Four Mile Trail

I love the Four Mile trail. Long, gentle switchbacks are easy on my knees, and as Tom says, the views are stunning all the way up. In comparison, the Upper Yosemite Falls trail is rocky, with short switchbacks that will give your knees a beating. Further, there are less mosquitos on the 4 Mile.

About half-way up the trail you get a stunning view of Half Dome and Tenaya Canyon, too. Well worth the effort!

Cheers and Happy Trails,
Edie

I have been trying to figure out which trails to go on at Yosemite. If I were alone it wouldn't be such a chore - but my wife will be with me and that makes things more limited.

Great trail information. Thanks a lot!

Mike

Hi, I see from your pictures you've hiked this trail in spring. I'm planning to do this hike in early May (up only...I plan to go down via the Panorama/JM trail), and I'm curious to know just how treacherous this trail is in spring. I assume when you did this hike in April, the trail was still "officially" closed? I know that any fall can be disaster, but do I really have to worry about slip-sliding around the whole way? Any precautions I should take? I have some cheap "yak-trax" which I use for walking around icy roads in Tahoe, but I don't know if those are really trail rated.

Anyway, great pictures...those were exactly what I was looking for.
Charles

That's the main thing you should bring on any hike of course. If you are willing to turn around, you don't need any special gear. If you are absolutely stuck on the idea of making it up somewhere, risk goes up dramatically. An ice axe is always good assurance, provided that you know how to use it.

That said, there were only a couple of brief sections of snow when the pictures you saw were taken. The snow avalanches (sloughs really) across the trail and builds up in a couple of spots and those melt out very late, especially because of the northern exposure of this trail. Most of the trail was dry at that time though. Only a couple of spots present real dangers in the sense that there is snow and steep drops.

For whatever reason, the dates on those photos are all messed up. You can always tell what the actual date is on one of my photos by the name which always starts with a six-digit code in the form: yymmdd, so the first snowy picture of the Four Mile Trail begins with 041025 which means it was taken on October 25, 2004. The other one, was thus taken April 27, 2004.

If memory serves, that was after the fairly big snow year of 03-04, so I would guess that is more than average snow for that time of year and probably more than this year (though it's been a pretty good snow year).

As for whether or not the trail was closed, I don't generally go to closed areas and don't recommend it, but I can't say for sure that I never have. I guess in the case of one of those photos, I ducked around the second gate. In the case of the other, it was just after the first storm and my wife had to go up to GP to do maintenance on the composting toilet (yum) and I don't believe the trail was closed at that time.

I've also, by the way, climbed up and skied down Ashcan Alley (a.k.a Le Conte Gully, up behind Le Conte Memorial). I did this on something like April 2 one year and since it's never "open" it's never "closed" either. It might be icy, but it's likely to be just mushy. This is a very dangerous place though, as we found out in October of 2006. Bad juju. But it is also one of the most classic Yosemite ski descents.

So anyway, to the point, there are only a couple of spots where snow accumulates and makes for a trip into the abyss. If you aren't 100% certain of your ability to navigate that section, you should turn around. Just for perspective, I grew up in the snow, had a couple of steep icy sections just on the walk to school, have skied all my life, ice climbed since the late 1970s (though I've quit now). I'm not trying to sound like a know-it-all, but I've learned from taking friends out to do stuff, that snow is a really foreign medium to a lot of people, especially in California where there's lots of snow, but most people don't grow up walking in it every day.

Just remember, it's always better to turn around only to find out that it was really fine than to not turn around and die. Personal story: one day a friend and I went ice climbing. I got to the bottom of a pillar that would have been an easy climb for me, but just felt uneasy. I felt a bit foolish, but I just looked at my partner and said I wasn't up for it today (though I had regularly climbed things much harder). Feeling a bit stupid, I asked to turn around and we did. When we got down and were packing up, we heard a big crash. The whole pillar came down. Might have killed us both if we had climbed it. Didn't feel so much like a chicken after that.

