Climbing Half Dome

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So a couple car loads of friends drove up to Yosemite this past weekend to do the famous (or infamous) hike up to Half Dome. I've done this hike once before two years ago and I must say it was one of the most amazing places I have ever seen! Everywhere you look there seems to be a waterfall, granite cliff or endless amounts of green trees.

Anyways we left super early in the morning at around 6am to beat all of the foot traffic as well as catch the sunrise on our ascent. We decided to take the Mist Trail up and see the top of Vernal Falls which was absolutely gorgeous. We got a bit damp from all of the waterfall mist swirling around us, but the experience of walking next to a waterfall was unbeatable.

After that we continued upwards passing by another waterfall, struggling through tiring switchback trails and even trekking through some snow before finally reaching the rock. The most challenging part comes as you go up a series of steep stairs before reaching the base of the cables. We took a lunch break before tackling the final 400 feet up the steep rock face to reach our final goal. Since we decided to do the hike in early May the cables were down and the wooden slates weren’t in the ground to provide extra support. The National Park Service recommends not climbing half dome when the cables are down, but we did it anyways. After using all the arm muscle strength I had I finally made it up to the top to an almost indescribable view.

As I twirled around at the top I couldn’t even comprehend all of the dimensions around me. I could see waterfalls sprouting from all different sides of the park, a green river zig zaging through trees and cliffs jutting out in every direction. I became dizzy when I crawled to the edge of the rock to peer at the vertical drop below and couldn’t imagine how so many climbers make their way up to the top.

After taking some classic pictures at the top we made our way down and began our descent to our camp. We hiked a total of 10 hours today and probably made a roundtrip of 17 to 18 miles. My calves burn, My quads feel like solid rock, and I hurt all over, but it was definitely worth all of the amazing views I saw today. I can never get over how beautiful nature truly is.