Our Epic Journey to Half Dome in Yosemite NP

Place: Yosemite National Park

State: California

Closest Cities: Sacramento, CA, Fresno

Time of Year: September 2021

How we got there: Road Trip

Have you ever completed a hike and been so amazed that you even attempted it? That is how I feel about Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. It is a hike I think about so often that even though it happened a few years before I started this blog, I had to go back to tell you about it!

We had heard a lot about Yosemite from Cesar’s brother Alex and sister in law Lisa. They camp there every summer and we had seen many pictures. I started to read up on the park and all the awesome hikes! I was able to get an entry reservation to dive into Yosemite (you can get that here https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/reservations.htm) and I started planning our visit. Soon the main focus became hiking Half Dome. I had missed the preseason lottery for the permit to climb the cables of Half Dome. This is where you enter the lottery: https://www.recreation.gov/permits/234652. There was still some hope though because they have a daily lottery that you can enter right before your hike. The daily lottery application period is two days in advance of the desired hiking date, from midnight to 4 p.m. Pacific Time. Just to be clear, you will need an entrance reservation just to enter the park and you will need a separate permit to climb the cables at Half Dome.

Not knowing if we could get a permit for Half Dome, we planned our road trip anyway. From Gilbert, AZ we drove about 6.5 hours to Big Bear where we spent a couple of days mountain biking the Snow Valley Bike Park and exploring Big Bear Lake.

Big Bear Lake was fun but we were ready to head to Yosemite! We drove another 7 hours to reach El Portal, CA. El Portal is a small town right outside the Arch Rock Entrance to Yosemite Valley. There are a few hotels there but since we were late in planning this trip, we ended up renting a “glamping tent” at the Indian Flat RV Park https://yosemiteresorts.com/indian-flat/. This is a pretty basic campground with a pool and they also have tents with a regular bed and electricity for charging our phones. The bathrooms and showers were shared with the campground. When we arrived, it was so very hot so I was pretty happy that we brought our own floor fan! It was so hot we headed to the pool right away! It cooled off quickly that evening!

El Portal is 20 minutes from the Arch Rock Entrance to Yosemite Valley. Have your camera ready after passing the gate because you come across Arch Rock quickly! I was actually a little nervous that we wouldn’t fit through!

First Day in the Park

Our first stop of the day was Tunnel View Overlook. What a great place to see pretty much the whole park! There are views of Half Dome, El Capitan, Sentinel Rock and more! We also stopped at Glacier Point with even closer views of Half Dome. In the early Spring you can also see Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls but because we visited in the late summer, the falls were at their minimum flow and not easily seen from these view points.

Because we were wanting to hike Half Dome the next day (still waiting to see if we won a permit) we did a little 5 mile warm up hike. We linked Sentinel Dome with Taft Point to make this a 5 mile loop. This is a easy/moderate hike up a granite trail to the Sentinel Dome which gives you a 360 degree look at the valley and an up close look at Half Dome. Seeing it from this view, I couldn’t imagine how we would end up on top of it!

We continued on to Taft Point where we explored the fissures which are deep narrow cracks in the granite. Some of the drops are over 2000 feet! From here we could get a good look at El Capitan and if it were summer, Yosemite Falls. This day in September, Yosemite Falls was completely dry.

Check out the steep drop and one of the fissures below:

Late that day, we were notified that we did not win a permit to climb the cables of Half Dome and I was pretty disappointed! We were there during COVID and there were significantly less people, so I thought we had a good chance. I was wrong! There was one last loophole we could try! Each permit allows for 6 people and there is a chance that you can jump on someone else’s permit if they have room. Not everyone has 6 people in their party and sometimes people back out at the last minute.

The Day we climbed Half Dome

We decided that we were still going to do the hike to Nevada Falls even if we didn’t get to go all the way to Half Dome. This changed our start time from 5am to 7am. We didn’t think it was necessary to get to the trailhead that early if we weren’t going all the way. I prepared our backpacks with lunch, first aide kits, water, bear spray and extra clothing the night before. In the morning we drove to the Curry Village parking lot which is about 3/4 of a mile from the Happy Isles Trailhead. In busier times, you may want to take the shuttle and get off at stop #16. We had no problem finding a parking spot that early in the morning on this day though. When we put our backpacks on, Cesar commented on how heavy his felt and decided to remove the bear spray. He tossed it back in the car saying that no one had mentioned bears here like they did in Yellowstone. So off we went without bear spray! That would prove to be a risky move in hindsight!

A quick stop at the trail map told us that we would be going about 3.4 miles up to Nevada Falls. We were off! Right out of the gate, we started gaining elevation! This trail went straight up! We kept a steady pace as we climbed stone steps and rocks, passing college aged kids on the way!

As we approached Vernal Falls, the stone steps started to get slippery and wet and we could see that the water was coming from the mist off the waterfall hence the name Mist Trail! The mist facial felt pretty good but you had to watch your footing as the steps were getting slick!

The climbing continued as we started to see Nevada Falls. I can just imagine how strong these two falls are in the spring! They were just a trickle when we visited!

As we sat at the top of Nevada Falls soaking in the breathtaking views, we contemplated going higher! I had some questions! Were there restrooms further up? Is there much to see if you don’t get access to the sub dome and Half Dome? I decided to ask around! Near the restrooms I spotted a man who had just come down the trail. His advice? “You already made it up the hardest part and its only another 4 miles! Go for it! “. We decided to continue on and not 1/2 mile further, we ran into a man and his father who happened to have extra room on their permit! They agreed to let us hop on their permit and we started hiking again. We soon realized that these two were very slow and that it would take twice as long if we stayed with them so we went up ahead with the idea that we would wait for them at the sub dome. We were now above the trees in the exposed area and nearing the overnight camp. We made a pit stop at camp and continued on. The rest of the way to the sub dome seemed like it would never end! It went on and on and there was still no end in sight!

