up the slabs towards Fern Ledge. If people talk about how dangerous it is, or have died up there, I think it's much more likely they're talking about the slabs above Sunnyside Bench. I was only on class 1 or 2, the slabs above are class 3 or 4.
On the other hand you always have to be carefull and know your own limits. It's SSSSOOOO easy to die in Yosemite!
I'm making it seem easy. For another perspective read Fern Ledge: John Muir's Yosemite Falls
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/19/2010 10:38AM by qumqats.
July 19, 2010 10:57AM |
October 19, 2011 07:58AM |
I think you can only capture this view if you do a panorama. This image was taken in June but it was a cloudy day. My friend made a special bracket to clamp to the railing so the camera could look down without getting the railing in the image but it wasn't optimum. We hope to get it right on a sunny day in 2012.
Panoramic Images - http://panoramas.aa6g.org/
Panoramic Images - http://panoramas.aa6g.org/
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Re: Sunnyside Bench Hike: trail description and videos from the edge October 20, 2011 10:04AM |
Good shot. Should have done some darker exposures of the sky so you could either mask them in, or do an HDR.Quote
Calaveras
I think you can only capture this view if you do a panorama. This image was taken in June but it was a cloudy day. My friend made a special bracket to clamp to the railing so the camera could look down without getting the railing in the image but it wasn't optimum. We hope to get it right on a sunny day in 2012.
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Re: Sunnyside Bench Hike: trail description and videos from the edge October 20, 2011 11:30AM |
Quote
hotrod4x5
Good shot. Should have done some darker exposures of the sky so you could either mask them in, or do an HDR.Quote
Calaveras
I think you can only capture this view if you do a panorama. This image was taken in June but it was a cloudy day. My friend made a special bracket to clamp to the railing so the camera could look down without getting the railing in the image but it wasn't optimum. We hope to get it right on a sunny day in 2012.
ACK! NO HDR!!!! NO. H. D. R.!!!!!!!!!!
October 20, 2011 11:45AM |
October 20, 2011 07:34PM |
October 20, 2011 04:23PM |
Okay, a couple of comments. The sky is not blown out. HDR would have made no difference. The sky was uniform diffused white. There was no detail to be had. Second, yes the bottom is distorted. It has to do with the way Photoshop assembles the images. I'm not sure what to do about that. I commented above that we plan to go back next year when the falls are good on a sunny day. We will also have a modified bracket that allows the camera to hang farther over the railing and maybe get more of the scene below to reduce the distortion.
This is most difficult panoramic spot I've tried to shoot because of the vertical nature of the scene. I didn't put much time into this image because I knew it wasn't optimum. Sometimes you have to visit these spots 2 or 3 times to get just what you want. Other times it comes out great on the first try. You'll find much better images on my web site.
Here are two images from this past Tuesday. I haven't formatted them for my web site yet. These were taken from the bluff above Upper Cathedral Lake at about 10,050'. It's not the ridge that lies between Cathedral Peak and Echo Peaks but about half way up to that spot. Both of these images are tiny versions of the actual images. The Cathedral Peak image is just about perfect for a 40" x 30" print at 300 dpi and the wide pan would make a 94" x 25" print at 300 dpi.
Panoramic Images - http://panoramas.aa6g.org/
This is most difficult panoramic spot I've tried to shoot because of the vertical nature of the scene. I didn't put much time into this image because I knew it wasn't optimum. Sometimes you have to visit these spots 2 or 3 times to get just what you want. Other times it comes out great on the first try. You'll find much better images on my web site.
Here are two images from this past Tuesday. I haven't formatted them for my web site yet. These were taken from the bluff above Upper Cathedral Lake at about 10,050'. It's not the ridge that lies between Cathedral Peak and Echo Peaks but about half way up to that spot. Both of these images are tiny versions of the actual images. The Cathedral Peak image is just about perfect for a 40" x 30" print at 300 dpi and the wide pan would make a 94" x 25" print at 300 dpi.
