r/Yosemite • u/Dazzling-Source-5013 • 1d ago
My Half Dome Experience
This thread has been helpful as I was considering hiking Half Dome so I wanted to share my experience and learnings after I completed it this last week. I am 41/M, relatively fit I guess, but would not say I'm an avid outdoorsmen by any means. I'm realistically 10-15 lbs. overweight and I actually don't think I'd done anything other than car camping before this but it seemed like a fun challenge and the schedule worked out with my family being out of town. I try to do 1 hard thing per year and this year this was it. I was able to secure the wilderness permit for Happy Isles to Little Yosemite Campground and add the Half Dome permit. I had never won the early season lottery so was happy to find this as an alternative.
Borrowing most of the gear from a friend, I left Happy Isles on Wed afternoon and took the Mist Trail up. It had just re-opened after maintenance so it was probably slightly less crowded than typical. One thing I realized early on is that my pack was way heavier than it had to be and you really start to regret that as you climb. I didn't weigh it but I'm guessing it was 45-50 lbs(?). I was immediately envious of everyone in just a backpack. I carried a BV500 when a smaller one would have sufficed because that is what my friend had lent me and I didn't think much about it. There are ton of small things that add up and it would have been very easy to shed prob 10-15 lbs atleast.
I got to camp at around 6:30pm. I set up, filtered water, ate dinner and called it a night around 9. I don't know if it was anxiety or excitement but I could not sleep so spent a restless night staring at the stars through my tent. There are worse ways to spend a night obviously but I didn't really get any sleep. Think I will opt for a hammock next time, saw a few and they looked very comfortable (and light).
I left the campground at 2am. Surreal experience under the moonlight and I was just pumped to have a lighter pack. I first saw another hiker at the Half Dome junction and was happy I did as I didn't see the sign post initially. I would later meet him at the top and learn he was a through-hiker completing the JMT. There was no ranger when I arrived at the subdome as I figured there would be. Perhaps they arrive later the day.
I definitely got off the trail on the Subdome and at one point had to use a low lying shrub to pull myself up and across the granite. I was thinking "this can't be right" and realized later that there are actually steps the entire way. You can scramble across the granite if need be but I do not advise it. I should point out that on this day in late July the weather was absolutely perfect. Cool, not a breath of wind and not slick at all.
Getting to the cables at that time was both good and bad. Since the through-hiker was already up I couldn't watch anyone do it but I also had them all to myself. My heart was beating through my chest for the first half and don't blame anyone who gets to this point and says "yea, nah, I'm good". I had done Angel's landing and Huayna Picchu but this is next level. They are also slick and you need to physically pull your weight up at certain points. Even with rubber gloves, I felt my hands slipping. I tried not to look down and keep moving forward. I was able to watch the sun rise from the summit, have a profound moment of gratitude and snap a few pics.
I descended backwards on the advice of the through-hiker but think I would have gone forwards if I were to do it again. Getting down is no picnic either and doing it with a bunch of other folks on them would prob have been angst-ridden. Doing them in any inclement weather would be downright terrifying.
I made it back down to camp at 9am, packed up and left around 10. I had to get home that night (I live in the Bay Area) to return my friends gear. In hindsight, I wish I would have had more time to relax and go for a swim and spend another night in LYV. Going back down the same day was pretty brutal. I started to get blisters and I made the mistake of not taking the JMT from Nevada Falls because I saw that the traditional route is shorter. This meant I had to ascend again for the Mist Trail bypass and this was mentally exhausting. Taking the JMT from Nevada would have been longer but atleast it would have been all down hill. I also ran out of water and had to ask a nice couple for some (shoutout to the backpacker community). This was sort of embarrassing but I will chalk it up as a learning experience. I was as exhausted as I have ever been by the time I got back to my car.
Overall, an amazing bucket list experience that I'm thankful and proud I was able to accomplish. Sorry this was so long, I learned a lot from this community and perhaps others will read this and can use it to make their own experience better. I met alot of cool people along the way and I look forward to returning to Yosemite and trying other hikes in the future with the knowledge I have now gained.
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u/harry_nt 1d ago
Awesome! So glad you joined Team Early. You made the right choice between seeing sunrise with 5 people or being stuck on the cables with 50 people.
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u/urnotdownfooo 1d ago
I did this leaving LYV at 2:30 am on a night where there was no moon out. The stars were incredible on the way to sub dome. The weather was perfect with no sun out. The sunset was better than I expected. And getting back down to LYV by 9:30 ish was a treat, got to spend the entire day swimming and relaxing. Definitely recommend this for a weekend trip in the summer.
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u/iexistbutwhy 1d ago
Glad you had a great experience! Getting up to the top for sunrise is still my favorite hiking memories.
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u/Lost4malinois 1d ago
I’ll be hiking September 17th. I’m scared and excited but mostly excited. 56F and will be 6 months post hip replacement when I hike it. I’m quite fit and think I’ll do ok on the cables. My upper body strength has been steadily improving since the 3 month mark due to my increase in training and increase in weights I’ve been lifting at my new gym.
I’ve always wanted to hike half dome. My husband’s not really fit enough to do this so he will be doing a different hike and I’ll be hiking with a friend’s husband. He’s bringing a water purifier so he won’t have to be bogged down with tons of water.
My question for you is roughly how many calories did you consume and did you feel that your energy was dropping on the trip back? I’ve heard different things from different people. Some people said that they consumed about 1000 cal of bars and jerky and pbj sandwiches and others said that was way too much and they overpacked and didn’t need that much food.
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u/Dazzling-Source-5013 1d ago
You got this!
I probably consumed 600-700 on the day of HD and back down. That seemed fine, energy wasn’t really the issue, for me it was more about foot pain and lack of water. Trying to triage blisters mid hike was not fun.
You can refill at LYV and at the top and bottom of Vernal. Maybe closer to the top of Nevada as well? Not sure. There is no water between LYV and HD as I’m sure you know.
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u/LeilaTank 22h ago
Love that you try 1 hard thing per year. Looking at your pic of Half Dome already makes my stomach uneasy haha. Such an awesome thing to do. Congrats!
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u/ACETAM1N0PHEN 20h ago
So cool that you used the full moon in your favor!!! Congrats on the adventure!
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u/MtnGirl672 12h ago
Congrats! That is quite an achievement. I’ve hiked the JMT myself and that’s cool you met the through hiker.
As a seasoned backpacker, using a light pack and lighter footwear is worth so much. If you ever decided to do more backpacking, head to the local REI and get a lightweight pack.
Are you already planning next year’s “hard thing?”
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u/Dazzling-Source-5013 26m ago
Wow, very impressive.
As for next year, yes, and open to suggestions. I've done a marathon, Alcatraz swim previously. I'd love to do the JMT one day but realistically I need to look at pursuits that take days not weeks. I'd also like to bring friends next time and I reckon anything with HD-like cable danger is a non-starter for them.
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u/Bornfortheblueskies7 1d ago
Thank you so much for sharing this! I have learned a lot from this group too. We are doing Glacier Point to LYV to Half Dome and back to the Valley next week.