At this point we had pretty much given up on taking pictures! We were tired and we needed to see that the end was near! Finally we reached the sub dome where a ranger awaited us. Permits were required beyond this point. We took a lunch break on a log waiting for our guys who were willing to share their permit. We waited and waited and waited… The ranger suggested asking everyone who came along if they had room but we were having no luck. Then out of the blue came a young guy asking us if we were the ones needing a permit. Word had traveled down the mountain! He was hiking solo and would happily take us along!

Now that we were past the permit check, we headed up the sub dome. It is a steep climb with switchbacks and granite and you are very exposed to the sun. Very few trees here and lots of stone steps.

We finally reached the base of Half Dome and we could see the cable section ahead! We snapped a few photos, put on our gloves and grabbed onto the cables. And that was the end of our pictures! I guess we were too terrified to pull our camera out, even at the top!

It didn’t seem so bad at first. The first few steps were easy! The metal poles inserted into the rock are removed every winter so they can be pulled out if you pull up on them which was a little sketchy! The wood slates help you get a foothold as you climb. Some people clipped themselves in and I wished that we had! The climb is 400 vertical feet on granite at a 45 degree angle and the further up you go the further apart the wooden slates become. There seemed to be a traffic jam above me and then a woman dropped her metal water bottle. Watching that thing fall from above was eye opening! That is the route I would take if I fell from these cables! Pretty scary! My body was trembling. I seriously think this is the scariest thing I have ever done. I wanted down as soon as I got up and I didn’t really care about the views at this point!! The climb down was tricky as people were using the same path to climb up. I preferred going backwards but some people were going down facing out. When my feet hit the sub dome, I was relived!

Climbing back down the sub dome we realized that we had lost the solo hiker who shared his permit. Down below, we noticed a guy laying on the rocks in the hot sun. As we got closer we realized it was our permit guy! He had altitude sickness and never made it up the sub dome. All he had on him was some warm water, so we helped him to his feet and got him off the sub dome. We gave him electrolytes and food and told him we would hike down with him to be sure he made it safely. He was soon feeling better and we started the long hike down. To pass time we chit chatted the whole way. We heard from some passing hikers that there was a rattle snake on the trail ahead so we keep our eyes peeled. When we spotted him we couldn’t believe how long he was! We are from AZ and see rattlesnakes on a regular basis but this guy was huge! Looked like he was pretty well fed! Check him out below!

Now you would think that crossing paths with him would be the highlight of our wildlife encounters on this trail but you would be wrong! We were approaching Nevada Falls with the river running to the left of us when we felt thumping in the ground as we walked! The dirt below my feet was moving and I turned quickly to see what was happening. By this time we had caught up to another solo hiker who was not pleased with our chatter. She was letting us know that she preferred a silent hike when we all felt the tremor beneath our feet. Cesar was the last one in our group of 4 and took a step back as he turned to see a 350 lb. black bear run at top speed past us! The bear must have been enjoying the river and got spooked and took off. The female solo hiker gave us a lecture about why we should never run from bear as we all stood in shock at what we had just witnessed! It took a while for our hearts rates to slow down so we could continue on! Sorry we did not get a picture of the bear as it all happened in a blink of an eye! This is where we thought about how dumb it was to leave our bear spray in the car!

Once at Nevada Falls again, we walked over the bridge to join the John Muir Trail for an easier hike down. We still had 4 miles to go and this trail had less obstacles and a different view! From there we picked up speed and were down before we knew it!

We made it!! 10 Hours 20 minutes, 18 miles and 5000ft elevation gain is Half Dome in a nut shell! If you are planning to conquer this hike be prepared! Bring plenty of water, snacks, a first aide kit and gear! This is a strenuous hike which requires some level of fitness to accomplish. Hike responsibly and please respect your surroundings.

We were so hungry and didn’t want to prepare a meal in the camp ground so we stopped at Curry Village for a slice of pizza. The line was so long and we were loosing patience when we noticed Bar 1899 just a few yards away. It was cozy and warm and we found that you could order a whole pizza from the pizza place and they would bring it over! We ordered drinks, watched the US Open tennis tournament on the big screen and ate our pizza! What a great way to unwind after a long epic journey!

Day 3 Tioga Road

After a good nights rest and a late start, we drove Tioga Road to see what other wonderful things Yosemite had to offer! It was our 26th wedding anniversary! I promised that we would take it easy but that never happens! For another view of Half Dome from a different angle, we stopped at Olmstead Point for a little hike.

Our next stop was a picnic by the water on Tenaya Lake. We hiked around the lake to find a perfect little beach with the most gorgeous blue water!

Then we drove Tioga Road all the way outside the park to Lee Vining, CA to see the most unusual million year old lake made of salt and minerals! Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve was quite fascinating!

To conclude our visit to Yosemite we drove the scenic Tioga Road back through the park and back to El Portal. The memories here at Yosemite are ones I think of often! If this doesn’t convince you to take a trip to Yosemite then I don’t know what will! There is so much to see and I hope that we can go back one day and I hope that you can also! Happy hiking! Please remember to hike responsibly and leave no trace!

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