This is part of my posts on abandoned roads and off-trail hikes near Yosemite Valley. It is a side trip from the Old Big Oak Flat Road hike. But that thread already has 77 posts, so I'll start a new one about the waterfall.
See Old Big Oak Flat Road Thread
We drove into the Valley on Saturday, when the snow melt was filling all the waterfalls. From the Half Dome View turnout near the Foresta tunnels, or even better from across the valley at the famous Tunnel View, you can see a waterfall on Fireplace Creek. This creek flows down alongside the great gray cliffs known as Fireplace Bluff. It is a continuous cascade for a couple thousand feet, but they are in the woods and can't be seen unless you go there. An exception is the falls, which is about a hundred feet tall. The lower third of it is hidden in the trees.
Here is a view from the Wawona tunnel entrance:
Anyway, it looked like a nice bushwhack, so I went up to take a look. The hike up along the old road is well described elsewhere. You only have to climb a few hundred feet from the valley floor to get the best view anywhere of Bridalveil Falls.
Beyond that, you follow the old road past the swtichback, past the pipe rail at Rainbow View, and on to Fireplace Creek. Shortly after the pipe rail, as I was going up, I met Mr. Bear coming down. It wasn't at a place where either of us could get off the road, with a steep bank on one side and a stonework drop on the other.
A bear usually has the right of way, but it was a very long way back to any place where I could safely get off the trail. So I waved my hat and began loudly singing "My Grandfather's Clock". After two verses, he got a disgusted look on his face (everyone is a critic) and turned around. Eventually he found a ravine and disappeared up the hill...
The old road starts at elevation 4000 feet. Fireplace Creek crossing is at 5350. The base of the falls is at 5800. The creek was a bit high for crossing, but I didn't intend to cross. I backed off to a good place to start up, and bushwhacked up the hill, keeping the cascade occasionally in sight. Here is the lower third of the falls. The rock face is convex, and there is no place on this side of the creek to see the upper two-thirds of it:
To the right of the falls is a long smooth granite cliff whose base slants up to the right. I was able to follow along to where I could get above it, and double back towards the top. At this point the creek is back to its usual cascade:
One-way distance was only four miles, but the off-trail part was steep dirt and pine needles. Elevation gain was 2200 feet. 400 of those were from climbing up above the falls. There were absolutely no tourists and no gum wrappers anywhere on this hike.