Like the saying goes: Making the summit is optional. Making the basecamp is not.

Thanks a lot for the helpful reply and thoughtful advice. I became quite obsessed with hiking Half Dome for the first time last year, and it rained the weekend we went to Yosemite. (It was in September, and it was the only storm to come through for a month before and a month after.) I had seen the reports the week previous, and literally was reading NWS reports every hour or 2 for the entire week. It took a toll on my mentally and physically (not to mention a strain on my personal relationships) being fixated on making this hike. I don't know why I was like this, and we managed to make the hike (only after driving to Sonora the night before, getting to bed at 11 and waking up at 5:30 the next morning). Thankfully the weather was OK the day we went (it started raining that evening), but I don't know if I would have had the wisdom to turn around, even had it started raining.

I guess the point of this story is to relate to your advice. I always have to have the willingness to turn around if the situation is not one I am comfortable with. It didn't hurt me at Half Dome (although I did get sick for a couple of days afterward...probably from the stress of the week), but it can if I don't think clearly about the dangers presented on any hike. I'm not sure in the future I would have had the willingness to turn around or say "not today", but reading your advice and story helps me see perspective. The mountain will always be there, so I may as well challenge it at my skill level, and when it is safe to do so, for me.

Regards,
Charles

Charles, I was going to reply here, but decided that since it wasn't related to the 4-Mile trail, I'd create a separate note on Staying Alive in the Mountains

My wife & I took the hiker's bus to Glacier Point in July 2007 and walked the trail down to the valley and then over the swinging bridge where after approx 6 miles we slumped gratefully into our car seats! Also we are from Ireland where the highest mountain just about raises over 3500 feet. I would like to make a couple of comments on your description of the trail.
You describe the trail as easy "if you get the hikers bus up & only hike down." This may well be the case for the fit & young however my wife & I are in our fifties and with marginal fitness levels. We both love to walk alot but would not describe ourselves as athletes.
We actually found that the downhill sections - much steeper as you descend the switchbacks - very tiring on the knees, also there is quite a bit of loose scree in places which was very slippy under foot - even in good hiking boots - and again put some stress on the legs. We both ended up with bruised toes from having them forced into the front of our boots! 9 months later I have just lost my bruises.
My only point here is to warn older/less than athletic hikers that the trail is not a walk in the park.
That said we are so glad that we walked the trail, the views will last a lifetime in my memory. If anyone wants a recommendation for the less than fit, the upper part of the trail is both beautiful & pretty easy walking. If you want the views but fear the walk get the bus up, walk the first half of the trail where all the best views are & turn back up to Glacier Point to get the bus down again. That will give you the best views without the exhaustion and if you are as lucky as we were you might even see a bear or two.
The following morning to prevent my legs from stiffening up I walked the Mist Trail as far as the top of Vernal Falls and plan to return to get higher to the Nevada Falls. You have to love Yosemite.

Dave,

Thanks for that corrective. Maybe I should edit my description. I find it an "easy" walk compared to the Falls, Mist and Snow Creek Trails, and similar to the John Muir Trail to the top of Nevada Falls. So by the standards of the trails that take you up to the rim it is your easiest option, but by the standards of other places (even within the park) it's still involves a lot of vertical.

Also, I agree that coming down is tough. In any exercise, concentric contraction (as when you're catching yourself on the downhills) usually causes more soreness than eccentric contraction (as when you are lifting a weight). So it's usually the downhills that cause soreness and I'm of the school that would prefer to hike up and ride down, but in talking to people, most tell me they find going up worse.

Dave has one other good warning. Decomposed granite is the normal surface on Yosemite trails with a couple of exceptions and that can eat your feet, usually from pebbles getting in your shoes. If you get some lightweight gaiters like the Dirty Girl Gaiters (don't be put off by that website; my wife's order arrived promptly), you can keep the annoyance down.

Have fun!