2 Day Out & Back from Bottom to Top of Chilnualna Falls
Quick Stats: 11 miles (photo above drawn with All Trails App)
- Day 1: Chilnualna Trailhead to the top of Chilnualna Falls (5.6 miles, 2,425 ft. elevation)
- Day 2: Head back the same way (5.6 miles, 2,425 ft. descent)
All Girls Trip… All Badass (see fire)
Meet Viviane. A collector of fallen pine cones and chipmunks’ leftover mini acorns.
Stocked with gummy bears, nutella packets, and a delicious freeze-dried lasagna feast, Viviane and I set out at 6am and killed it on our intense 2,425 ft. ascent, making it to the top in only 4 hours. Sure we stopped for snacks of banana chips and trail mix about a hundred times, and we couldn’t pass a flower or rock formation without snapping a hundred pics, but we made it to the deliciously gushing part of the waterfall just as the sun started to make us sweat in all the unpleasant nooks and crannies.
Highlights & Lessons from the trek:
- Older women don’t mind taking off their pants and underwear in front of everyone and jumping into cold swimming pools. This nude heroine will forever live on in our hearts and memories.
- If you drop your go pro down the mountain – and it takes the most horrific tumble imaginable – it will still work, flawlessly.
- It’s easy to become best friends after 5.6 miles of girl talk
After a quick nap under the shade of massive trees at our camp site with a view overlooking Yosemite, we ventured toward the waterfall’s luscious swimming pools.
Without our packs we scrambled quickly through labyrinths of thorny bushes and uneven granite bulges and followed the whooshing sound of numerous small waterfalls. Looking to your right you could see the river endlessly in the distance. Where does it begin? To your left your eyes follow little pools as they descend like slides and ladders toward the gaping grand view of the Wawona region, luscious with pine trees and silhouetted mountain domes as far as the eye can see. Plopping down our little day packs under a tiny tree we shed our sweaty tank tops jumped into the icy cold water, shrieking in supplication to the Yosemite gods for the healing powers of water at the hottest point of the day.
After spending a couple hours swimming, journaling, and reading our kindles, we headed back to set up camp and cook a fancy feast fit for us femme fatales (so we believed ourselves to be after 15 hours in the wilderness). But not before we had two face offs with the most bold and impertinent crows backpackers have ever encountered. (THEY ATE EVERY LAST ONE OF VIVIANE’S SNACKS!) Honestly, we weren’t even mad: we were just impressed that they had stolen oh so much without even the smallest trace of any wrappers or plastic bags left behind. Though I swear I could hear them violently snickering as I caught sight of their black feathers slowly receding into the sky. Thankfully we were leaving the next day so I could share with Viviane some of my precious Cashew Lara Bars and BoBo’s Coconut Oat bars. What else are friends for? Once we cleaned up all the clothes, trash bags, and random shit the crows had taken out of our packs and strewn all over the campsite, we could enjoy the setting sun and glow of the warm fire.
Thinking of planning a trip like this at Yosemite? Or want to join us on our next hike?
If you want more exact trail details, message us at trailswithfriends@gmail.com & we’ll hook you up with the info about how to get permits, where to park your cars for trailheads, etc.! Happy hiking!
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