The Great Lakes consist of Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, Lake Ontario, Lake Huron, and Lake Erie. The Great Lakes and Corn Belt exist in a humid continental climate, while Yosemite National Park is a Mediterranean climate. The large masses of water has a moderating influence on the Corn Belt. Although Yosemite doesn't have massive lakes that stabilize the weather, Yosemite does have many bodies of water that effect it's environment. In this blog post I will be discussing the many rivers, lakes, and waterfalls that make up Yosemite. The most popular waterfalls in Yosemite are Yosemite Fall, Vernal Fall, Nevada Fall, Bridalveil Fall, Ribbon Fall and Sentinel Falls. The main rivers of Yosemite are Tuolomne and Merced River. The main lakes in Yosemite Valley are Mirror lake and Tenaya Lake. I will discuss a few of these below!
Yosemite Falls
The above pictures are Yosemite Falls, which consists of Upper Yosemite Falls, the middle cascades, and Lower Yosemite Falls. It flows from about November through July. Yosemite is one of the worlds tallest waterfalls. You can see Yosemite Falls from Yosemite Village and other places in the park. It is a very easy trail that brings you to lower Yosemite Falls. The bridge is a wonderful place to view the Falls. But as you can see in the picture below there are rocks you can climb to get you right at the base of the waterfall. It's a gorgeous view and I really recommend it.
Vernal Fall
Vernal Fall flows all year long! To get to Vernal Fall Footbridge it's about 1.6 mile round trip and takes about an hour and a half. You take Mist Trail To get to the top of Vernal Falls, which is about 2.4 miles has a huge staircase to get to the top. It's very exhausting but the view is definitely worth it. I've done it twice and it is definitely a must when you visit Yosemite. It is downstream of the Nevada Falls and is visible from Glacier point.
Mirror Lake
Mirror lake is a big pool in Tenaya Creek and is a little over two mile hike round trip from the trailhead to Mirror lake. The water reflects half dome and other majestic cliffs depending on the angle you look at the water. The trail is quite easy, for half of it is a paved service road. Mirror lake does not have a lot of water, unless you're there in spring when Tenaya Creek flow is heightened due to snowmelt. The Mirror Lake hiking trail was closed due to large rockfall but has been fixed since. The video below gives more information on Mirror Lake!
Merced River
Merced River runs directly through Yosemite Valley. I recommend renting an inner tube during the summer and going down the river.
Information for this blog post found:
http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/waterfalls.htm
http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/waterfalls.htm