It was about 4:30am when we headed for Curry Village in Yosemite. We each had a freeze-dried meal for breakfast, and were now staring up at Half Dome from the parking lot. A couple thousand feet up, the lights from the climbers sleeping on its face twinkled like stars in the sky. A faint glow of twilight started to illuminate it, meaning sunrise was on its way. We arrived at the trailhead at 6:30am and began the hike up.
The first mile or so of the Mist Trail (the trail we would be taking up to Half Dome to start) is paved, but gradually uphill, enough to feel a bit of a burn eventually. We were joined by an older woman with a spring in her step: she was in a group of three others--others not in as good of physical shape as she was, apparently, since she had left them behind. Problem was, they were doing Half Dome and one of her struggling friends had the permit, so she would have to wait at some point. That time came about 15 minutes later; unfortunately, we wouldn’t end up seeing her again that day.
There's a water fill station near the bottom of Vernal Fall, about a mile into the hike. This is your last chance for water, unless you plan on dunking your bottle in the river and treating it. If you’re wondering why this is called the Mist Trail, around here is where you’ll find out. The steep staircase cut into the stone runs next to Vernal Fall, and in the spring and summer, expect to get drenched by the fall’s mist--you’ll want to be careful with your footing too on the slick rock .We were hiking in the early fall though, and while the waterfall was still flowing, the stairs were completely dry. We hoofed through this steep, difficult section, and I was already feeling it in my legs and feet. There’s a great overlook from the top of Vernal Fall, with a railing for safety. When the falls are flowing at their strongest, the water can often go past the railing though; it should go without saying, but be careful if that’s the case. More people than you would believe have gone over Yosemite’s waterfalls to their deaths.
Near the base of Vernal Fall.
The next few miles of the hike were a mix of switchbacks and more staircases cut into the rock, taking you over granite, through forest, and finally past, and then to the top of Nevada Falls. The overlook for this waterfall veered off our main trail, so we didn’t stop. The sun was only getting higher too, and the temperature warmer.
My feet were bothering me way more than they should have been, about four miles in or so. The terrain had leveled, thank God, and I took my first real break. Despite it flattening out, this portion of the trail was sandy, which isn't the easiest to walk through. We made it back to forest again, where signs for Half Dome became more prevalent, warning hikers that a permit would be required for those seeking to climb it. Gradually uphill now, this portion of the hike was serene, if not boring. We eventually came across a junction: Half Dome one way, Cloud’s Rest the other. I was a bit disappointed we wouldn’t be able to do Cloud’s Rest, as the ranger had mentioned that the views from that summit were even better than Half dome--next time, I suppose. We eventually came to a sloped clearing on a cliff’s edge: nothing but a vertical drop down into the valley. Through the trees, we could see the backside of Half Dome: we were getting very close. A quick break here, and we continued on, reaching the sub dome.
The sub dome had a ranger checking permits, gathering a group of hikers together, and then giving them the rundown on Half Dome: be patient going up or down the cables, since it’s a narrow way up and traffic jams will happen. Don’t go up if it looks like rain or thunder, and exit the summit immediately if it looks like bad weather is inbound. The granite on the cable path up has been worn smooth due to decades of hikers using it; add water to that, and it gets very slick, very fast. Apparently that’s what happened to the hiker that died there the week before: caught in a rainstorm, she panicked while going up the cables, stumbled trying to rush down, slipped on the wet rock, and fell to her death.
The sub dome was no easy feat: while the beginning of it is staircases built into the granite, eventually it’s just a gradual slope, with no real marked trail. This granite has been worn smooth too, making it all the more difficult to scramble up. Combine that with no cover and high elevation, and I was gasping for breath and feeling extremely fatigued. It flattened before the cables and the final ascent, but I needed a half hour break to catch my breath and find my courage.
We donned our fancy gardening gloves, took a deep breath and started heading up. I had a death grip on the cables, and after about ten minutes, my hands were hurting--still better than plummeting to my death though. Again, the granite is worn smooth, so you’re really utilizing your upper body strength more than your legs here, pulling yourself up via the cables between the wooden beams. We had made it here in about four and a half hours, which placed us at the busiest time of day on the cables, which meant plenty of traffic jams. When someone is coming down when you want to go up, you wait on your respective wood beam and either call up or down: “mind if I come up?” “Wanna come down?” and make as much room as possible for the other person without going to the outside of the cables--do NOT go to the outside of the cables. While 98% of the people we met were patient and polite, the other 2% were not, and swung themselves to the outside of the cables to pass others. If you slip while on the inside of the cables, you have a better chance of catching yourself (or someone else, unwillingly, catching you). If you slip on the outside, you’re pretty much a goner.
At about the halfway point, we had relaxed a bit, until on one of my breaks, someone dropped their water bottle. Everyone on the cables stopped and watched it bounce down the slope, and eventually over the edge: it was a long way down. It was also the first time I had looked behind me, and looked down: it was a very steep drop--better to just keep looking ahead.
The slope began to gradually level off, signaling the end of the cables. It had only taken about 40 minutes with delays, but reaching the top had never been more of a relief, and I had never felt more accomplished (momentarily forgetting that we still had to go back down). We were treated to 360 degrees of amazing views and a well earned lunch break. The top is bigger than you’d expect, though most people seem to congregate near the famous photo op by one of the vertical ledges. We spent probably about 90 minutes up top, taking a variety of photos and video. The day was getting late though, and we still had 8 miles to hike back now, so it was time for part two of the cables.
Trying my hardest not to look down.
Dreading the hike back down.
Going down was easier than I expected, and probably took us a little less time than going up. The jury’s out on whether it’s more difficult going up or coming back down, and the truth is neither is easy, so don’t expect it to be! Traffic wasn’t quite as heavy this time, thankfully. Much like going up, it was still all about your upper body strength, taking care now to slowly lower yourself down between wooden beams.
Reaching the bottom, now we were tasked with retracing our steps. After what was already a long day, we weren’t quite as excited about the hike back down. As we kind of expected, it eventually turned into quite a bore, though we reached Vernal Fall around 5:00pm, which was the perfect time of day to catch a rainbow in it’s mist. I’m not sure if we dragged our feet or what, but it took us about five hours to get back down, with the last hour or so really testing our patience.
Rainbow in Vernal Fall.
A quick shower in Curry Village, and we were headed back to camp. What an accomplishment it was to hike Half Dome--I’m no outdoorsman, I generally don’t love hiking unless there’s ample reward at the end (usually in the form of a view I can capture through my camera), but I was riding a high after conquering this one. Are there far more dangerous hikes? Yep. Was I overly cautious and dramatic here? Absolutely. Did my legs and feet burn for the next five days? Definitely. But we had done it, a challenge that not everyone gets to do either, the longest hike I’ve ever done, and the hardest one yet. Until next time, Yosemite--I can’t wait to hike to the top of your falls when they’re roaring, and maybe even check out that view from the summit of Cloud’s Rest. If you're itching to hike Half Dome yourself, check out my in-depth guide on it here.
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