A Hiking We Will Go

Mr. Lovely hails from the Northeast and has never been to Yosemite! So we decided that although it is winter, we would go and see what adventures awaited us. I was expecting snowshoeing and hot chocolate by the fire to be honest, but it couldn't have worked out better. Since we haven't had a lot of snow this season, the high passes were still open and we made good use of the late arrival of winter!
I know that you have seen enough cliched photos of Yosemite and I know that I will never be able to compete with Ansel, so I will give you a few alternatives. We decided to hike up the Four Mile Trail  to Glacier Point, which was a 4.8 mile one way hike, with a 3200 foot elevation gain. It was a nice path actually; it wasn't too steep and it was smooth and even paved for part of it. I know...paved! The views were fantastic! I am not really sure why it's called the Four Mile Trail.

View from four mile trail

Once we got to the top, we had a snack and decided to brave a longer hike around, instead of going back down the way we came. We took the Panorama trail, which ends up going over near Half Dome and then back down near Vernal Falls. From Glacier Point around and back down was about 8.5 miles.

View from Glacier Point

Illilouette Fall

So, total mileage was about 13.3 miles. Afterwards, we went and each had a hamburger, an order of chicken wings AND a bowl of chili! We were starving!
We also went to the Tunnel View for the sunset view of the valley. It was gorgeous! Except why is it that when you ask a person to take a photo for you, you either get a blurry one, or one with your feet (or head) chopped off, or something of the sort?
First, I took a photo of Mr. L. Isn't the view nice?

Then he took one of me. El Capitan! Half Dome! Oh My!

Then we asked a Random to take one of both of us. 

Seriously? 
We actually asked ANOTHER Random to take a photo and he took one of us standing (RIGHT) in front of (ie BLOCKING) Half Dome. AND he had a huge Canon, so I thought he knew what he was doing!  Sheesh!
PS. Our calves were SO SORE the next day! 
What is the longest hike you have ever done? Have you been to Yosemite?