[GaliWalker]

Day 1, of 2 action-packed days in Yosemite National Park… June 22, 2008: Half Dome and its infamous cables Half Dome is one of the most famous hikes in Yosemite National Park, mainly because of the last 700ft, which take one up a 45 degree slope on polished granite. Cables provide assistance on this section and the route can become extremely crowded, especially on weekends; this increases the difficulty as one has to negotiate around other people. In order to get to the cables before the hordes I left San Francisco at 2:15am. Exactly 4hrs later I was at the trailhead parking lot and on my way. Alas, I was not alone and headed off in a knot of other hikers. My initial route was on the John Muir trail, heading alongside the Merced River, which cuts through Yosemite Valley. The ‘trail’ was paved, so the going was quick.

Illilouette Gorge

Pretty soon I was at the junction with the Mist Trail. Here, the options were to continue on the John Muir trail, or take the Mist Trail which would cut a half-mile off my hiking (but on slightly more difficult terrain). I decided to take the “more exciting” Mist Trail and was quickly introduced to the reason for its name: as I passed impressive Vernal Falls I found myself hiking in a cloud of spray, up slippery steps.

Vernal Falls

At the top of the falls the Merced River was quite pretty and first views of Liberty Cap, Mount Broderick and Half Dome appeared. I contoured around Liberty Cap and then ascended up past Nevada Falls (also mighty impressive) and into the Little Yosemite Valley.

Liberty Cap and footbridge

Nevada Falls from Mist Trail

The next section of the hike was through semi-open forest as I ascended gradually up away from, and then back towards Half Dome. Eventually, I broke out of the forest, switch-backed up a steep granite section and was looking at the infamous cables. A small crowd of people were gathered at the base of the climb, either psyching themselves up or resting after having already made the climb.

Heading up towards the cables

Psych

Going up

I didn’t waste any time and quickly donned my gloves and started up. I had hoped that the granite would allow good grip for my boots, but no such luck - the rock was polished smooth (presumably from hundreds of thousands of boots). Oh well, it was mostly an upper body workout from that point on. I soon found out that my arms and shoulders needed to be in much better shape. Halfway up and they were on fire - nothing to do but grit my teeth and scuttle up, one section at a time. (The cables have wooden planks bolted to the base of the anchoring posts, which allow a good resting point, as well as a means to break up the climb into sections.) Finally, exactly 4hrs after starting, I was standing on Half Dome’s broad summit area; needless to say, views were superb. 10,000+ft peaks and granite domes of various shapes and sizes littered the landscape. Lush green Yosemite Valley was arrayed before me, with the Merced River a silvery snake slithering through its middle. I spent an hour up top just soaking in the atmosphere, as well as resting my tired arms before embarking on the descent.

Overlook

Summit views

Summit

As I headed back down the cables, I realized that this wasn’t quite going to be as easy as I thought. People now jammed the route, and it was slow going. One telling incident happened about halfway down: A father and his 12yr old son were coming up. As I moved over to one side of the cables to let them pass, a water bottle attached to the boy’s belt came loose and fell. Everyone got really quiet as we saw the bottle tumble down…

Heading down

Crowds heading up

The rest of the hike was straight forward. I took the John Muir trail going down for a bit of variety and was treated to fantastic views of Nevada falls. Back down in the valley I had lunch (the first food I had had in 24hrs!) and headed to Curry Village to check-in. After some sight-seeing in the valley, I drove over to enjoy the sunset from 7,214ft Glacier Point, set to the extremely enjoyable talk given by Ranger Jack.

Hiker toiling up

Nevada Falls, from John Muir trail

Sunset and tree

Clinging on

Half Dome

Next up: "Attack of the blood-sucking demons" in Tuolumne Meadows… Cumulative stats: - Elevation gain: ~5,500ft (high point: 8,836ft) - Distance: 18mi - Hiking time: 8hrs 50min

[ree]

Nice job! Love that sunset picture over Half Dome.

[touron]

Love the Half Dome sunset shot and the Nevada Falls picture is beautiful!

[ActionBetty]

Nice work, this is one I have been wanting to do...I need to work on that upper body strength

[Ingunn]

The sunset photo is beautiful! Ugh, I get dizzy just looking at those cables.. *shudder*

[GaliWalker]

Thank you, everyone. Half Dome is pretty spectacular, and the sunset was the perfect way to enjoy my earlier accomplishment.

[goats gone wild]

Nice report, Galiwalker. I wonder if one or two of those hikers you saw are bcfc53 & sillytraveler. They should be there about now, I think.

[GaliWalker]

[Gil]

Nice images!

[Elvis]

Wow! Thanks for sharing. Your "Heading Down" pic in full size really puts it in perspective.

[GaliWalker]

[peltoms]

Great shots of the falls. I bet is was a beautiful sound. Good perspective shots on the steepness of half-dome.

[Don]

Wow. How did I miss this? Ah, the memories this brings back! I remember having to do a bit of a psych job myself at the base. White knuckles most of the way up, casually touching the cables on the way down - stopping often to snap people's pictures for them. Amazing how much your comfort level can change. But you didn't touch on one of my biggest memories from that trip - the size of the pine cones along the trail! Excellent work Gali!

[GaliWalker]