A hike to remember

For those of you unfamiliar with Half Dome, click here first: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_Dome

ok ... now that you're all caught up, on to our Half Dome hike (this is long, so make sure you're comfy!):

As you've (perchance) already read, Yosemite was different than we expected. Upon entering from the south, we were shocked and appalled at how touristy it was, but by the last day (when we left from the north) we were sad to leave as we drove by backpackers heading in on what had to be AMAZING trips. Beth actually almost cried she was so sad, but Betsy was very consoling. Another time, Yosemite, another time.

When we arrived in "the valley" our first stop was the wilderness center in hopes of a backcountry permit - and we were rewarded with an all expenses paid (less $10, gear, food and a hell of a lot of energy) trip up Half Dome that included one backcountry night at Little Yosemite Valley and a site (for $10) at this special little place set aside for backpackers near the main (quite bear infested) campsites.

So, what day was it? ... Tuesday night we tried to get some sleep with Yogi wandering around our site looking for food (yes, Betsy - who is more ... alert, let's say, than Beth, slept in the tent where there are bears. Yay for Betsy!), awaking to a 4 a.m. (plus a couple snoozes) alarm in order to hike back to our car, assure we were set for our hike and head on to the trail. We'd heard horror stories of dayhikers clumping up at the bottom of the cables to the top, waiting their turn exhausted and exhilarated all at once, so we wanted to get there before the masses.

A note to all Minnesotans and New Yorkers: hiking in the Sierra Nevadas is different than back home, just so you know!

Before some pictures, a shout out is most definitely in order for the trail crew of the John Muir and Mist Trails. There are a shit-ton of massive boulders placed carefully as steps in order to provide backcountry access for humans with as little erosion and damage to the natural world as possible. We were impressed with their work, to say the least!

The Hike
By heading out pretty early, we had only a few fellow hikers and a nice, shaded trail for the first part of the hike (for which we were grateful, because the sun later was brutal!) because the sun was hiding on the other side of the mountain. There are 2 amazingly beautiful waterfalls along the first half of the trail: Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall. Based on our experience of Nevada, one might be tempted to ask:

"You mean, there's water in Nevada for falls to be named after?"

And the answer:

"Apparently. Who knew."

Here's the trailhead sign. Exciting, we know.

Ahh, the first waterfalls. Shaded (the sun's still behind the mountain) and glorious. Apparently during the earlier spring, there's so much water over Vernal Fall, Betsy would be getting wet. Amazing!


We've had the joy of watching the moon wax and wane. Who could resist this shot?


Turns out, heights aren't so much Betsy's thing and most of the way up the goat trail was about all she could handle. But here's a self-portrait of her as high as she made it:

What's the goat trail, you ask? It's the most underestimated part of the hike, in our opinion. The sub dome, or, "the part before you get to the cables," is made up of carved steps and a couple steepish walks up rocks. Here's a picture with the trail circled (not our picture, pirated from the interweb):


Can't pick out the goat trail? Not surprising.

The infamous cables ... & Beth, pondering oh so seriously whether or not it's in her to climb them solo.


Luckily, these three amazingly kind people came up behind her: Sarah, her dad Dan and a friend of theirs Lance. They let her climb with them (they've all done it before)! They also shared water with us. Remember back when we mentioned that Minnesotans and New Yorkers should be careful hiking in the west? One lesson: water sources aren't reliable. Nice people are, though! We rewarded them with freshly filtered cold stream water further down the trail.


Rumor has it, the top of Half Dome is the size of 17 football fields. For those of you keeping track at home, that's big. Here's a couple pics from the top including one of a marmot. How cute! (The pic of Beth isn't all that flattering but it'll have to do - it's the proof she made it to the top!)


At Little Yosemite Valley (aka, the campsite):

When the ranger came through to check for permits, we found out that we hadn't actually beat the masses to the top of Half Dome like we'd told ourselves. Instead, it seems that day there hadn't actually been masses! Be it the holiday (it was the 4th of July) or the heat, not many folks heard the call of the trail. Our guess: the heat - turns out it was 100+F in the valley that day!

(Brian: just so you know, the rangers liked the BA Seedhouse 3 & commented with great enthusiasm! :)

Here's a picture of Betsy packing at our bear box. It's a little blurry & she's not even looking at the camera. Really, this pic is for all of you out there wondering what you do with food (& toiletries & anything else that smells remotely good. Note: we didn't climb in the bear box!) in active bear country. Along with our packs, we carried this box to keep all the good smelly stuff safe. Kidding, the box was already at the campsite.


And here's a funny sign found inside the fancy-schmancy solar toilets:


Hiking out

The hike out proved to be just as gorgeous as the way up (not shocking). Some pictures. The first one was taken at the top of Nevada Fall. Yes, there was water, but this tree was way cool!


Probably not as cool to lots of you, but the trail signs were soldered (?) onto metal rather than painted on wood like we were used to. We found this cool.


A fairly famous view of Half Dome & some other big thing that has a name that is ... can't remember.


How do the rangers in the woods get the stuff they need? How is there always toilet paper in the outhouses? Why is there horse shit on the trails? The answer:


And back again!


Would we do it again? Hell, yes!

And we'll leave you with a famous Half Dome picture taken by the man himself: Ansel Adams. Any friend of John Muir is a friend of ours!