Arguably Yosemite’s most iconic feature – how could you NOT want to climb to the top? What makes this an adventure… 4,800 feet up of uphill climbing, and back down. 17 miles round-trip from Yosemite Village. Literally PULLING yourself to the top up of a giant rock by some steel cables tied to poles that are jammed into small holes with 2×4’s every 10 feet to stand on. Seems legit. Oh right, we also started at midnight so it was pitch black out. Just for added intensity but more importantly… an even better goal.
Time was early October. Two of us each put in a permit to climb the cables on a Thursday to summit Half Dome (HD). My permit was rejected… but she got lucky! We got into the village that afternoon to catch the sunset at El Cap. The entrance ranger was quite clear no car sleeping was allowed but we managed to snag some Zzz’s in the main lodge before starting the hike just after midnight.
Started at the Happy Isles Trailhead and went all the way up the Mist trail to Nevada Falls. It’s always a little cold in the valley so we were layered up at the start of the hike and that was a mistake. We both had to shed layers about 30 minutes in cause reminder… IT WAS ALL UPHILL. My partner and I are in pretty good shape so we didn’t have to stop that often. But the climb was grueling at times. It was actually to our benefit that it was pitch black out because we could not see how daunting some of the stretches of uphill were. This section was especially brutal, big steps up huge rocks & really steep to where it feels like you are crawling up.
Once at the top of Nevada Falls, the path mellows out for a long stretch as you walk along the Merced River on the John Muir Trail (JMT). A necessary break from the uphill but also more of a dirt path so nice and soft on the feet. A good marker for the incline picking back up is when you hit the intersection between HD and the Clouds Rest hike. (Clouds Rest a likely 2020 Adventure candidate) It was at this point we had the pleasure of seeing some other souls. We didn’t stop to chat but it was nice to see some life out there this early in the AM and after about 5 hours, we made it to the subdome.
Hiking up the subdome was so brutal, to me, this was the hardest part of the entire mission. I think what hit me the worst was that I definitely had its silhouette locked in my sights thinking it was HD, only to find another long stretch to go. But now you are out in the open, on the side of this massive rock. A single missed step could send you falling hard for a bit. Just seeing the right path had become difficult to differentiate and I was just crawling up this rock at some points. But we got there.
The sun had not started rising yet but you could see the horizon in the distance. There she was, Half Dome. This giant mound of granite. An obstruction of the dawn light because outline imposed its mass from even a great distance. This was the most serene moment. The only 2 people at the top base. Full view of all the stars in the sky. No wind, no trees, just dead silence. Under a blanket to rest, snack’n & watching the sunrise. Just incredible.
I had spoken to a Park Ranger on our way to Yosemite and he mentioned the ranger won’t be there at sunrise to check it out so wait til sunrise to see better and feel the rock before climbing the cables to make sure it was not icey. So after basking in HD’s glory, stashing our gear, putting our gloves on and hyping ourselves up enough to climb the cables another group of 4 gents arrived. We let them take off first and give them some space – and to see the technique. So no, although we were the first to the base Oct. 4th, we weren’t the first people on the top of HD that day, but 5th & 6th isn’t so bad either.
Pretty chill climbing the cables if you’ve got a good grip. Decided going with climbing shoes at this point would be DTM, better to stick with my Adidas. GLOVES omg gloves were so crucial. Mostly just cause it’s early in the AM so that cold cable gets slippery if your warm hand is bare. Plus it stings to grab something that cold. Pretty obvious to see how someone had just perished a few weeks before our adventure: It’s slick, steep, nothing else to grab besides the cables, you just hiked a ton to get there. You are nearly 4,800′ in the Fall air and most dangerously… the view is EXTREMELY beautiful around so maybe I should look that way, get a picture…just don’t look down. Leaving my over packed bag at the base made it feel like I had removed some weighted training clothing. Plus the obvious adrenaline rush, I would have ran up to the top if I could – but I’m not that stupid.
There is nothing like hitting the proverbial and physical summit of any obstacle at the same time. Whether it’s the mound at a park, the top of a sand dune, roof of a building, some stairs or the peak of your local hike, the top is the top and that first deep breathe of completion is so so satisfying. Here we are, at the Top of Half Dome. Feeling like we were on the moon. So different from other epic summits cause of the flat open space up top, untouched by the folks in the world who like to leave their trace. ‘Twas an honor being at the top so early.
We sat at the top for about an hour. Exchanged photos with the guys who went up just before us. (Always pay it forward when it comes to photos) Took in the surrounding sights. You could see the Dawn Wall on El Cap. The last time I was at Yosemite we went and saw HD from Glacier Point and looking back at GP there was really no comparison to the 360 view we had. As a few more people started coming up the cables we decided to head down before the congo line formed. Once we were back down, we just hung out on the subdome and ate the rest of the meal we had brought up while watching people go up the cables. I think we were instrumental for some very nervous folks to let them know it was not so bad, you could do it too. On the way down we stopped by into the ranger and had him check off our permits.
The first 3/4ths of the down climb was fun cause the adrenaline was still hitting. Coming down while others struggled to go up and with the temperature escalating their climb was only going to get harder. So glad we went up in the early morning because now that we could see what we had come up I was shocked we didn’t break more often. Sore knees, cramps and hanger were settling in once back around Nevada Falls but we started singing Disney Classics to keep us going. We couldn’t get a campsite once we landed back at the village so we took another nap in the fields in front of El Cap and watched climbers getting their send on. Based on everything we learned that day, if we could do it again… we would try to get a camp site at the Little Yosemite site closer to HD for the night before and also take a nice break at the river considering how nice it was in the afternoon.
Once we settled in for the evening at a campsite outside of the valley I started writing to capture the moment. 5 hours 38 minutes to the top, 4 hours 27 minutes down, 4 hours of non-moving time so a chill scenic 14 hour workout that Friday. I am a notorious over packer so I started checking items I brought but did not need off: Notebooks, climbing shoes, avocados (should have been eaten), speaker and multiple layers could have been shed. There was even a small lunch pail cooler that should have been left behind… but that was carrying the couple brews I needed for celebration lol
This easily pivoted to -what was the most clutch item? Water is always top 3. The blanket was worth it for when we were posted at the top waiting for the sun to come up. I brought a mag-lite and that was far superior to the head lamp visibility while night hiking. But for me I think the most critical item I had on this trip was my partner in crime. The type of person you can rely on to give their best. We had never hiked together before but I’ve known her since high school, the right-back on all my soccer teams is smart and got jokes plus loves Bay sports so we could talk for hours. She told me a story way after the trip on how she was sharing the HD story with her fam and her older sister asked… “he wasn’t annoying after all that time?” and she said no lol. So the fact that she could put up with me for that long makes her companionship invaluable.
IMO, Success is best when you can share it with others. Couldn’t have done it without someone right behind me while at the simultaneously can lead the charge over 14 hours. Mad love for my friend. Big love for this big rock. Get inside the great outdoors!
An AlTRNTative Perspective 