Hiking Yosemite: Wapama Falls and Beyond

Some Yosemite hikes begin at a trailhead.

This one begins by walking across a dam.

And not just any dam.

O’Shaughnessy Dam stretches across the mouth of Hetch Hetchy Valley, holding back the reservoir on one side while the Tuolumne River continues through the canyon below.

Standing on it is pretty awe-inspiring.

It’s also just the beginning.

Walk across the dam and you’ll soon reach something else you don’t encounter on many Yosemite hikes — a tunnel carved through the granite.

Inside, it’s dark, damp and drippy. Your footsteps echo as you make your way through, and then eventually daylight appears at the other end.

Step outside and the adventure changes again.

Now you’re on the trail.

Hiking Toward Wapama

The trail to Wapama Falls follows the edge of Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, with granite walls rising around the valley and plenty to look at along the way.

It’s about 2.5 miles from O’Shaughnessy Dam to Wapama Falls, making the falls roughly a five-mile round-trip hike for anyone looking for a good day adventure.

When I hiked it in April, there was no wondering whether Wapama was flowing.

The closer we got, the more obvious it became.

You could hear it.

Then you could feel it.

Eventually, the trail takes you across a series of footbridges directly in front of the falls, where the spray becomes part of the experience.

And in the spring, there’s plenty of spray.

Crossing those bridges was fun, refreshing and just a little wet.

After making it through, we found a spot just beyond the falls, took off our packs and stopped for lunch.

From where we were sitting, we could look back toward Wapama Falls and the footbridges we’d just crossed. We watched other hikers making their way through the spray, enjoying the falls and eventually beginning their hike back toward the dam.

It was a good place to sit for a while.

We’d already walked across O’Shaughnessy Dam, through the tunnel and along the reservoir before getting the full Wapama Falls experience. Sitting there with lunch and looking back at it gave us a chance to appreciate everything we’d already seen and walked through.

But we also knew our hike wasn’t over.

Soon we’d put our packs back on and continue toward Rancheria Falls, where a quieter and more personal part of our adventure was waiting.

There was something exciting about that.

Not because one experience was better than the other. A hike to Wapama Falls and back would’ve made for a pretty great day all by itself.

It just wasn’t our destination that day.

We were spending the night.

And we still had about four miles of trail ahead of us.

Keep Going

Beyond Wapama, the hike toward Rancheria Falls gets more serious.

There are a couple of good climbs along the way, and with everything you need for an overnight trip riding on your back, you definitely notice them.

The last mile in particular makes you work for it.

By then, we’d already crossed the dam, walked through the tunnel, hiked along the reservoir, crossed Wapama Falls and covered several more miles of trail.

That backpack didn’t seem to be getting any lighter.

But eventually we reached Rancheria Falls.

And it was worth it.

Rancheria doesn’t have quite the same dramatic footbridge experience as Wapama, but it’s beautiful in its own way and made a pretty satisfying destination after the longer hike.

We found our campsite a little below the falls, and it was perfect.

There are few feelings on an overnight hike quite like finally taking off a backpack you’ve been carrying for miles and realizing…

This is home for the night.

We settled in, enjoyed where we were and eventually called it a day.

The weather had other plans for morning.

Same Trail, Different Day

When we woke up, storm clouds had moved in.

You could tell rain was coming.

So we started breaking down camp.

Apparently, we weren’t quite fast enough.

Before we’d even finished packing everything away, the rain started.

By the time we put our packs back on and started toward O’Shaughnessy Dam, this was going to be a very different hike from the day before.

The trail was wet.

We were wet.

Our gear was wet.

And we still had more than six miles to go.

There’s something funny about hiking the same trail in the opposite direction under completely different conditions.

Places we’d walked through the day before looked different beneath gray skies. The trail felt different under our feet, and those climbs we’d remembered from the hike in had rearranged themselves into a new set of ups and downs on the way out.

Eventually, we made our way back toward Wapama Falls.

The day before, walking across those bridges through the spray had been refreshing.

This time we’d already spent several miles hiking in the rain.

Let’s just say…

Wapama wasn’t quite as refreshing the second time around.

But it was still pretty spectacular.

We crossed the bridges, continued along the reservoir and eventually found ourselves back at that damp, drippy tunnel.

Only this time, walking through it meant we were almost done.

Then daylight.

O’Shaughnessy Dam.

And finally, the other side.

One Hike or Two

You don’t have to spend the night at Rancheria Falls to experience what makes this part of Yosemite special.

A hike to Wapama Falls and back gives you about five miles of trail, a walk across O’Shaughnessy Dam, that unusual trip through the tunnel and one of the more entertaining waterfall crossings I’ve experienced in Yosemite.

That’s a pretty good day.

But if you’re ready to carry an overnight pack and keep going, Wapama doesn’t have to be the destination.

It can be where the next part of the adventure begins.

The trail continues toward Rancheria Falls, the miles add up, and eventually you get to find somewhere beautiful to call home for the night.

Just keep an eye on those clouds in the morning.

Trail Truth

Sometimes the destination is exactly where you planned to stop.

And sometimes it’s where you stop for lunch before you keep going.

And remember, the trail doesn’t end here.

So until next time, get outside, take the scenic route, and make a few memories. After all, that’s what the best adventures are really about. We’ll see you in the next edition of Hiking Yosemite.