The quintessential hike in Yosemite. 18 mile round trip, 4800 foot elevation gain.
Here is a friends trip report from July 25th, 2004
Hey,
I was a lot tired and spent from the day last night so I may have
sleep-walked through our phone call. The valley was screwed up from the
fires to the south so I am hoarse today after breathing that clean mountain
air for three days! We were camped in Upper Pines 207, which was directly
across from our campsite from last year. The bears were all over the place.
The rangers even chased one through our camp in an attempt to re-educate him
about mingling with humans! This bear was a good sized one and he was
running full-tilt from the bathroom and right past the Johnson's table where
we were having a campfire. Pretty exciting stuff.
We left for the trail at 6 and went up the Mist Trail as quickly as
we could trying to beat the heat. Well, the trail up to Nevada to the North
is just like the Mist with tough granite steps. The footing is not as good
as the Mist as the rocks are kind of strewn about so it was really tough on
the ankles and knees. The five mile hike up to the 1/4 Dome is a pretty
tough uphill through the forest, but not too bad. It was just like walking
out of the Hetch Hetchy area toward Beehive. Rodger was not amused! the
water situation is similar as well. The Merced runs down by Nevada Falls,
but then you turn away and there is not water until you come back from the
top. I heard there is a spring up toward the top, but no one seemed to know
anything about it. Good research for the next trip.
Once to the domes, the hike up to the Half Dome saddle is tougher
than the hike up Half Dome! It is about 60-70 degrees for about 1/4 mile,
but with the switchbacks it seemed more like a mile. It comes at the end of
a long day of hiking anyway and then you mix in the heat (90+) and lack of
water and it presents a nice challenge.
Once to the saddle, we rested and waited for the crowd to subside
before making our attempt at the top. It is very intimidating to stand at
the bottom and look at what appears to be 500 feet of 80-85 degree granite.
I brought enough mechanics gloves for my crew and everyone else borrowed
from the pile at the bottom of the cables. They are indeed a necessity as
you do much more work with your arms than your legs! My boots are flat and
offered no traction for me at all. I found that if I leaned forward and
change the angle of attack, the boots worked fine and the work required to
climb was not too bad. We made it to the top and the reward is a fantastic
view that is second to none! We stayed and had lunch on the top and took
the obligatory "edge" photos of the whole group before gearing back up for
the descent.
Now, this is where the tractionless boots thing got real
interesting! If you will google "Half Dome Cables", you will see some
photos from both the bottom and the top to get an idea of the angle of that
awesome rock. I literally slid down the face of Half Dome using my hands
and arms for brakes the whole way down. It was quite a workout to say the
least as I am not a small person. It made me sick as these little 90-100#
ladies just flew up and down the rock and here I was struggling and
straining to hold myself up. I finally made it with my finger and forearms
screaming for mercy. We finally made it to the saddle again and began our
long hike home.
Our water was completely gone now, so we hiked the five miles to the
Merced in the heat of the day with nothing to drink. Made for a long hike,
but the cold water pumped from the river was very refreshing. The steps
down 1/4 Dome, Nevada, and Vernal Falls took its toll on all of our leg
joints as our legs were pretty much sapped of strength by the time we got
there. We finally rolled into our campsite at around 5, ready to lay around
and recover. But, of course that was not to be as we were expected to get
dinner rustled up for our family because it was after all dinner time. Is
there no justice?!!! I sent all of our group off to the showers at Curry
Village while I cooked up a gourmet meal of hamburgers and salad. Yeah, I
really amaze myself at the tasty stuff I can come up with to spice up a camp
meal. Ever the innovator, that's me!
The crowning event of the weekend was a drive to Glacier Point. The
view from there is unlike any other in the park. You can see so many of the
landmarks of the valley from just a few different spots and I think I could
sit there all day and just look at it all. Breathtaking does not do it
justice.
The whole trip was very tiring but well worth the effort and I would
do it again in a heartbeat. I would only make a few changes though, such as
leave earlier, take less food and more water. A "Camel Back"-type unit is
the way to do this one I think. Way better to have too much than not enough
that is for sure. You think I would have learned that lesson after our June
hike, but not me. I need a few more brushes with dehydration to make any
changes in my program. Actually, I am going to buy a hydration day pack
this week. Consider me educated.
Well, that is our trip in a nutshell. I am looking forward to out
hike in August. Scott says he wants to take his tent and his stove, so I
will get together with him on that stuff to make sure it is good to go.
Please let me know if there is anything else I need to bring.
Later, Joe