Hiking Up Half Dome 2019

Last year’s fires put a damper on my plans for hiking the John Muir Trail and also hiking up Half Dome. I had never actually heard of Half Dome until I signed up to hike the JMT. After hearing about how epically scary it is, I couldn’t help but want to do it. Then the fires of course turned those plans into a not-gonna-happen. To be able to even make it out on the JMT, I had to leave from Tuolumne Meadows because Yosemite Valley was closed. Leaving from Tuolumne meant having to get a new permit and that’s why we couldn’t get the elusive Half Dome permit.

This year, my adventure to hike Half Dome was actually supposed to be hiking the section of the JMT that I had missed last year. This summer it wasn’t fires that screwed up the schedule, it was snow, talk about one extreme to the next. Hiking through to Tuolumne Meadows scared me for a few reasons: #1 water crossings, #2 hiking through snow, and #3 Tioga Road was closed.

Last year I fell in at a water crossing, and while it wasn’t overly traumatizing, I definitely wasn’t feeling enticed to cross through water again. Having it above my knees and moving like snow covered mountains melting faster than an ice cream cone on a summer day gave too much risk factor. I have a fear of drowning and while I would have crossed, because fear only shrinks the more you expose yourself to the scary stuff, there were too many other obstacles.

I am in different groups relating to the JMT on Facebook and love hearing about everyone’s experiences on the trail. There was a lot of chatter about the snow covered areas, lots of talk of snow bridges, post holing, and just risky terrain. Seeing all the different snow reports showed me the risk I would be dealing with. I haven’t done much adventuring in snowy areas and don’t have a lot of knowledge to feel comfortable being out in those conditions. I also didn’t want to carry snow shoes or micro spikes. I probably would have been fine if I had hiked out early when the temperatures were still low enough to keep the snow firm, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.

The last obstacle was Tioga Road being closed. They actually did something they’d never done before with the road closure. On the day I was headed out on the trail they decided to open the road through for two one hour windows, 10 to 11 a.m. and 3 to 4 p.m. daily. The YARTS bus wasn’t scheduled to pick any hikers up that weekend because the road schedule wasn’t a for sure deal. I could have hiked all the way to Tuolumne Meadows and then risked having Tioga Road closed again, or missing the window and having to stay an extra day. Also, I didn’t want to risk hiking 27 miles to Tuolumne, and then have to turn around and hike 27 miles back. Sure, it would have been a great story to tell one day, but I think my knees would have been angry at me. I didn’t prepare as much for this hike as I did last summer.

We finally decided to: hike in, stay the night, hit Half Dome, and head back down to Yosemite Valley. All that in time to go to church and meet one of my favorite IG celebrities. I shoulda fan girl’d it and asked for a selfie with her. Lol.

With epic snowfalls, come epic snowmelt, and the waterfalls in Yosemite were AMAZING! At the end of August last year, the falls were barely trickles and seeing them in their full glory was awe-inspiring.

On Wednesday, I left my house with my friend Natalia. I did the JMT with her last year, and we wanted to finish up what we missed together. It took around 11 hours to get to her parents house in California. I’m probably the worst road trip buddy because I get stir crazy. I’m like a little kid: Are we there yet?, I have to potty, I’m hungry… She says that she figured the trip that usually takes her a little over nine hours would be longer because of my pit stops. After that, we prepped for an early morning of driving another three and a half hours to reach Yosemite.

I loved visiting Yosemite this time. Last time, I was kinda like, meh, what’s so exciting??? Seeing everything so green, seeing the giant rock faces, and the water gushing out of everywhere, I realized why people make such a big deal about Yosemite. I think it’s in my top 5 now. I’m so glad I got to spend the earlier part of the day exploring the waterfalls I didn’t go check out last summer, before heading out to conquer Half Dome.

Instead of hiking the first section of the JMT to Half Dome, we ended up hiking the trail that takes you up by Vernal Falls. I am so glad my little Osprey pack has a rain cover in it. The fall was so huge that I was soaked thru to my socks by the time I made it to the top. It was really nice to have a flat spot to chill out on in the sunshine for a bit. I was able to let my socks mostly dry out before continuing onto my camp spot. Also, I got started on conquering my fear of heights, looking down from the top of Vernal Falls was pretty crazy.

After taking that refreshing snack, hydrate, and dry-off break, it was time to keep moving. The views just kept holding up their end of the bargain. Seriously, if you can only hit part of the JMT, don’t miss this section. We took a little detour to see the top of Nevada Falls which was pretty cool. I didn’t realize hiking back down we would go past it again. Oops.

I think one of the other reasons I like this section of the trail was because of all the bathrooms. I only had to pee in the woods a couple times, the rest were in bathrooms. Little Yosemite Valley might have been a nice place to camp since they have bathrooms there. They weren’t plumbed bathrooms, but I thought it was pretty cool that they compost all that stuff and pack it back out on mules. Even though there were bathrooms, I’m not sure I actually would have wanted to camp there. There were a lot of people and it was a wide open space with little privacy. I probably could have had some s’mores there too, there are a couple fire rings just outside LYV.

