Our last day on the John Muir Trail began with a hike up Half Dome.  Yes, the dome that multiple people have died falling off of.  And yes, I definitely had that on the mind when we started up.

We got up early and grabbed a bite of energy bar before starting our walk up Half Dome.  We left our belongings zipped up in our tend and went directly to the Half Dome Trail, which started off just like any other (albeit a bit steeper) – wooded area, dirt path.  It was nice a cool, which was nice since it was a pretty steep walk.  Above is a picture of the view after we broke through the trees for the first time.  Beautiful view, right?

To our surprise, as we were walking up, we met a man going down.  We could hear him counting out loud as he came across other hikers (there weren’t many around, just two who were in front of us), and when he got to us he counted off “17, 18, 19th to the top today!”  Turns out he was first on the mountain that morning, and as he walked down was letting people where they stood in line.  Kind of cool. 😀

After breaking through the trees and walking through some flatter ground with beautiful views we came to this sign warning sign at the foot of Subdome.  Subdome is the exposed outcropping of rock that you have to climb before you get to Half Dome itself (more rock outcropping…just a helluva lot steeper).  This sign warns of slick rock, lightning strikes and…oh yeah…by the way there’s bears up here too.  But since it wasn’t raining, overcast, and we didn’t have any food on us, we figured we were safe.  As safe as we could be, anyway.

This sign popped up shortly after the previous one.  It’s depressing to read that people are so destructive in national parks (or any type of park, for that matter).  I’m not sure what it is that makes people so sure that rules don’t apply to them or that it’s alright to tear things down that are obviously a rarity.  Six of the seven trees were destroyed for firewood.  For shame!  /rant

This is a great picture Michelle took from the rear of our little line; you can see we’re on exposed rock and directly ahead of us is Half Dome itself.  The hike up Subdome started off a bit mildly, but very shortly thereafter everything was reduced to switch-backing stone steps awkwardly chipped out of the mountain itself.  We’re talking no railings, just gravely stone steps and a pretty sheer drop-off.  A great time to apply the “just don’t look down” mantra.

Another awesome picture by my cousin Michelle.  She took a second to turn around and take a picture of me bringing up the rear (in my super-trendy getup).  It shows pretty clearly the steepness and grandeur of what we were dealing with there.  At this point the steps were gone and we were just walking up a wall’o’rock.  Our way down definitely required some butt-sliding.

Voila!  So we made it to the top of Subdome – a success in itself!  Here we took a breather, congratulated ourselves, and took bucket-loads of pictures.

 

At this point we started discussing whether we were going to take the final step from Subdome to Half Dome.  I’d been prepping myself over the last 2 days for this final step: I wanted to make it to the top and by the time we’d gotten to Subdome, I was sure I’d be going up, no questions asked.

Then we started watching people and began realizing exactly how steep we were talking here.

It’s really tough to do this justice with the pictures I took, but holy crap, Half Dome is steep.  We sat at the top of Subdome watching this couple go ahead of us (a young, fit couple), and it took them about 30 minutes to make it.  Basically, you’re going almost completely vertically; you have to use the cables and the wooden rails to keep yourself from falling.  You’re not roped in or anything…it’s incredibly intimidating.  My resolve shrunk.

The three of us talked about it and ultimately decided we were all fine with having defeated Subdome and merely gazed upon Half Dome.  I’m a little disappointed, but I don’t think I regret the decision.  Michelle pointed out that what would really be difficult would be going back down.  At least going up you’re not forced to look at where you came from.  Looking straight down as you returned to Subdome is what, I think, sealed the deal for all of us.

As we were packing up and preparing for our hike back down, a pair of men came up behind us and started taking their own rest.  We chatted with one of them who said this was his third (I think) time hiking up Subdome and he still wasn’t sure if he’d make it up Half Dome this time.  We all joked about it, and we said we decided to be happy with our choice.  He grinned and said, “If anyone tries to make fun of you for not going up, you tell them that they should hike up here and try it for themselves!”  It was pretty funny. ^_^

So we started our descent.  Here’s another good picture that demonstrates the terrain.

Here’s a good picture describing what the stone steps were like.  Take your time – there’s no rush!  One thing we kept telling ourselves: there’s nothing you have to think about except your foot on that step.

Naturally we made it back down to the “regular” trail, back to the safe and steady dirt.  Randomly, we came across a wild turkey.

So in the end?  A fantastic, beautiful, and scary hike (but scary in a good way!).  Definitely a challenge, and definitely worth it.  While we wouldn’t have gone up if it’d been raining, overcast, or in any way wet, I’m really glad it was a clear day for us to give this a shot.  In fact, I would probably do it again…though maybe not Half Dome. 😀

See my previous Yosemite posts:

• How to Pack for Yosemite
• YNP: John Muir Trail Day 1
• YNP: John Muir Trail Day 2