To start my summer of 2021 off, I opted for a quick backpacking trip into the Yosemite backcountry! The trail I chose was initially the Hetch Hetchy Loop, but given the extreme heat and lack of acclimatisation, I elected to make it an overnight trip to Rancheria Falls along the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir! Hiking in Yosemite is always a treat, and I had not done this trail before!
Miles/Elevation:
~15 miles
2600 feet vertical gain
About Yosemite:
Located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, Yosemite National Park is one of the largest and most popular parks in the entire National Park System.
Steeped in history, Yosemite has played a major role in the development of environmentalism and conservation in the United States since the late 1800’s. In 1864, President Lincoln created the Yosemite Grant, which did not make Yosemite a national park, but did set the precedent that would lead to the creation of Yellowstone National Park.
Yosemite was ceded to the State of California and ran by the state for much of the late 1800’s. Eventually, in 1890, Yosemite National Park was created, and stronger protections were put in place to preserve the park.
Beyond the National Park Service, the legendary naturalist John Muir is perhaps best known for his advocacy in favor of preserving Yosemite National Park. A giant in the history of conservation, Muir, who fell in love with the mountains after a serious industrial accident, became arguably the most influential figure in preserving the natural landscapes of the west. His relationship with President Theodore Roosevelt and the expansion of federally protected lands may be the greatest achievement of this era of conservation!
About Hetch Hetchy:
Read Our Complete Guide To All Things Yosemite!
Hetch Hetchy is a valley in a far off corner of Yosemite National Park. Initially a near copy of Yosemite Valley, with steep canyon walls, granite domes, and massive waterfalls, Hetch Hetchy was dammed to provide water to the city of San Francisco in the early 1900’s. What now exists in the valley is a large reservoir.
The fight over Hetch Hetchy was ugly and played out publicly. John Muir, the legendary naturalist, was in the center of the controversy over Hetch Hetchy. While the valley was within the boundaries of Yosemite National Park, there was a real sense of urgency over finding a reliable source of water for San Francisco in the aftermath of the city’s near destruction.
To this day, this is a great deal of conflict over the status of Hetch Hetchy. There has been widespread dismay over the development and damming of the valley, now being headed by Restore Hetch Hetchy. As it stands, Hetch Hetchy is still an awesome hiking spot, and provides great options for day hikers and overnight backpackers!
Getting To Yosemite:
Located in Central California, Yosemite is fairly remote, but can be reached from a number of major cities. The closest large city is Fresno, and Fresno’s airport is the best choice if you are flying in. Other cities located within a three hour or so drive with major airports include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, and Sacramento.
From these cities or any others, you’ll then likely need to drive to the park. There is a regional public transit system called YARTS (Yosemite Area Regional Transit System), and can be useful if you are trying to get to Yosemite Valley. However, I generally advocate having your own car when exploring the mountains. It just makes it easier to explore and get around.
Once you’re in Yosemite, there is a transit system that can get you around the park, however it is not running in 2021. Go to the Yosemite NPS website for more information on public transit in Yosemite. When it is running, the public transit can get you to many of the major trailheads in the park.
Getting To Hetch Hetchy:
Hetch Hetchy is located apart from the rest of Yosemite National Park. It has its own entrance, and visitors must actually leave the national park and reenter to get to Hetch Hetchy.
From highway 120 outside the western boundaries of the park, turn onto Evergreen Road heading north. Follow Evergreen Road through Sierra National Forest past Evergreen Lodge (a great place to stay), and eventually to the Hetch Hetchy Entrance. From here, it’s a few miles down into the valley.
Where you park will depend on whether you are day hiking or backpacking. Day hikers can hike close to the dam and trailhead, while backpackers must park in the backpackers lot which is about half a mile from the trailhead.
The Rancheria Falls Trail:
To Wapama Falls:
Since I was doing this hike as a backpacking trip, I had to park a ways out in the backpacking parking area. I definitely had no idea how to get to the trailhead, and I tried to get cute and take a short cut, which led to me scrambling down a rocky cliff.
Anyway, I eventually made it to the trailhead, got some water, and started the hike. It begins by crossing the dam. The view looking west down the canyon is pretty cool, and the view looking out over the reservoir is fantastic. Definitely take some pictures, and continue across the dam.
