Hiking, rock climbing, waterfall swimming; Yosemite National Park has it all. I was concerned that because of the wildfire near Yosemite the day trip might be called off, but thankfully the tour was still going ahead, and I was picked up promptly at 6:50am outside the Hilton San Francisco Union Square Hotel.

I love hiking, but I’m no expert, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from the Yosemite National Park Tour. Luckily, our guide, Kenya, had done this trip several times and knew all there was to know about the layout of the park, and its long and fascinating history. On the four hour journey east across California we learnt about the indigenous people of the Sierra Nevada mountains, and how Galen Clark and John Muir respectively fought to protect the valley to pave the way for the US National Park system we know today.

The drive to Yosemite National Park from San Francisco is long, but the views are truly breath-taking. Once we’d passed the sprawling Don Pedro Reservoir and historic Chinese Camp, we officially started up New Priest Grade Road (Old Priest Grade Road is an incredibly steep trail that the original settlers used to take, named after the priests that would bless the horses before they descended to protect them from falling off the pathways). This road is still open, but since we all wanted to make it to Yosemite alive, we took the new road which is far longer and more winding than the original. About two hours into the drive we stopped for breakfast, giving us the opportunity to stock up on coffee and snacks for the rest of the day.

The national park entrance fee is included in the price of the tour, so all we collected at the entrance gate was a useful map of the park to take with us once we disembarked the bus. With three hours to ourselves we couldn’t get too far from the bus stop, but Kenya advised us on how best to use our time and make the most of what the park has to offer. She dropped us at Bus Stop 7 close to Lower Yosemite Falls, which is where the majority of us headed for our exploration.

Due to the high number of tourists and gallivanting children at the base of the falls, I assumed this would be a relatively simple and enjoyable hike up to the pool at the base of the waterfall. Alas, it was a lack of childlike fearlessness that left me stuck on a rock in the middle of rushing water without the courage to leap across to safety. This was the theme for my entire climb up to the pool (at one point someone had to rescue me because I couldn’t move forward or go back the way I came), so don’t believe Wikipedia when it says the Lower Falls are ‘accessible’. Eventually I did, however, clamber, jump, and crawl my way to the pool, where I enjoyed several minutes of swimming in the incredibly cold but refreshing water.

Despite the smoke that engulfed the valley, or maybe because of, the views were simply incredible. The mist created an ethereal sight, with giant sequoias looming in the distance and huge granite cliffs disappearing into the skyline. I could have stayed in that pool all day, but the descent back to the village was ahead of me, and given how long it took me to get to the top I didn’t want to be late back to the bus. Weirdly, (sarcasm), it took me a lot less time to get down than it did to get up, so I had a few minutes to have a private photoshoot on a fallen tree before I got back to the minibus.

The drive out of the park took us past the part that a lot of us were most eager to see; El Capitan. Unfortunately, due to the smoke it wasn’t particularly clear, but we could still make out the sheer cliff face and seemingly impossible height that many climbers still scale every year. After about ten minutes of photographing and question time, we hopped back in the bus and started the journey back to San Francisco.

This route was a lot quieter than the journey up, I think Kenya wanted to give us some time to let what we’d seen sink in. After a couple of hours we stopped for dinner (I chose In-N-Out of course, a Californian institution), which set us up nicely for the last two hours back to the city, over the Oakland Bay Bridge which Kenya told us the history of before dropping us at our respective locations.

The Yosemite National Park Tour is ideal for those who want to see Yosemite but are short on time, as all the highlights are covered and you receive expert knowledge from a guide who knows the area well. It’s a great way to see Yosemite from San Francisco, because let’s be honest, most people can only handle so much nature for one day! Huge thanks to Kenya for the impeccable driving and faultless commentary, and for keeping our spirits up despite the hindered visibility – gives us an excuse to come back another time!