The Mist Trail is one of the most popular short hikes in Yosemite National Park, California, USA.

Enormous boulders, some the size of a house, are dwarfed by the sheer faces of exfoliating granite, which rise 3000 feet (914 m) from the river.

Through it all, the Merced River rushes down from its source in the High Sierra, and broadens on the floor of Yosemite Valley.

Depending on one's conditioning, a bridge which re-crosses the river - the halfway point of a hike to the foot of Vernal Fall - can be reached in 15 to 30 minutes.

At the top of Vernal Fall, the Merced River traverses a shelf of granite, and the hikers frequently sun themselves to dry off.