Distance: 5.1 miles round trip on trail
Summit Elevation: 7355' (at the falls)
Elevation Gain: 631'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.5
Round trip time: 2 hours
Recommended water: 32 oz.
Parking/Fees: $10 car day use fee at Reds Meadow Road
Difficulty: Easy
We went out for another popular hike to Devils Postpile and Rainbow Falls. The road only re-opened recently but the shuttle was still down. The Postpile is usually open from June-October. With limited parking, we started at 8:00 AM. The parking lot was about 75% full. It's only 0.4 miles to the Postpile and we jockeyed for photos with a few other groups. The basalt columns made more of an impression on me looking at the photos than they did at the time. We continued another two miles on trail to Rainbow Falls. We were passed on the way by at least two dozen trail runners. On the way out, there were more runners than hikers. There are two upper viewing spots for the falls, both about the same. At this time of day, we didn't get the rainbow effect, but there was a good amount of mist rising from the bottom. The way back was fraught with a steady stream of people on the way out. This was Ripley's second hike and again, she refused bottled water, drinking her fill from the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River.
Rainbow Falls
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