Always follow basic trail etiquette when on trail!
On the far side, the trail burrows into the cliff side and heads into a tunnel. It’s probably a couple hundred yards, and while it does get dark, you don’t need any special equipment. On the other side of the tunnel is the signage for the trailhead, and you are on your way!
You’re in bear country, so be sure to always be bear safe!
The first mile or so of the trail is pretty flat. There is a slight incline, and you will do a bit of climbing, but overall it’s pretty gentle. Some of this section is shaded, but don’t count on shade. It’s going to be hot, better get used to it!
You’ll eventually come to an intersection. Turning left will take you up to the top of the canyon walls, but you want to go right to continue along the reservoir. The trail continues on for another mile or so to Wapama Falls. There are almost always great views to behold, but don’t expect shade. There is a fair amount of undulation, so expect stretches of both ascending and descending.
You’ll hear Wapama Falls before you see it. You’ll also probably see the spray from the falls before you actually get there! Stand on the footbridge and enjoy the cold mist from the falls! It’s a really awesome waterfall, and you can basically stand in it! Sometimes the flow will even be coming onto the bridge! (don’t cross the bridge if conditions are dangerous)
To The Rancheria Falls Campground:
If you need water, Wapama Falls is the last place to fill up until the campground, and be sure to take enough to deal with the heat! Once you leave Wapama, you’ll begin climbing into a shaded section of trail. Enjoy it, but have fun with the bugs!
The trail from here is probably the best hiking on the route. You’ll be on ledges and atop sloping hills that run hundreds of feet down to the water’s edge. The views looking out are awesome, and the trail is consistently nice to walk on!
Always be sure to follow the 7 Leave No Trace Principles when in the outdoors!
The final couple of miles to Rancheria Falls are very hot, very exposed, and very undulating. You’ll descend down to a bridge crossing a creek, which looks on a map like a water source, but it would be a pretty serious adventure to get down to the water. I made the mistake of relying on getting water here, and I was sorely disappointed when I couldn’t get any. Fortunately, it’s only another mile to the campground from the bridge, but if you’re thirsty like I was, it’s not a fun mile.
The last mile is an uphill climb. It’s not that steep, but in the sun and the heat it feels like a struggle. Push through and you’ll make it!
Camping Out:
Consider purchasing the America the Beautiful Pass if you’re visiting Yosemite!
Once you arrive at the campground, celebrate because you don’t have to hike in the heat anymore! It’ll still be hot, but you can at least relax!
The campground is pretty big, and honestly you won’t really get a true wild experience here. There’s most likely going to be quite a few other people around, so if you really want to be alone, you should probably find somewhere else to camp or hike.
The campground is shaded, and underneath a canopy of towering pines. Rancheria Creek, which is pretty close to a river, flows right past the campground. There are a bunch of places to access the creek to swim or get water, and it’s a heavenly place to cool down! It’s chilly (not freezing though), and in the heat of the afternoon it feels absolutely incredible!
I use a Jetboil camping stove to cook with, and I made myself one of my camp meals. As most backpacking meals go, it wasn’t great, but by that point I was so hungry pretty much anything would have tasted good! After dinner, I hung out for a little bit and got into the tent pretty early.
I really wasn’t feeling good at this point. I was definitely suffering from the heat. I didn’t have heat stroke or heat exhaustion, but despite my best efforts I think I had gotten dehydrated, and was suffering from some of the worst cramps of my life. I think pretty much every muscle in my body cramped that night!
It was at this point when I made the decision to head out in the morning. I had wanted to do the full 26 mile Hetch Hetchy Loop, but I hadn’t even made it to my initial goal, and given how I was feeling I really didn’t think it would be smart to push further into the backcountry. I was pretty disappointed, but I passed out pretty quick having decided to play it safe.
Hiking Back:
I woke up pretty late in the morning and took my time getting going. I only had about seven and a half miles to hike out, so there wasn’t a huge hurry to get going. I pretty much stayed in bed until it got hot in my tent, which to be fair happened by about 8:45!
