Day 2: Conquering Half Dome
At 3:30 AM, my alarm sounded loudly in the tent I shared with Shane and Phillip. I woke Shane, and we began packing our equipment, food, and water for the day. We left camp at 3:50 (the remaining seven weren’t waking up until 4:30) and found the Mist Trail by 4:00. From there, we began the long haul to Snake Dike’s base, each with ~50 pounds of gear on our backs.
The faint light of dawn began to shroud the stars overhead as we approached Vernal Fall, shortly before 5 AM. We climbed the steep, slippery steps – drenched by the mist that gives the trail its name – past the waterfall. Three years earlier, I had trekked through the same exact spot with Maria in the bright light of day. Repeating the hike in the dark was a surreal experience: one of the perks of hitting the trail so early.
By 5:30, Shane and I were climbing the steep switchbacks that lead past Nevada Fall. We topped the switchbacks by 6 AM. We rested at the top of the waterfall and managed to contact the rest of our group using a walkie talkie. Without cell service anywhere along the trail, the walkies were the only way for our fractured group to maintain communication.
An Approach Off the Beaten Path
From Nevada Fall, we continued along the John Muir Trail until we found the climber’s approach trail to Half Dome. Unlike most trails in Yosemite, climbing trails are not maintained well. They tend to cut to their destination as directly as possible, without much consideration for steepness or ease of accessibility. This trail was no different. Before long, Shane and I were effectively bushwhacking through the forest, struggling to follow the ill-defined path. To make matters worse, we had to dodge swarms of mosquitoes without the aid of bug spray. And – to top it off – Shane began struggling to breathe due to a combined asthma/panic attack.
Simply reaching Half Dome, it seemed, would be the hardest part – the crux – of the day.
Meanwhile…
Down below, the remaining seven guys were beginning their own adventure 75 minutes behind us. They reached Vernal Fall shortly after 6 AM and Nevada Fall around 7. They were following the Mist Trail just as we had, enjoying the views around them in the light of early morning. With lighter packs to carry and an abundance of well-maintained trails ahead of them, they seemed to be enjoying themselves. The photos they took – at least – suggested that the first day in Yosemite was treating them well.
Once they reached the top of Nevada Fall, the group would continue on the John Muir Trail – past the climber’s trail – to the northeast face of Half Dome. They contacted Shane and I via radio a couple of times, revealing they were making great time on the trails. It pushed us to move more quickly, until we eventually reached the end of the mosquito-ridden forest and began scrambling up a rocky slope leading to Snake Dike’s base.
At 8:30, Shane and I finally found Snake Dike on Half Dome’s southwest face. We spent an hour recovering from the 6-mile approach, preparing our gear, and snacking. Excitement to climb something so large mixed with fear of failure as we gazed upon the famous granite structure. It was time.
Snake Dike
We began climbing the first pitch of Snake Dike at 9:30. Shane led the pitch – as he would for the entire climb – placing cams, nuts, and slings in various cracks in the granite. Once I began following him, I discovered a very different type of climb than what I was used to. Smooth, featureless granite defined the first few pitches. Rather than finding in-cut holds, my movement relied on small nubs for my feet and palm presses for my hands. There were at least one or two moves where I relied entirely on friction, and had to pray that my shoes wouldn’t slip. This was Yosemite granite: farewell, Midwestern sandstone.
After three pitches of climbing on featureless rock, we reached the “dike” the route is named for. The dike is one of many long, bumpy ridgelines that protrude from the otherwise smooth granite. The climbing became easier through this section, but the mental challenge became stiffer. Shane began leading pitches with run-outs of nearly 150 feet, and he began clipping into rusty bolts in need of replacement. If he had fallen at any point through this section, he could have fallen up to 300 feet with potential to pull me down with him. He led the route fearlessly, which he had agreed to do as the more experienced climber of the two of us. I was immensely grateful that he was doing so.
As morning shifted to afternoon, the rock began heating up. Shane and I began growing weary of Snake Dike: the heat was becoming unbearable due to the lack of shade. Temperatures had already surpassed 90 degrees, and we weren’t happy about it. On top of that, our feet hurt from climbing in our new climbing shoes. Several times, we had to pause in between pitches and take our shoes off to provide relief for our toes. At noon, we received word from the remaining seven that they had made it to the top of Half Dome. We requested that they wait up top for us to join them, as we figured we were close.