There’s supposed to be a super cool camp spot after you pass the Clouds Rest trail turn off, it has a great view of Half Dome. Even though we were tired and ready to set up camp, I pushed to try to find that spot. I’m pretty sure we found it, already occupied, with some very loud people. Instead of searching for a close spot with a view, we ended up backtracking closer towards Half Dome. Which actually ended up being a good idea because we decided not to risk hiking through to Tuolumne and decided if we stayed closer to Half Dome, that would mean less miles for us to be able to hike back out the next day. Last summer I packed bug spray with me, and I think I only used it once. This trip the mosquitos were AWFUL! Once the sun started to go down, my sweaty mess became a magnet. As soon as I made it to camp I dug my deet out and protected myself. I’m pretty sure I had around 10 mosquito bites at that point. I can’t imagine how I would have felt with the mosquitos like that for 21 days. What a nightmare.

Even though I wasn’t feeling very rested on Friday morning, I was stoked to get moving up to Half Dome. Instead of carrying my backpack all the way up to the top, I stashed it in the bushes before meeting up with the rangers who check your permit. They give a small pep talk, basically letting you know they aren’t liable and that the poles that hold the cables pull out if you pull them straight up. #instantanxiety The view on the way was pretty amazing, I loved seeing all the snow capped mountains. So beautiful.

When you climb up to Half Dome, before you reach the cables, you can see a small line leading to the top. It shows you just how huge the rock is. Seeing it from that perspective gave me quite the scare. Then getting up to the cables you start seeing people putting on harnesses and second guess whether you should be wearing one too. Oh man, what had I gotten myself into?!? Lol.

To this date, Half Dome has been my scariest adventure. Have you ever heard the saying, if you aren’t growing, you’re dying? Well, it’s true what they say about the five people you spend the most time with, if they aren’t pushing you out of your comfort zone, they aren’t pushing you to live. I definitely felt alive on the side of that big ol’ chunk of granite. If it hadn’t been for Natalia introducing me to Half Dome or pushing me to go up, I may not have ever planned to do it, and if I did, I probably would have been standing at the bottom for a lot longer than I did.

Sitting on Half Dome, eating my treat of dried pineapple, I couldn’t help but feel energized! I just climbed that crazy thing, and was sitting close to the edge, of a giant cliff. It was the perfect time of day to be there because the sun was out and there were just a few clouds passing through. I’m glad we didn’t go any later because the climb down was a lot slower due to more people going up. It’s funny how when I’m riding dirt bikes, the scariest part for me is going down big hills. It’s scary because you can slide out of control if you grab too tight on the brakes. I thought for sure the descent was going to be worse than the climb up. Maybe just knowing that I made it up already was mentally the hardest part, but the way down felt easy peasy. Since climbing Half Dome, ladders don’t seem as scary, other high places, meh, I got this. What fear should I work on conquering next?

Back at the bottom of Half Dome, it was time for lunch. I was thankful to see that my pack didn’t have any critter chew holes, my bear canister was still there, and there was food to be had. Although, my Jetboil was having problems igniting. I’m thankful there’s always a lighter, and waterproof matches in my backpack. You never know when you’ll need them.

As excited as I was to be heading back into the Valley, I wasn’t so stoked about the down hill. I did, however, enjoy having a slightly different view because at the fork in the road we actually took the JMT back to Happy Isles. Seeing Nevada Falls from that other perspective was way better than the day before. It’s amazing how different things can look at different times of day too.

Since we weren’t headed back down the soaker path, I opted to leave my rain cover in my pack. There was a spot that the water was dripping over the edge of the pathway, and I ended up getting a little wet anyway. Because it was so warm out, the surprise shower actually felt really nice. After that it was back to reality, plus I’m a glutton for punishment. It was all down hill with two ways down: the shorter way or the JMT. I wanted to stick to the JMT so that I could at least see what the beginning would have been like. I kept wondering how the people who go north bound feel finishing out here instead of on Mt. Whitney. I guess I had forgotten about the downhill after Mt. Whitney when I finished the trail last year. Both ways, the down hill sucked. My knees this time weren’t nearly as sore the next day, and I’m definitely grateful for that.

Once I got back down to Happy Isles, it was so nice to take my shoes off and put my feet in the water. There was still a little ways to walk back to the car but my flip flops felt like heaven from that point on. It’s funny, we filtered water down at the river so we’d have fresh cold water, I’d never thought of drinking water from a river or creek until after backpacking. Now it just seems like it’s no big thing. Thirsty? Let me just bust out the filter and we will have a drink. I like that simplicity, plus it’s so much more satisfying fresh from the source than it is from the sink. After getting back to the car, it was time to eat. Driving through Yosemite Valley on a Friday is no joke! The traffic is nuts, finding a parking spot was even crazier. Even if it’s only been a weekend with backpacking food, its so nice to come back to fresh food.

I may not have made it thru to Tuolumne but I consider this hike a success. Why? Because I conquered Half Dome, plus I made it out alive and enjoyed myself. What more can a girl hope for? I’m thankful to be able to get out on these adventures, and I hope me sharing them with you makes you want to get out there too. There’s so much beauty to be seen in this world, I don’t want to miss out on any of it!