Merced River @ Yosemite National Park

I backpacked from Valley to Merced Lake. The trail was all along Merced river and so beautiful. There were a few cascades. After the crowd in the Valley, the trail was so peaceful and quiet. Merced Lake was beautiful. There is HSC at Merced Lake. We camped at backpacking campsite. 13.5 miles +3000 ft elevation gain.

Stopped by a little spot at Merced River about 20 – 30 miles from Yosemite. The river was flowing and the water was fresh. We went for a dip. The scenery is nice. It was hot out and the water was at a good temperature to be refreshing. Some people came by to fish, but there are zero fish.

I frolicked around the Swinging Bridge area of the Merced River and I absolutely loved it! I always saw movies of people swimming in the lakes of parks and it looked like a dream. The Swinging Bridge section was pretty shallow and reached my hip in some areas, which is good because I cant swim. Sometimes I stopped myself to enjoy the scenery. You are literally in a river in beautiful Yosemite with tall majestic mountains surrounding you. You really cant beat that. I even risked my precious DSLR so I could do a photo shoot in the water with the mountains in the back. There are quite a few people there just lounging in the waters and I saw a few jumping off the bridge into the water. It is an experience I will not forget because it is so hard to replicate moments like these. This is definitely a must do when you visit Yosemite and probably my highlight of the entire trip.
**TIPS**
1) You must bring a bathing suit so you can immerse yourself in the water. Just having your bottoms is not enough.
2) Bring flip flops so you can walk around with them in the water. It is very rocky and painful if you dont have it.
3) If you are careful enough, be sure to take photos. You will see or experience nothing like this.
4) Enjoy!

Beautiful from anywhere in the park

Best place my kids have ever been, could barely get them out of the river!

Having explored Yosemite several times now, I would recommend travelling into the park on highway 140. This follows the Merced river into the park and especially in the spring, you see all aspects of the river — wild rapids, calm streams, lovely trees and flowers along its banks.
There are several easy valley walking loops on the valley floor. Worth exploring.

I visited Yosemite during the end of summer in 2008. The previous winter was pretty mild leaving many areas in Yosemite, like Mirror Lake and Yosemity Falls, dried out. Fortunately, Vernal Falls and the Merced River were still flowing even in late August. I have to say that I was pleased with Yosemite, thanks to the Merced River. I had a great opportunity to shoot my first waterfall. You can see a couple of my shots that I uploaded.