I was recently in Yosemite National Park with some great friends, to photograph the park in autumn. While there, I had a Leave the Harbor experience. About two months before our trip, one of my good friends planted the idea in my head of hiking Half Dome, the iconic mountain in Yosemite. Her words were something like, “it’s supposed to be brutally hard, it takes twelve hours, and you have to bring toilet paper because there are no bathrooms along the way”.
Well, of course, that piqued my interest immediately - the “no bathroom” situation is generally not a problem for me and the rest of it just sounded amazing. So I looked it up and found some details on the hike : 15-17 miles, 4,800-5,100 feet of altitude gain, and the last 400 feet to the summit, you need to use cables mounted on stanchions to ascend the 45-70 degree incline.
Naturally, as with any normal person (I think), it was all I could think about until we left for the trip. Sometimes, the heart craves a bit more than exertion…sometimes you need to challenge yourself, to dig deep and find out what you’re really capable of, to feel the satisfaction of overcoming something as mentally taxing as it is physically…and this seemed as though it had the potential to be that challenge.
The views while hiking in Yosemite are simply breathtaking!
I broached the subject with our group about halfway through the trip and decided that I would do the hike the last day we were there, anticipating some soreness and wanting to first acclimate (at least partially) to a higher elevation than what I am accustomed to, which is pretty much sea level. So on Friday, October 18, I packed my gear, had a bowl of Cheerios (with almond milk, gotta keep it vegan!), and the group was kind enough to drop me at the trailhead on their way to photographing sunrise. Below is what I packed into my 450AW LowePro camera backpack:
3/4 gallon of water (it was forecasted to be a spectacular, but cool day)
2 PB&J sandwiches, a granola bar, my favorite trail mix (with a bit of extra vegan chocolate added in), and a few Oreo cookies
100-400 Canon lens
5D Mk IV Canon body with Canon 24-105 lens, strapped to my chest with a Cotton Carrier CCS G3 harness
I wore fairly standard stuff - lightweight hiking pants, good Salomon hiking shoes, a base layer under a breathable t-shirt, an insulating layer, a coat, and hat and gloves. I also used the AllTrails app and used the Lifeline feature with my friend, so she could see my progress throughout the hike, in case I was injured. Normally, I would not use this but because I was hiking alone, it seemed like a wise precaution.
It was about 32 degrees when I set off, and the first mile was pretty flat overall. My goal was to keep a strong pace on flat or even slight inclines, because I knew that the real challenge would be as I reached higher elevations. I wanted to complete the hike with at least a two mile per hour pace.
After about a mile, I began the climb to Vernal Falls, which is a popular attraction for tourists. The climb to the top of Vernal Falls is about 1.5 miles, with a gain of about 1,000 feet of elevation. The first portion was just a paved path but I was quickly out of breath with the pace I was setting and also not being warmed up yet. Then the paved path transitioned into stairs….oh, the stairs! Seemingly endless stairs made from uneven granite slabs of varying heights. Halfway through the stairs, the coat came off and my under-layers were already soaked through with sweat. I made it to the top of Vernal Falls in just under 1 hour, with a solid 2.5 MPH pace, given the climb. I paused to take a picture for 2 other hikers and then powered on.
The next 1.5 miles was another climb, gradual at first and then quite steep, the Nevada Falls. This falls is also a big tourist attraction but sees fewer crowds than Vernal Falls, simply because of the climb. The beginning of that ascent was pretty comfortable and enjoyable but then I started climbing in earnest….more of the rocky and uneven stairs set in endless switchbacks. During those 1.5 miles, I gained another 1,100 feet of elevation, putting me at about 6,200 feet at the 4 mile mark. My pace had slowed a bit to around 1.5-2 miles per hour, but given the climb, I was okay with that. My legs were pumped and really feeling the exertion.
Nevada Falls - just a trickle of its usual volume, but beautiful nonetheless.
