Postmortem

May 8: A group of punks up to no good entered Disneyland (AKA Yosemite National Park) on a warm and sunny Saturday morning. The plan was to hit Yosemite falls as our warm up hike, go camp outside the park, and then come back the next morning for Half Dome. Gaby almost fell into a bush but was saved by Ronen. There was a very wet waterfall. And there were smores around the campfire (cute, I know). Ok, onto Half Dome...

May 9, 5:00AM: Time to get XXXtreme! We packed the 10 hiking essentials (Redbull, a few grains of rice, headlamps with half dead batteries, etc..) and were off to the races! Jokes aside, Half Dome is a legit full day and should not be taken lightly. We were more than prepared in terms of gear, fitness ability, and daylight. No harm, no foul. The very beginning of the hike is worth noting. It's absolutely gorgeous going through the Mist trail. I highly recommend checking this trail out in May or early June when the water level is highest from the snow melt. It dries up quick, don't wait!

May 9, afternoon: From this point onward to the final ascent there is not too much worth calling out. There are plenty of general hiking guides/pages out there you can follow along. For this entry we will focus on the final slab climb. The park services usually put up wooden steps and metal poles by Memorial Day weekend. So the trick is to go the weekend before when snow is gone but the cables are still "down". The cables are still attached to the rock face and can be harnessed into for safety. I think it is about 400ft of vertical. There are many advantages of doing it this way. Aside from it being more technical/challenging, there are far fewer people and you do not need a climbing permit (which can be very difficult to get). The harness setup is usually done with two separate lines for safety when you remove one from the cable. Most people use a carabineer on one and a prusik knot on the other. It's definitely the most stable option since the prusik will catch you if you slip, but it also requires more work as you go up. We were all confident in our abilities and just went with two carabineer lines. If you fell it would hurt but you would still be caught. The slab is steep but sticky if you have good shoes. The exposure keeps things spooky but you'll be ok.

Going off season is a great way to turn Half Dome into a solid weekend warrior's adventure with a group. We try to go every few summers at this point. On my list is to combine Half Dome with Cloud's Rest all in one day. To be continued...