In 2010 my wife and I visited Yosemite for the first time for 6 days. I had the pleasure of attempting the Half Dome hike and This is the trip report that a wrote. This is where the idea of doing the JMT came from.
When watching the sun setting on Half Dome the evening before the hike I have to say I was more than a little nervous. The mountain stands at approximately 8,800 ft and looks very imposing from the floor of Yosemite Valley.
The trail to Half Dome gets very busy in the summer months so on the day of the hike I woke up early to try and get ahead of the crowds. At 4:30am it was still dark although the North Pines campsite I was staying at was quite well lit by the moon. With my head torch on I set off from the campsite on my own. I don't usually hike alone for safety reasons, but on this occasion I felt confident that I would meet others along the way.
After about 1km into the hike, part way down a lonely dark road in the valley, I came across my first obstacle of the day - a black bear! My wife and I had encountered several bears during our stay at the North Pines but always with other campers around. This time though I was alone and the bear was by far the biggest I'd ever seen. After staring at each other for a few seconds, the bear loped off in the direction I was supposed to be going. Rather than follow the bear and risk another terrifying moment I decided to head back to a lit area back down the road to sit for a while to regain my nerves and wait for other hikers! Thankfully after about 20 mins of waiting, 3 other hikers arrived and we all continued up the road to the trailhead together.
By the time we reached the famous mile marker sign just after the trailhead it was about 6:00am. There are two routes that you can take to Half Dome: the mist trail which is steeper passing close to two water falls, and the John Muir trail which is slightly longer but less steep (see trail map below). We decided to take the mist trail up and John Muir trail down as it would work out to be easier on the knees. This particular route is recommended in a number of guide books.
It was beginning to get lighter and the views were starting to get pretty special. We soon arrived at the top of Vernal Falls after climbing many large granite steps (I could appreciate why the guide books recommended the John Muir trail down!).
After a wee break we carried on up past the second waterfall of the day - Nevada Falls. This one appeared to have more water flowing over it than Vernal Falls and was equally spectacular.
After continuing for a while through woodland we got our first close up view of the back of half dome. The picture below definitely does not do this granite giant justice.
After passing through Little Yosemite Valley (about 8km into the hike) we entered another wooded area. Half Dome was now presented to us at a different angle and it looked even more intimidating as we got the occasional glimpse of the shoulder and the infamous final accent section up the braided steel cables. The task ahead of me now was starting to hit home.
We finally approached the shoulder (aka sub dome) of Half Dome. This section of the trail involved tackling a large number of steep granite steps carved in to the rock side. Some say that this is the most difficult part of the hike and I could see why. The drops off the side of the shoulder we pretty severe to say the least.
Eventually we reached the top of the sub dome to be presented with a full view of the cables. This is the moment where I lost my nerve and mountain cowardice took over - they looked terrifying! I should have known really having looked at countless pictures on the internet prior to my trip, however nothing really prepares you for seeing that final section in real life.
I decided not to make the accent as I had stupidly forgotten to bring a pair of gloves as recommended for gripping the metal cables when pulling yourself up the 45+ degree slope. I also noticed some other hikers were using via ferratas to attach themselves to the cables. After staying on the shoulder of Half Dome for about an hour I began my trip down.
The hike back was tiring and I was running low on water but the views on the way down the John Muir trail kept me going! All the way I had the niggling thought about whether I had made the right decision to not go up the cables. On reflection though I think it was the right one. I hope to return there one day to finish it off with more confidence and with proper gloves and probably a harness.
To finish the day I indulged in what tasted like the best pizza I ever had from Pizza Desk in the valley!
It's very hard for me to put into words what an amazing place Yosemite is but I think John Muir's famous quote sums it up perfectly - "No temple made with human hands can compare with Yosemite".
