Half Dome Yosemite National Park

September 19, 2011 — Day 1

Two friends and I have been anticipating this outing for two years.  We are delighted that perfect weather is predicted for our journey, because that is critically important on this particular hike.

Ali, Dave, and I have signed up with a Phoenix-based company called Just Roughin' It, which has secured the necessary permits and will provide a guide, food, and camping equipment.  Unfortunately, when we arrive at the designated meeting place — the Camp Curry reservation office — there is no guide to be seen.  After a lengthy wait, we straighten out the matter with a phone call from the local mountaineering shop to the guide's office.  It seems that our guy and two other hikers have been waiting anxiously as long as we have, but at the other end of the big parking lot.

Together with our guide, Nevin, we will be hiking with Wendell from Jacksonville, Florida, and Jim from London, England.  I hope that they aren't upset with us for the long delay.  Had the guide service properly contacted me in advance as promised, this miscue would not have occurred.

Ali will use his own backpack that I gave him just last week — a 37-year-old crimson Kelty which is freshly cleaned and looks like new; the other four of us opt for the company's Osprey-85 packs, which are very nice as well.  They are equipped with a two-liter water bladder, mummy sack, inflatable mat, emergency rain poncho, mess kit, headlamp, and a big bag of snacks.  To those items we must add a tent, clothing, toiletries, camera equipment, and other goodies.

This is my first full backpack since 1987.  I will be carrying an estimated 35 pounds, the most ever for me.  The prospect of lugging it up 2,100 feet of stone steps is somewhat daunting, but it's do-or-die now.

Heading down to the trailhead from the shuttle stop.

A one-mile shuttle ride gets us to Happy Isles and the start of the 211-mile John Muir Trail.  The initial three-quarter-mile section is paved and wheelchair-accessible, up to a big bridge and a first view of Vernal Fall.  Drinking fountains and restrooms are nearby.  Beyond here, the real trail begins and much of the crowd is thankfully left behind.

Preview of coming attractions
Plenty of traffic on the Mist Trail

The only wet spot in evidence

There still are a lot of bodies on the route, however; more than once I must wait for someone to get out of the way.  The Merced River volume is low enough that there is hardly any mist in the air today, so the 600+ granite steps are mostly dry.  That makes the passage easier for someone toting a heavy load, but some of the mystique of this incomparable place is unavoidably lost this late in the season.  Being here later in the day would make for better photographs as well.

The big dead tree in the shadows lost its top to a lightning bolt a long time ago

At a fraction of maximum flow, the falls are awesome nonetheless.

Vernal Fall, 317'

I have opted to use my #2 camera on this trip, because it can be carried in a belt pouch; otherwise, I would have to doff my pack at every photo-op, and that scenario is unacceptable.  I hope that my pictures will do the trek justice.

This always has been my most favorite place    ⇔

The last pitch is the steepest of all.  Toward the end a metal railing prevents hikers from falling off the side of the cliff.  This is good.

The trail is not particularly misty on this occasion

At the brink of the falls is a nice big slab where one normally would flop down and dry out before continuing, but that will not be necessary today.

The brink of Vernal Fall is a good-feeling place

Largely due to last winter's excessive snowfall, the park currently is suffering double its normal rate of water-related deaths.  A couple of months ago, three young adults went wading just upstream of the falls despite warnings from posted signs and many onlookers, then started shooting their cameras at each other.  One of them slipped, and the other two tried to help.  All were swept over the brink.

The three who perished here in July climbed over the railing right next to this sign

Those folks' deaths were unfortunate to be sure; but they hardly qualify as accidental.

Glacier Point to the west

Just above Vernal Fall is a big dark-green pool.  This is a good place for our first real break.  Nevin discovers that our food still is frozen, so it must sit on a sunny rock for a time.  We must be vigilant and throw things at the squirrels scurrying about, lest our sandwich ingredients disappear.

Lunch at Emerald Pool — turkey, jack cheese, and hummus on a tortilla

Many hikers are lounging at riverside
The Silver Apron flows into Emerald Pool

About a ten-minute walk from Vernal Fall, at the top of the Silver Apron, lies a footbridge which provides the first good view of the next attraction.  Most visitors never make it up this far, which is their great loss; for spectacular Nevada Fall is nearly twice as high as its downstream counterpart.

Nevada Fall, 594'

Beside the cascade is a 600-foot talus slope featuring a cobblestone pathway and more big granite steps.  Multiple rest stops are in order here.

Starting up the switchbacks

A pleasant rest area

Once atop the cliff, it is a relatively level mile farther to Little Yosemite Valley and our camp for the next two nights.  No table or potable water are available.  The only amenities are some tree stumps, a steel food locker, and a restroom a hundred yards away.

Nevin starts pulling items out of his pack, then asks Dave to search his own pack for the "ten steaks".  When Dave cannot produce them, Nevin shakes his head in dismay.  Oh, no!  Will there be no dinner tonight?  Well, it turns out that I mis-heard the request, which actually was for "tent stakes".

Eventually those items are located, and Nevin immediately busies himself setting up the four tents.  One of them has broken poles that must be repaired with duct tape.  When that chore is finished, Nevin gathers up all the empty water containers and heads down to the river with his water filter.  He does not return for more than an hour.

By now it is nearly dark, and everyone has his head lamp on.  Cooking will be done on a single butane stove sitting on the ground.  Any notions of a truly gourmet dinner vanish with the appearance of the first package of Ramen Noodles from Nevin's pack.  The addition of a spicy chicken teriyaki mixture makes for a delicious meal, however; and eating from a triangularly shaped bowl somehow adds to the enjoyment.

The kitchen
The gourmet meal

The dining room

After dinner, we head over to the community campfire with pointed sticks in hand.  Enclosing a marshmallow and a piece of chocolate bar between a couple of graham crackers produces something called a Smores, which I find singularly unappetizing.  Jim, however, considers it one of the best things he has tasted.  Go figure.

At the campfire is a group of weathered-looking mountain climbers, all of whom appear to be in their seventies.  On a month-long expedition, they have just completed the Snake Dike Route up Half Dome, which is on the other side of the rock from the one we will be approaching tomorrow.  One of them informs us that, due to a freak accident, an experienced Austrian climber fell and died on the face of the mountain early this morning when his rope was severed by a sharp rock.  That is not what we most wanted to hear at this juncture, but then we'll not be going up that way.

Home, sweet home

§: This was a good day.  The Mist Trail was not as spectacular as in past trips, and I could not fully enjoy it anyway due to my heavy load.  However, I handled the difficult trail and its 2,100-foot gain with less strain than had been anticipated; and Dave's recent workouts seem to have paid off for him as well.  Wendell struggled some, but he has en excuse.  The maximum elevation in his home state is just 345 feet, so he doesn't get much practice in the high country.  Young Jim is expected to have no problem with this sort of thing, and Ali probably could have carried twice as much weight and still have been the first one to reach camp.

The real excitement commences tomorrow.