July 22, 2016

As planned, my alarm went off at 2:00am. I, however, did not stick to the plan of getting up. I had not hydrated enough the evening before and woke with a headache and general fogginess. I knew there was some more technical climbing involved in the ascent up Half Dome and I just did not trust myself in the state I was in. Back to bed it was for another few hours.

I tried again around 5:00am and got myself up this time. I would miss catching the sunrise from the top but would at least beat the crowds. After half an hour of hiking I reached the junction where the Half Dome trail split off. No rangers out checking permits yet (not that it mattered as I had one).

The first mile or two of the approach trail were pretty tame. Then it hit the stone stairs marking the beginning of the big climb. I stashed my pack off the trail, making sure to remove the bear canister, and began the final stretch of the approach. The trail was above treeline at this point and quite steep. Even with 4 months of backpacking under my belt and no pack on I was breathing heavily by the time I crested and found myself at the base of Half Dome itself.

View from Half Dome

The climb up Half Dome itself is intimidating. A 45 degree incline doesn't sound that bad until you find yourself a hundred feet up on one made of smooth rock, holding onto cable anchored in the rock, using weathered wooden slats as steps. I arrived at the bottom as a group of Boy Scouts began their descent from the top. There's nothing like a group of 12 year old boys fearlessly scampering down in front of you (pictured) to erase any second thoughts about doing it.

Once they had descended I began climbing. Once I was moving it was fine so long as I focused only on my current section of rock. I did not have gloves for the cables and by the time I neared the top my hands were beginning to feel a little raw. I reached the top and found two groups of sunrise summit-ers. It was cool to be up there and to have "bested the cable climb" but without a group to celebrate with I didn't find the top all that exciting and thought the views from Clouds Rest had been better. And with that, I began the climb back down.

View down the ladder

The first wave of the ~300 permits issued that day had reached the base by this point. Most were still hanging out at the bottom but a few had begun to climb already leading to some fun moments passing each other. By the time I made it to the bottom of Half Dome there was a crowd, and my hands were really burning from the cable. It only got worse as I finished my side trip and wound my way down into Yosemite Valley. I was overwhelmed and feeling claustrophobic.

Funky panorama

That was when I met George. He asked how far it was up to the top of the falls and then offered me a sandwich. We talked the rest of the way down to the valley and I found out he was taking a year to travel the country and get as much value out of his National parks pass as he could. He had purchased a Westfalia camper van that had been sitting for 10 years, rebuilt the engine, and renovated the interior.

When we reached the bottom he offered to give me a ride back to Lee Vining and we continued sharing bits and pieces of our life stories. He had heard from a local about an emergency escape tunnel out of one of the highway tunnels that lead to a secluded view up the valley back towards Half Dome. We took a detour to check it out before heading back into town.

Spooky tunnel

George

George and view

Private view up the valley

Once in town, we got dinner at the BBQ place and continued talking. George picked up the tab, despite protests, telling me to pay it forward. We headed over to the RV park to shower before finally saying our goodbyes. I stayed to do laundry and figure out what my next steps were. There was a bus that ran down to Lone Pine but I couldn't find a schedule for it online and figured I would check at the tourism office once my laundry finished.

Goodbye

Freshly showered and in clean clothes I headed back into town. Upon inquiring about the bus I found out that I had just missed the last bus for the week by 10 minutes and the next one wouldn't run until Monday. Bummer. The fallback plan was to hitch back up into the park and try the next day to hitch down to Lone Pine instead.

It was getting dark, however, and I was not able to get a ride. I headed into the gas station to buy a beer and wait until it was fully dark before stealth camping across the road. On my way out of the station I met a few Yosemite locals my age. We chatted for a bit before I asked them for advice on where to stealth camp. They pointed me up the hill along a road behind the gas station.

I thanked them and headed up there. There a number of cars parked up there and it was unclear what they were doing. I set up uneasily, jumping every time a vehicle drove. Once settled in I caught up on texts and the news and enjoyed my beer before rolling over. Just as I was drifting off I heard the sound of sprinklers turning on and sat bolt upright to find myself surrounded. I was about to start a mad scramble to collect my things and vacate the area when I realized that none of them were actually pointed at me. Reassured, I tried for sleep again.