Hiking Half Dome

I don't even remember what it was that got me itchin' to hike up Half Dome, but with my mind more or less made up and the encouragement from my Vox friends and neighbors, hiking to the top of Half Dome was more or less a done deal.

We arrived in Yosemite Valley Monday afternoon and spent some time exploring the Valley floor. At this time of year, all the falls except for those fed by the Merced River are bone dry. Bridal Veil, Vernal, and Nevada were flowing though at much smaller volumes. In the late afternoon we stopped by Bridal Veil and then headed up to the Tunnel View point for excellent views of El Cap, Half Dome, and the valley below. Monday's hiking mileage: ~1 mile.

We spent Tuesday morning hiking around the giant sequoias in Mariposa Grove before heading over to Washburn Point, Glacier Point, and Sentinal Dome for some spectacular views. Washburn Point was my favorite vantage point because of it's excellent diorama-like view of Half Dome, Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls. With my binoculars I was able to see hikers on the Mist Trail stairs and on the top of Half Dome. Tuesday's hiking mileage: ~8 miles

Tuesday night I could barely sleep in anticipation of the big hike. I woke up at 4:45 a.m., 15 minutes before my alarm was set and started getting all my gear and food together. On the drive into the park, I saw a gray fox and a shooting star. Good omens, right? We walked the mile from the parking lot in Curry Village to the trailhead, arriving at about 7:30 a.m.

A description of the hike courtesy of Wikipedia:

The Half Dome Cables Route hike is 8.5 miles from the valley floor to the top with 4,800 feet of elevation gain. The length and difficulty of the trail make it less crowded than many other park trails, but on long summer days there can still be quite a crowd on top. The trail climbs past Vernal and Nevada Falls, then continues into Little Yosemite Valley, then north to the base of the northeast ridge of Half Dome itself. The final 900 feet (275 m) of ascent are up the rock of halfdome, and up between two cables used as handholds.

An adequate enough description, but it doesn't entirely capture the spirit of it. For example, if you are scale-impaired like me, it might help to know that 4,800 feet is approximately the same height as 4 Empire State Buildings stacked on top of one another. The trail is literally all uphill, or downhill, depending which direction you're headed. You are more likely to notice this on the downhill. This description also fails to mention the crazy and intense granite stairs you must climb at more than one section of the hike. And the cables? You have to see them to believe them.

a ck to Wednesday a.m.: the weather was cool and sunny and most of the trail is shady -- ideal hiking conditions.The first portion of the hike, Mist Trail, is aptly named except for this time of the year when you can hike past the Vernal and Nevada Falls and stay completely dry.This is a good thing as this portion of the trail consists of steep, uneven granite stairs that can only be more treacherous when wet. These stairs weren't so difficult as they're early in the hike and my legs were still fresh. I'm not sure how I'd feel about them on the return trip; like many before us we opted to avoid them by returning via the John Muir Trail.

Past the falls is the only significant flat portion of the trail before it starts heading up the back side of Half Dome. Hiking, hiking, hiking uphill through pleasant woods. Eventually a view of Half Dome emerges. But not so easy! One more set of granite stairs to climb. These stairs were more fear-inducing than the cable climb to come. Carved out of the side of the dome/cliff, there's nothing but you, blue sky, and granite. The stairs are a series of switchbacks which you can't see until you're right there, and then

they seem to magically appear... until they end and the trail goes "choose your own adventure style" and you have to make your own way over the last bit of the "hump" and to the bottom of the cables.

When we arrived at the cables, we paused for a few minutes to catch our breath and watch the folks already on them. There were 2 people sitting at the bottom who had made it part way before turning back, and several people on the cables headed in both directions. I brought my own gloves for this part -- just some basic gardening gloves with a rubber coating. These turned out to be perfect for maintaining a good grip on the cables.

When we were good and ready, we jumped on the cables and started the climb up. My strategy was not to look back or around, use my lower body strength as much as possible, and take time to catch my breath when necessary. The elevation here is over 8,000 feet plus this extraordinary angle of this climb (45 degrees at its worst) will wind you quickly. I didn't check the time before we started the cables, but I'd guess we took ~10

minutes to get to the top. It was 12:30 p.m. when we arrived at the top of Half Dome, a full 5 hours after our start.

Once on top, we celebrated by eating some PB sandwiches and enjoying the expansive views. We explored and rested for an hour on top of Half Dome, before heading back down. Most people head down the cables backwards, but  we decided to tackle them face forward. You'd think that this would be a more terrifying and challenging approach, but I felt surprisingly fear-free, and was able to let my legs do most of the work. I briefly attempted climbing down backwards midway through, but found it much more difficult and requiring more upper body work.

When you're on the cables, folks are moving in both directions and passing is difficult. Usually one person stops and moves as far aside as possible while the other person passes. On the way down, I moved aside to let a woman by on her way up. She coughed as she passed me. I didn't think much of it until I heard the guy behind me exclaim that she'd vomited

on him! I assume it was the combination of the altitude and nerves. I can't imagine being up there and getting sick. I assume she made it the rest of the way to the top.

We made it down without incident and headed back down to the valley. The downhill return trip is pretty brutal and not recommended for those with any knee problems. I had plenty of energy to spare, but oh my aching knees and feet (did I mention I forgot to bring my orthotics on this trip?). When we got back to the top of Nevada Falls, we opted to take the John Muir Trail to avoid the Mist Trail stairs. This adds .8 miles to the return, but I assume it is worthwhile. The switchbacks down were still plenty brutal. How I longed for a bit of flat, rock-free trail! We arrived back on flat ground at around 6:30 p.m., caught the shuttle and headed directly to chow down at the worst buffet ever. Wednesday's total mileage: ~18 miles.

All in all, an amazing experience. I'm glad my Dad was there to make the

o urney with me. He asked me to return in 26 years (when I'll be his current age) and do the hike again in his honor. I promised that I will.