A 360° panorama from the summit of Half Dome.
Early birds
We woke up at 3:00 to get an early start on our hike up Half Dome. It was incredibly warm—I was cooking oatmeal in the campground in my T-shirt.
We started hiking at 4:30, which meant about two hours of hiking in the dark.
Crossing the Merced River.
We passed the waterfalls on the Mist Trail in the dark. However, we got to see a nearly full moon and the lights of other hikers far below.
At the top of Nevada Fall.
We hiked at a moderate pace all the way up. Thankfully, the air cooled as we gained elevation.
The backside of Half Dome from Little Yosemite Valley.
We were able to put our headlamps away once we reached Little Yosemite Valley.
Hiking through the trees before the trail splits from the John Muir Trail.
You start climbing once when you leave Little Yosemite Valley, switch-backing up a lot of rock steps …
Starting up the subdome.
... that lead to the rock steps of the Half Dome subdome.
More rock steps, with Mt. Watkins in the background.
The subdome has a little bit of exposure and a lot of views.
Looking down at Tenaya Canyon.
The upper part of the subdome doesn’t have much of a trail, just open granite slab.
Getting psyched up for the cables.
Yosemite initiated a new program last year of issuing permits through a lottery to limit the crowds on Half Dome.
When we came here two years ago, Nancy was unnerved by the number of people on the cables. This year, with an early start and the permit program, there was hardly anyone.
The top of the cables.
As we were getting ready, we heard a clatter as a hiker about fifty feet up the cables had a hiking pole fall off his pack and tumble down the granite out of sight.
Nancy put on her sticky gloves, gulped, and headed up.
It’s 400’ of vertical. The middle part is the hardest as the pitch gets steeper and there are ledges and cable transitions to deal with.
Success!
We made it up in about twenty minutes without too much psychic trauma.
Nancy was thrilled to reach the summit—8,840’.
I explored the summit plateau and found a few small trees.
We hung out on the summit for an hour, eating lunch and watching other hikers come up.
Nancy is the fourth hiker from the bottom.
On the way down, I side-stepped down while holding onto one cable, while Nancy backed down while holding onto both cables. Her method was a lot better, as you get much better traction.
The real climbers hold onto both cables and walk facing downhill.
Made it!
We had to negotiate past the hikers who started at a more normal time.
There was one angry-looking father determinedly pushing his young, frightened son all the way up. I couldn’t help wondering how that was going to play out in about ten or twenty years.
It felt great to be back on flat rock.
Heading back down the subdome.
We still had the subdome to descend, but the exposure seemed much less after descending the cables.
The trail wasn’t designed for short legs.
We were glad to have gotten such an early start, as it was an incredibly warm day for October.
Looking south toward Mount Starr King.
When we reached the bottom of the subdome there was a ranger with an iPad checking hikers to see if they had a permit. I’d like to see Ansel Adams get a picture of that.
Working the knees
We took the Mist Trail back down. It’s shorter but steeper, with a zillion rock steps.
Vernal Fall or Vernal Trickle?
Nancy got some blisters on her feet with a couple miles to go, caused in part by the high temps.
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