Half Dome

It was time.  It was past time.  I was well into my third summer in Yosemite and still hadn't climbed the most iconic dome in the park.  It was time to hike Half Dome.  

Gil hung around all week, I had Friday off, and we decided Friday was the day.

What would have been ideal would be backpacking up to Little Yosemite Valley and staying the night, then hiking Half Dome in the morning and hiking out.  We had one day.  We had almost 17 miles round trip ahead of us.  We were ready.

Our route is below.  We took the Mist trail to Little Yosemite Valley and then on to Half Dome which is marked below in red.  On the way down, we stopped in LYV to get water and then took the John Muir Trail and the stock trail down, shown in green.

 We started early.  We left my apartment at 5:30 and started hiking a little after 6am.  As you can see, when we reached the bridge just below Vernal Fall, it was just starting to get light.

 Vernal Fall.  If you hike to Vernal when it's still got a good amount of water, you understand why it's called the Mist Trail.  You can't tell in the picture, but we got rather wet.  It felt good.

Onward and upward, and upward, and upward to Nevada Fall.  Getting lighter!

The day was perfect.  The sky was the bluest of blue without a cloud in sight, the air was clear and hazy free, and the temperature was perfect.  Gil and I sang a few times as we hiked.  We tweaked the chorus of a church hymn ever so slightly:

Beautiful day, of peace and rest

Bright be thy dawn, from east to west

Hail to thine earliest welcome ray

Beautiful bright,

Yosemite day!

 The goal is in sight!  You can see the sub dome; the famous Half Dome cables start at the top of the sub dome and take you to the top.

I was very excited.  Oh my, was I excited.  This is my "holy-Hannah-I'm-actually-going-to-hike-Half-Dome" excited face.

We reached the sub dome a little after 11.  Five hours for a little over eight miles and significant elevation gains...meh, not too shabby I'd say.

 We had lunch and watched people going up and down the cables, seeing if we could pick up any techniques.  (And yes, it's really as steep as it looks.)

The hardest part of the cables for me was waiting.  There were people going up and coming down at the same time, people ahead of us who would stop to catch their breath... I got impatient quite a few times going up and coming down, simply wanting to just go!  I found the cables to be easier than I thought and I felt incredibly strong when I reached the top.

Going up!

At the top!  The views were magnificent.

 I doubt he used the cables.  

Yosemite Valley

 Can you see the little pink dot out there?  That's me!

 Gil's on the edge picture.

Cartwheel on top of Half Dome

 We did it!!

 A fabulous shot of Half Dome and Nevada Fall on the hike down.  

Check it off!  It's been done!  It was great!  Life is good!