I had a quick breakfast and got everything packed up, and I was on my way back to the trailhead before 10. I honestly thought it would be a pretty laid back hike back. My legs felt pretty good and had mostly recovered from the cramps. I thought I was mostly hiking downhill, and I thought I would be used to the heat. I was wrong.
If the hike out the previous day was tough, the hike back was brutal. I at least had more water this time, but there was way more climbing than I had remembered, and the climbing was not shaded at all! My legs that I thought felt good pretty much melted as soon as I hit a hill. Basically it sucked.
Once I got back to Wapama Falls, I knew I was most of the way back, and was pretty thrilled to get there. The climbing the first half of the hike seemed to drag on forever, and the mist from the falls was literally heaven on earth. From Wapama, it’s basically a short climb up a couple hundred feet, and then the trail trends down back to the dam.
God it was brutal. It shouldn’t have been that hard, but I was so hot and my legs were so tired I was basically crawling by the time I got to the tunnel. I still had water left, but it was so hot by that point that the effort of taking my backpack off and putting it back on didn’t even seem worth it, so I pushed on without a drink for the last mile plus.
After an eternity of slogging through the heat, I was finally back at the trailhead! It’s over! Just kidding, I was parked half a mile away!
I knew there was a water spigot at the bathrooms, so I bee-lined my way there and got cold water and chugged as much as I could, then very very slowly walked up the road back to my car. I basically fell into the driver’s seat and turned the A/C to max!
It was an absolutely brutal experience, but I made it through. Honestly, the trail was nice; I was just not prepared for the heat. I also realized after the fact I should have been training a little bit differently for backpacking than day hiking. I think if I would have trained a little more effectively I would have had a much better time, but you live and you learn!
Topdown Lifestyle Rating: 8/10
This is a very good trail that provides excellent views throughout, close access to Wapama Falls (which is awesome), and is an excellent launching point for longer backpacking trips. Would I plan a trip to Yosemite around this hike? Probably not, to me the views don’t quite stand up to other parts of the park, but if you’re visiting Yosemite, it is definitely worth visiting Hetch Hetchy, and this is the best moderate to hard hike in the area!
Make sure you are prepared for the conditions on this trail. The heat is no joke, and can be legitimately dangerous. If you get out on a day with great conditions, this would be a really good hike!
Pros:
- Great views
- Well maintained trail
- Options for longer or shorter outings
- Backpacking campground
- Waterfalls
Cons:
- Intense heat
- Very sun exposed
Alternative Hikes:
Hetch Hetchy Loop via Lake Vernon
The Sentinel Dome and Taft Point Loop
When to Visit Yosemite:
Be Sure To Check Out Our Full 7 Day Yosemite Itinerary Too!
Hiking in Yosemite is a three season activity. Winter usually brings quite a bit of snow, and the entire park is liable to experience winter storms. While lower elevation areas of the park may be hikable in winter, I really wouldn’t say Yosemite is a four season hiking destination.
Purely in terms of weather, fall and spring are the best times of year to hike in Yosemite. Summer can get extremely hot, and hiking in 95 degree heat isn’t fun for most people! The one issue with fall is that fire season can either close down areas of the park, or more likely will blanket the park with smoke. In good years, it’s hardly an issue, but some years it’s harmful to even be outside.
It is also worth considering when Yosemite is busiest. This is one of the busiest parks in the country, so be ready for crowds if you visit in peak season, namely summer. Some people are really turned off by the crowds, and I agree if you only visit the valley, but there are always places to get away from the big crowds. This can cause issues with finding campsites in the park though.
Overall, I would say that late spring is probably the best time of year to visit Yosemite. The temperatures are comfortable, rain is rare, and the crowds are lighter than summer. Late autumn is also a great time to visit as spring may still have snow lingering on the trails.
The last thing to consider when planning your visit is that the high elevation roads through the park close for snow. Tioga Pass and Glacier Point Road both close from winter to whenever the snow melts (usually May or June but it varies). Spring will limit where you can go in the park, so if you really want to explore the high country, wait at least until late June!
Links for Further Reading:
Best trails in Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park (US National Park Service)
Yosemite National Park | Lodging & Year Round Activities | TravelYosemite.com
Yosemite National Park | Lodging, Camping, Attractions | Yosemite.com
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