Snake Hike
Shortly at 12:30 PM, I joined Shane at the top of the final pitch. My eyes began to well up with happy tears when I looked back at Snake Dike. While it was far from the hardest or longest climb either of us could feasibly send, it was a dream come true. We’d both been yearning to complete the route for many months, and it was incredible to have done so despite everything that could have feasibly gone wrong. We enjoyed the view of Yosemite Valley as we savored our accomplishment.
Despite reaching the top of Snake Dike, Shane and I still had a long way to go. The route only takes climbers about halfway up Half Dome: once you complete the climb, you have to hike to the peak. We still had 1,000 feet of elevation between us and our friends, so we needed to haul ass.
The other seven radioed us around 1 PM to ask how close we were to the top. Due to Half Dome’s curvature, we had no idea. The steep rock, intense heat, and heavy packs made the final push to the summit absolutely brutal. We were moving slowly, so we gave the others the go-ahead to start hiking down. This – unfortunately – meant that our group would not unite at Half Dome’s summit. Nonetheless, Shane and I were confident that we could eventually catch up with the group.
The Summit
At 1:30 – an hour after finishing Snake Dike – we finally spotted Half Dome’s summit. To our relief, the terrain flattened out as we walked to the summit, where we discovered a crowd of accomplished hikers and a sweeping view of Yosemite National Park’s entirety.
Shane and I deposited our packs near the summit and laid down in the hot sun, utterly exhausted. We had been awake for 10 hours, during which we had been putting our bodies under constant physical strain with little time for rest. We gave each other a celebratory fist bump, started munching on our snacks, then began exploring the summit area. Without my pack weighing me down, I felt as if I was floating. I jumped around the rocks on the summit like a child on a playground, enjoying the views of Yosemite around us.
We spent 30 minutes atop Half Dome enjoying the incredible views, taking photos, and talking to hikers. I relished the feeling of accomplishment on top of the rock. After more than 6 miles of hiking, nearly 5,000 feet of elevation gain, and three hours of climbing – all while carrying 50 pounds on my back – I felt like the first day in Yosemite was already a success. But, it was still a long way down.
Descending the Cables
At 2 PM, Shane and I donned our heavy backpacks and searched for the famous cables. We joined a queue of hikers beginning their descent, donned our gloves, grabbed the cables, and began to hike down. While we hadn’t had the chance to go up the cables, it was still fun to experience them on the way down.
Descending the cables took about 30 minutes due to slow hikers in front of us. We reached Half Dome’s Sub Dome by 2:30 and quickly descended the steps carved into the stone. Before long, we reached the shade of the forest and started to pick up speed. We were determined to catch up to our friends and spend at least some of the day with them.
United Once More
Two hours later, Shane and I approached the Merced River above Nevada Fall and spotted a group of hikers taking a break on the riverbank. As we grew closer we found – low and behold – that the hikers were actually Aaron, Alex, Cody, Ian, Jack, Phillip, and Will filtering water from the river to refill their bottles. Shane and I excitedly shouted at them, and they turned to look at us. We exchanged greetings and hugs and began swapping stories of our adventures. We also took some of their recently-filtered water since – coincidentally – we had just finished consuming our eight liters’ worth that we had packed.
To return to Upper Pines Campground, our nine-person group opted to use the John Muir Trail – which begins in Yosemite and winds all the way south to Mount Whitney – instead of the Mist Trail. The alternate route provided different views of the landscapes we passed in the morning, making the final stretch of the hike more interesting. Despite our collective exhaustion, energetic conversation emitted from our group during the last few miles to the valley floor.
By 7 PM, we made it to Upper Pines Campground. Rather than cook canned food for dinner, we decided to celebrate our summit with some pizza. We drove to the nearby Curry Village – near the famous Yosemite Village – and feasted on some delightful pizza, whose taste was sweetened by a poignant sense of accomplishment. We watched Half Dome bathe in the light of sunset as we ate. After this, we returned to camp, cleaned ourselves using a portable shower, and went to bed: totally depleted of energy. It had been an incredible day, but also one of the most tiring any of us had ever experienced.
