I went to Yosemite for the first time last week. All I can say was that I waited way too long. I was absolutely blown away by the beauty of the massive granite cliffs.
My Dad and I spent two nights on the Valley Floor. The best move we made was bringing bikes with us. The first day we rode around the floor exploring. We were able to cover the majority of the floor on the same day we arrived at Yosemite. We had a this great plan where we were going to "ruff it" by cooking on my little backpacking stove and eating dehydrated food...Well that was before we went to Curry Village. The was a little food court with a bar. So we had a couple of tall beers and all of a sudden pizza seemed like a way better option than rice pilaf.
The next day my Dad and I hiked to Vernal Falls. The only water fall I have seen more impressive was in Hawaii on the island of Molokai. Really good experience. Might of pushed my Dad a little too hard, but he made it.
The next morning I woke up around 6am to start a hike. I wanted to get to Little Yosemite Valley and see Nevada Falls. So I did. I was really impressed. I cannot overemphasis how breathtaking Yosemite is. Everywhere I turned I felt like I was looking at a postcard. On the way back to the Valley Floor I decided to take the John Muir Trail. The portion of the Muir I was on was rather bland. There was too much tree coverage to see the mountains.
I plan on going back to Yosemite in September for an extended backpacking trip if anyone is interested or I'll just go solo.