Hiking Half Dome

If you had told me two years ago, (heck, two months ago!) that I would climb Half Dome this year, I would probably have laughed in your face.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Half Dome, checkout this link to the National Parks’ site that tells you all about it … watch the video … it really makes you think twice about climbing this beautiful mountain.

This adventure all started with a friend of mine.  He climbed to the base of the cables on Half Dome last year, but did not finish the climb; he regretted that every day and was determined to get to the top this year.  He mentioned a couple of times that he wanted to do it, and each time I brushed him off saying that I wasn’t ready for it but would love to do it next year.  He was insistent that it be this year.

Because he had not applied for permits to climb (required) in the spring, he was subject to a 2 day lottery in which you apply 2 days before you want to climb, and you are put into a drawing and notified the next day.  This is kind of inconvenient considering you then have 24 hours to get to Yosemite to do the climb … but that’s the way it goes! 

He wanted to do it.  I wanted to wait.  We decided to leave it up to the lottery to decide.  We applied for the Saturday lottery and did not get the permits.  We applied for the Sunday lottery and both got permits.  I was admittedly nervous, but also excited. 

Saturday was drove out to Yosemite, pitched out tent, cooked dinner, and were in bed sometime around 8pm.  Sounds early right?  Well, we were getting up a mere 6.5 hours later at 2:30am to start our trek up the mountain.  At the suggestion of several individuals we decided to start as early as possible to get the uphill part out of the way before it started getting hot.  Plus, the hike is 16.5 miles round trip, meaning it is a full day hike no matter when you start.

We hit the trailhead sometime around 3:30am.  It was dark and cool and we were virtually the only ones on the trail.  It was very peaceful and calming to watch the sun com up on the face of the mountains.  We reached the base of the cables around 9:30 … not bad timing wise!  We sat at the base of the cables for awhile watching other climb and trying to discern a strategy.  The bottom and the top seemed manageable … it was the vertical middle that was going to pose a problem.

Top of subdome prior to climbing the cables.

 

My friend ascended the cables with what looked like ease (though I’m sure he might argue this).  I was much slower, taking each “step” at a time.  About halfway up, I stopped for quite awhile.  I looked around and I thought to myself “what the f*ck am I doing on the side of a mountain?!?” (Please excuse the language, but it was the only appropriate word at the time.)  I looked at all the beauty around me, and knew that I had to finish what I started, or like my friend I would regret it every day and find myself there in a year to complete the task.

I finally made it to the top, and the view was definitely worth the effort.  It felt like you were on top of the world.  It is surreal (even more so now that I am down) and I wish I had appreciated it more while I was up there.  It was nothing short of breath taking, and the sense of accomplishment was overwhelming.  

 

View from the top.

We made it together!

After the initial satisfaction, came the dread of the descent, which I had been the most worried about.  I just took it slow, again one step at a time.  I made it down, and proceeded down subdome (tons and tons of stairs). I thought the hard part was over, but boy was I wrong.  At this point it was noon and we had climbed up 8.2 miles and back down 2 miles.  We had 6.2 to go and I was exhausted and it was getting hot.  We trudged along at a much slower clip, just trying to put one foot in front of the other.   

We made it through Little Yosemite Valley and at the suggestion of my friend stopped at the river.  I was reluctant to climb down to it, not wanting to have to push my legs further than necessary, but the lure of the water and desire to soak my feet was too strong.  I’m glad I gave in.  The cool water felt amazing on my filthy, tired feet.  The only bummer was I had forgotten an extra pair of socks, so I had to put the dirty ones back on.  

My shoes were trashed!

When we hit the next mileage sign, we were presented with 2 options – on way was 4 miles, the other 2.5.  We decided to go the shorter way … big mistake!  The way we chose was series of switch backs that were composed entirely of “stairs” created from stacked stones.  This would have been bad on its own, but I had one additional problem.  I wear contacts, and one of them either shifted or got something in it and I could not seem to clear it, so the vision in my right eye was compromised, interfering with my depth perception, meaning I had to focus on each and every step I took, making sure my foot was properly placed.  This was extremely tiring. 

At 5pm, nearly 14 hours after we started, we made it to the bottom!  We were both ecstatic, but extremely tired.  We made a quick trip to the general store (in search of an ornament and a pin).  Then we hit the showers – best $5 I have ever spent!  I think I stood under the water for a good 30 minutes.  Our plan was to cook dinner that night, but with how tired we were, it was out of the question; fortunately we were able to get a pizza, which we quickly consumed.  We were in bed by 7:30!

Still can't believe I was at the top of that!

This experience was nothing short of crazy.  It was spontaneous (at least on my part) and grueling.  It pushed me to my limits, but gave me a huge sense of accomplishment and a new appreciation for natural beauty.  Though I encourage everyone to do this, I have no desire to ever do it again – it is truly a ONCE in a lifetime experience!

Say yes to spontaneity, say yes to being pushed to your limits, say yes to ONCE in a lifetime experiences … say YES to climbing Half Dome!