Half Dome
June 19th, 2004. I hiked to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite Valley, with three friends: Brian, Paul & Angie. Looking back - what a great experience! At the time: exhaustion, trepidation, and the occasional moment of astonishment. Not to put you off of course, if you are considering it …
The valley floor is at an altitude of 4000 feet. Half dome summit is about 8800 feet. So the elevation gain is just short of 5000 feet. Distance is about 17 miles. This is certainly the hardest hike I’ve attempted … so far.
Hiking 2 days from the Summer solstice means two things - lots of hours of daylight ( we need them ) and lots of people on the trail ( three or four hundred ). Reveille - 5.00am - on the trail by six.
The first part of the trail takes us past first Vernal, then Nevada falls. For speed we take the horse trail, missing Vernal altogether, the key idea is to gain plenty of height while the day is still cool.
Clarke point at about 8.30am, the day is starting to warm up, and we are almost at Nevada Falls …
In a sense, it feels like here is where the real hike to Half Dome begins. The trail snakes along by the river for a bit…
…then starts to climb into the trees - the overall goal being to get around the back of the mountain, from where the trail ascends to the summit.
Once the trail starts to ascend, there is a seemingly endless number of switch-backs rising through the trees. The woodland is not too dense, but thankfully provides some shade. By this point, I’m really starting to feel tired. I have an altimeter with me, and I’m able to guage how much height we’ve gained. I find it useful to think of the trail in 400 foot chunks, every half hour, another 400 feet, and a short break to get my breath back. After a few of these … we have our first serious views of the valley …
… at this point: astonishment, after all that climbing, I have a direct view of what lies ahead … I’m about to climb that mountain.
it must be possible … there are people up there aleady!
more views - and a tremendous sky!
And so … the cables. Variously reported to be either not quite 45 degree grade or somewhat more than 45. It seems to me that they are somewhere between 40 and 60. At first the thought of climbing them quite overwhelms me. Being up so high, and the feeling of exposure, and I really don’t feel up to it.
By this time, my colleagues have already made it to the top. I take a short break to eat and drink & get back my composure - I also begin to hear people chatting about how they had gone up even despite their fear of heights, and other such stories…
OK - let’s do it!
When I’m about three fourths the way up, my compadres have started to come down. Has he really made it? So they all go back up, to await my triumphant arrival on the summit.
Exhilaration. Nothing quite like it.
I know it looks like the edge is only three feet behind us … it is.
the top is really big!
El Cap.
Looking gingerly toward the edge … JENGA anyone?
Time to chill out …