Inspiration Point – Yosemite – Hiking California

Today, Mel and I will hike to Inspiration Point in Yosemite National Park, California.  The early morning drive from Mariposa is a scenic, twisting, rollercoaster, ride on good highway through brilliantly colored, desert canyons.  We pass through Midpines, Briceburg and El Portal on the drive adjacent to the Merced River.  At the detour, on Hwy 140, around the rock slide, we stop and wait for our turn beside ancient rocks at roadside.  The sun is beginning to creep down the canyon wall behind us.

Rather than enter Yosemite Valley, we cross the Merced River on Pohono Bridge and loop back past Bridalveil Fall and up Wawona Road to the Inspiration Point trailhead at the upper parking level of Tunnel View at the east end of Wawona Tunnel.  The trailhead is signed and begins on a set of stone steps then gains elevation aggressively on switchbacks.

One of the interpretive signs at the Wawona Tunnel Discovery View - Yosemite National Park

The hike on Pohono Trail from Discovery View at Wawona Tunnel climbs 1,000 ft (304.8 m) over 1.3 miles (2.1 KM) to Inspiration Point, a rocky outcropping at 5,395 ft (1644 m).  The trail we are hiking is a portion of the Old Wawona Road, a centuries-old Indian Route that was used by horse, wagon and stagecoach between 1875 and 1933 when the Wawona Tunnel opened.  The climb is consistent through forest and massive boulders typical of Yosemite terrain.

Stone steps at Discovery View, Wawona Tunnel, start the Pohono Trail to Inspiration Point

The Pohono Trail to Inspiration Pont climbs aggressively on switchbacks through forest on stony trail.

The Pohono Trail passes through massive glacial-deposited boulders typical of Yosemite National Park

We cross the Old Wawona Road which travels east to Artist Point near Artist Creek on the way down to Yosemite Valley.  This is the first time Mel and I encounter a thick, metal, wire-wound cable.  We continue climbing on tight switchbacks.  Our route is up the steep side of Wawona Mountain above Wawona Tunnel for a view east from Inspiration Point along Yosemite Valley 1,000 ft (305 m) above Tunnel/Discovery View.  It is interesting to note Artist Point is above Tunnel View and below Old Inspiration Point for a similar view of Yosemite Valley from different elevations.

There are trail junctions at the top where the Pohono Trail travels west along the top of the south wall above Yosemite Valley for phenomenal views along the way at Stanford Point, Crocker Point, Dewey Point to Glacier Point, Taft Point and beyond.  Mel and I will take some time to relax at the awe-inspiring view from Inspiration Point to the east over Yosemite Valley.

Inspiration Point overlooking Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park, California, USA

There is evidence of old infrastructure near Inspiration Point from the very beginnings of Yosemite National Park when the Pohono Trail was used by horses and wagons.  The mostly hidden, large, steel cable stretches across the summit of Inspiration Point and surfaces periodically.  Does anyone know what this was used for?

Mel and I descend the same way we came.  There are spectacular views over Yosemite Valley along the trail as we reverse our hike on switchbacks through mixed forest and massive boulders.

The hike to Inspiration Point has historical depth and, like most trails in Yosemite National Park, can be extended to many alternative destinations.  The number of options here is typically substantial.  One of the great frustrations in Yosemite National Park is that, within a limited timeframe, so many options and opportunities will be left behind.  We will leave Yosemite National Park soon, knowing there are hundreds of kilometres of spectacular trail which we could not hike on this mission due to restrictions of time.  At this point in my life, it is also a reminder that life is finite and becoming much shorter than I would choose.  So little time and so much to do.