Panoramic Images - http://panoramas.aa6g.org/
October 22, 2011 12:17AM |
October 22, 2011 07:39AM |
October 20, 2011 07:17PM |
October 20, 2011 07:33PM |
Quote
mrcondron
Quote
qumqats
HDR. HDR HDR.
OK, OK. WTF is HDR????
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_dynamic_range_imaging
(Funny... Condron doesn't sound Polish. Got changed coming through Ellis?
)Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/20/2011 07:41PM by szalkowski.
October 20, 2011 07:47PM |
Quote
szalkowski
Quote
mrcondron
Quote
qumqats
HDR. HDR HDR.
OK, OK. WTF is HDR????
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_dynamic_range_imaging
(Funny... Condron doesn't sound Polish. Got changed coming through Ellis?
I was forced to google HDR. In the old days I used 5254 film and this HRD crap wasn't a problem.
Old Dude
October 20, 2011 08:36PM |
October 20, 2011 08:35PM |
July 19, 2010 08:27AM |
October 22, 2011 06:02AM |
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Re: Sunnyside Bench Hike: trail description and videos from the edge April 10, 2019 12:38PM |
Glad to know that searching 'Sunnyside Bench' this site comes up as the fifth result. I knew there was a reason this my go to place for all things Yosemite, there are literally centuries of hiking experience here that is available to all who take the initiative to ask.
That being said, on to my question:
Thinking of doing Sunnyside bench next week to look at the falls from a new perspective, but am not sure if it's too early in the season to do this safely.
We are well versed on a lot of the off-trail areas Yosemite has, as well as scrambling cross country on granite. Also, safety is #1, so if anyone in my group feels uncomfortable, we just turn around no questions asked.
I'm just wondering if it's worth attempting, or will the spring time ephemeral falls make it less than ideal. We want an adventure, not an epic rescue that gets written about by YOSAR
I appreciate any advice you guys have!
That being said, on to my question:
Thinking of doing Sunnyside bench next week to look at the falls from a new perspective, but am not sure if it's too early in the season to do this safely.
We are well versed on a lot of the off-trail areas Yosemite has, as well as scrambling cross country on granite. Also, safety is #1, so if anyone in my group feels uncomfortable, we just turn around no questions asked.
I'm just wondering if it's worth attempting, or will the spring time ephemeral falls make it less than ideal. We want an adventure, not an epic rescue that gets written about by YOSAR
I appreciate any advice you guys have!
April 15, 2019 12:35PM |
Since I know what you have done...
We were in the valley on the 8th...
It looked like this:
The red circle is probably the most problematic spot. If you get by there.. you probably good to go rest of way.
I'd look for how much water where I drew the blue lines...
Honestly, I'm going to really undersell this. I was really really wanting to do this. And then I did it and it was a …
um... ok, that was … um... just ok... I was not overwhelmed at all. Almost have no desire to even do it again.
It's very close to a one and done for me.
The trail across the way... that's a different story. (done twice... and I want to do again)
Be safe.
We were in the valley on the 8th...
It looked like this:
The red circle is probably the most problematic spot. If you get by there.. you probably good to go rest of way.
I'd look for how much water where I drew the blue lines...
Honestly, I'm going to really undersell this. I was really really wanting to do this. And then I did it and it was a …
um... ok, that was … um... just ok... I was not overwhelmed at all. Almost have no desire to even do it again.
It's very close to a one and done for me.
The trail across the way... that's a different story. (done twice... and I want to do again)
Be safe.
April 18, 2019 06:20AM |
I was poking around this morning.. and was reminded why I wanted to go there...
early 1900s snapchat...
Getting this shot was much more interesting than what I was willing to do...
But I may go back ….
early 1900s snapchat...
Getting this shot was much more interesting than what I was willing to do...
But I may go back ….
April 18, 2019 06:41AM |
Good call btw... it has some interesting parts...
and this is as close as I wanted to get... yeah, you can see the top of the lower falls... but... ok...
Be safe
and this is as close as I wanted to get... yeah, you can see the top of the lower falls... but... ok...
Be safe
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