The fourth mile was pretty flat overall, and very easy. The biggest challenge was that the trail was extremely sandy, like walking on a beach, so it required a bit more effort than just walking on a firm dirt trail - but overall, the break was nice and I was moving about 3 miles per hour here.
After the 4th mile, it was a steady climb up to the Sub Dome - nothing crazy, no massive sets of stairs, just a slow, steady ascent during which I gained about 1,800 more feet. I kept a really strong pace just faster 2 miles per hour.
Then came Sub Dome. This was the hardest part for me. It starts right below Half Dome - I looked up and saw Half Dome but had no idea how I would get up that high…but I quickly found out how. The climb up Sub Dome is 700 feet of elevation gain in about a 1/2 mile, on even steeper granite stairs that then transition into a 30-45 degree granite slope incline. This was when the altitude really began to affect me. During the hike, I had passed many hikers and was proud that nobody had passed me. Once I hit Sub Dome, I had to let a few folks pass me by. The top of Sub Dome was around 8,400 feet elevation and I felt it in my lungs, my racing heart, and a bit of unsettling in my stomach.
A view of Subdome, the large hump right before the iconic rise of Half Dome. If you look very closely, you can see the minuscule hikers tackling the cables on the side of Half Dome, right above Subdome. It gives you a wonderful perspective of the sheer mass of the mountain.
I was so happy when I got to the top of Sub Dome. I sat for a bit, ate a sandwich and a cookie, and drank some water. The cables that are used for the ascent to the summit were down for the season. Basically, the rangers remove the stanchions from the granite and the cables just lay on the ground. From the very top of Sub Dome, you actually look down slightly at the start of the cables, which then climb far above Sub Dome. From the top of Sub Dome, it looks like the cables go straight up Sub Dome, and looks terrifying. When I went down to the bottom of the cables, it wasn’t nearly so terrifying or vertical, but the slope still is a good 45-70 degree incline, varying throughout the climb.
The slope of Subdome may not look like much but after the endless steep stairs, you’ll feel it in your legs and racing heart!
Hikers on the left side of the photograph, ascending via the cables. The cables were down for the season, which means that the stanchions were removed so the cables lay on the ground.
With the cables down for the season, most people who still go to the summit do so with harnesses and carabiners, clipping themselves to the cables. I had none of that gear. I felt very confident that I could make the climb with no equipment, but was concerned about coming down - one slip and I could end up off the mountain…a very real possibility, as there have been quite a few people who have fallen off of Half Dome. I decided to swallow my pride, tempted though I was to go to the summit, and it was with a very heavy heart that I turned my back to the cables and began my descent after a 30-minute rest at the top. I did watch several other hikers go up with the proper gear, and it was fun to watch.
With the cables down, a harness and carabiners is the smart way to ascend Half Dome.
The trip down was much quicker, as would be expected. I did the trip down in about 3 hours, compared to the 4 hours it took to go up. I met a couple groups of hikers who had just seen a bear and I went looking for it with camera at the ready, but alas, no bear was willing to “paparazzi’d” by me.
All told, the Half Dome hike took me 8 1/2 hours (including the 30 minutes at the top), which was much faster than the 10-12 hours I was expecting. The total distance was 16.8 miles, with an elevation gain of 4,987 feet and an average pace of 27:10 minutes per mile - faster than my goal of 2 miles per hour.
I had such an amazing time on the hike - I was expecting a challenge and it definitely delivered, particularly at certain points throughout. I fully plan to go back and summit Half Dome, I feel that that is a bit of unfinished business between the mountain and I, and would love to do the hike with others as well!
Yosemite is an amazing, beautiful place, whether you are going to hike or just to take in the scenery (you can do both!!)….if you have never been, I would highly recommend visiting the place where Ansel Adams, John Muir, and so many others have produced amazing photographs and fought to protect it!
This was my Leave the Harbor moment - hiking alone for the first time in an unknown place, not really knowing what to expect…I’m so glad I took the challenge on, it was an amazing day!