Panorama Trail Hike in Yosemite, CA

Rating: You Should Go

Our friends invited us to go camping with them in Yosemite this year. Nate and I hadn't been in a very long time and we were really looking forward to the trip. We had planned ahead to go on a long hike so we were mentally prepared for this trail. Whether or not we were physically prepared is another story.

The Panorama Trail Hike is an 8.5 mile hike (don't believe what the sign says) that goes from Glacier
Point down and ends at Happy Isles (or you can take it the other way but that's more of a hike than most people are up for). The direction we went, we got a beautiful view of the entire valley, crossed 3 waterfalls, and the trail was mostly downhill and shady. The only part that wasn't very shady was the uphill part (which is about 1 mile of trail after the first fall). It's a beautiful trail that seems rather easy (expect for the really sunny uphill part), until you get to the miles of steep downhill. You need to be careful to watch your step on the rocky downhill after the 2nd fall (Nevada Falls), because the rocks can be slippery. The strain on my legs took me by surprise. Those are muscles that I rarely worked to that extend. My legs began to shake halfway through. By the end, I didn't think I could stand going downhill anymore. Despite this, it's a beautiful trail and well worth the work. You may want to work on leg strength before-hand to make it more pleasant.

View of Nevada and Vernal Falls from the top of the trail.

Panorama Trail is a fairly long hike but can easily be done in a day. We left at about 11:30am and got back to the campground around 6:00pm, including a long break for lunch and some snack breaks at each of the falls. There were only a few other people on the trail until we got to Nevada Falls. From that point on, there are shorter trails that lead up to the falls which a lot of people take. It wasn't too crowded to enjoy the scenery, however. I would highly recommend using a pair of walking sticks if you already have problems with your knees (like I do) - they help a TON. My knees were the only things that didn't hurt after this hike. After a few days of recuperating, we were able to look back on the hike fondly. You definitely can't beat all the different views. If we keep up on our exercise, we'll definitely do this hike again.

Illilquette Falls

Tips for a good experience:

• Get dropped off at the top (either by bus or a friend) and work your way down
• Work on leg strength, especially thighs and calves, before attempting this trail
• Stretch beforehand (I couldn't believe how stiff I was for days afterwards)
• Bring walking sticks to relieve pressure from the knees
• Wear a hat and use lots of sun block
• Bring a bandanna that you can soak in water along the way to cool your neck and face (we didn't do this but our friends did and we definitely will next time)
• Wear walking or hiking shoes with good grip
• Bring a lunch and lots of snacks
• Bring at least 4 bottles-worth of water to make it all the way through and stay hydrated