Route Climbed: Cables Route (Cables Down) Date Climbed: May 14, 2004
Awesome day! First time up with the cables down and it was a blast. With so few people around I think I may only go up with the cables down from now on. There was only 1 person on top when I got up there and less than a dozen showed up while I was there. Definitely a more pleasurable experience without the hoards of people around.
I hiked to the top probably about 4 times. The most enjoyable was the time when we started from Tenaya Lake, went to Clouds Rest, then down on the other side, went cross-country along the quarter domes and then join the trail and went to the top of Half Dome. From there we hiked down to the Valley, picking up lost tourists without flashlights on our way down.
This was much more enjoyable and less crowded than hiking from the Valley.
Route Climbed: The Cables Date Climbed: May 23 - 24, 2003
Hiked from Happy Isles and branched off the Half Dome trail toward Clouds Rest and camped near Sunrise Creek about 1 mile from where we left the main trail. Up at 2:30am, on the summit for breakfast and a beautiful sunrise. Nobody else up top. An amazing experience.
Route Climbed: The Cables Date Climbed: June 17, 2003
Did this awesome hike with Brian Jenkins. Have been wanting to do it for quite sometime. Gorgeous weather and views. The cables were fun going up and down--dodging panicked tourists. Mark decided it was quicker to walk just outside of the cables to avoid the crowds.
Route Climbed: Snake Dike Date Climbed: March 15, 2004
Did the Snake Dike route for the first time with my friend bearbnz --- very fun. The trip was a bit of an adventure, all told. Read about it in this trip report.
Route Climbed: The Cables Date Climbed: October 17, 2001
After trail running up to the cables and waiting for some dude to come down and tell me how cramped up his hands were, I grabbed some gloves and pulled myself up. The cables had just been taken down a week earlier making the climb up a little more exciting. I had the summit to myself and took some time to explore the area and soak in the views. I was rather content after hearing stories about traffic jams on the cables.
Route Climbed: The Cables Date Climbed: September 1992
My wife and I did the one day hike to the top. It was a long day. I had a real bad case of poison oak. We made it, but we didn't have much gas left in us after we finished.
Going up the cables was a blast. I felt like Batman going up a side of a building.
Route Climbed: The cables Date Climbed: October, 2003
After a lovely side trip to Nevada Fall we made it to top for a very late lunch. After an hour we only shared the summit with about 10 other people. One Half Dome veteran planned to enjoy the full moon by himself at the top. D and I jogged down all the relatively flat sections to make the most of the disappearing daylight. I was glad I wasn’t wearing sandals like one of the people we encountered on the trail. I got back to the car tired, happy and pleased to be in such good company.
Route Climbed: Cable Route Date Climbed: Summer 1976
I climbed this with a few high school buddies during a road trip to Yosemite in 1976. We started around 9:00 am in just tennis shoes and cut-offs, no shirts, food or water, and got back at sundown.
Route Climbed: Cables Rt.; Snake Dike Date Climbed: July 1986; May 1987
Climbed the cables route with a group of kids that some friends and I were leading on a day hike from Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley. Half Dome was a spontaneous side trip. Snake Dike, climbed with friends John Pfieffer and Russ Stein, is great and I've been back several times to repeat it. In '87 it was still o.k. to spend the night on top, so we climbed with packs on our backs and cooled our beer in the summit snow pack. Unforgetable view of the stars that night!
My first Yosemite multi-pitch climb. A few false starts below the overlap but managed just fine. Waited an hour and a half for one party to clear the second pitch belay anchors while 4 other parties waited below us!!! Also jogged up the Cables about a half dozen times over the years.
Route Climbed: Cable Route Date Climbed: 18-Oct-2003
10x for Half Dome and 1st time with the cables down. Hadn't planned on doing the dome a 2nd time this year, but was playing tour guide for a friend who had never been to the park.
Beautiful clear fall day and the Aspens were displaying their colors.
Great hike from the Valley. Very warm day - and very crowded. Met a large group of teens gathering thier energy and looking for encourgement before going up. Took Mist Trail variation and enjoyed the spay on the way down.
Time for the annual trip up Half Dome before the cables come down (3rd year in a row now). Despite being a Friday in October there were quite a few people on the summit. Beautiful fall weather. Nice and warm once the sun came up (high 30's before then).
Personally I find I don't like the gloves. Just grip the cable with your hands :-) However on the way down, gloves would be nice to allow your hand to slide down the cable for a faster descent.
Rick Kent - May 19, 2004 6:51 pm
Route Climbed: Cables Route (Cables Down) Date Climbed: May 14, 2004Awesome day! First time up with the cables down and it was a blast. With so few people around I think I may only go up with the cables down from now on. There was only 1 person on top when I got up there and less than a dozen showed up while I was there. Definitely a more pleasurable experience without the hoards of people around.
Ol Walsher - May 17, 2004 7:42 pm
Route Climbed: The Cables Date Climbed: May 23-24, 2003Followed the JMT and camped near Sunrise Creek. Next morning summited at sunrise. Nobody around.... a moving experience.
Zzyzx - May 11, 2004 1:32 am
Route Climbed: Cable Route Date Climbed: MultipleI hiked to the top probably about 4 times. The most enjoyable was the time when we started from Tenaya Lake, went to Clouds Rest, then down on the other side, went cross-country along the quarter domes and then join the trail and went to the top of Half Dome. From there we hiked down to the Valley, picking up lost tourists without flashlights on our way down.
This was much more enjoyable and less crowded than hiking from the Valley.
cbuelow - Apr 21, 2004 5:09 pm
Route Climbed: The Cables Date Climbed: May 23 - 24, 2003Hiked from Happy Isles and branched off the Half Dome trail toward Clouds Rest and camped near Sunrise Creek about 1 mile from where we left the main trail. Up at 2:30am, on the summit for breakfast and a beautiful sunrise. Nobody else up top. An amazing experience.
roadsidefire - Apr 14, 2004 4:04 am
Route Climbed: Cable Date Climbed: June 1999With Ken. Started in morning from mist trail, dumped gear at campsite. Returned to campsite around 5pm.
M and N Denyer - Mar 30, 2004 10:51 am
Route Climbed: The Cables Date Climbed: June 17, 2003Did this awesome hike with Brian Jenkins. Have been wanting to do it for quite sometime. Gorgeous weather and views. The cables were fun going up and down--dodging panicked tourists. Mark decided it was quicker to walk just outside of the cables to avoid the crowds.
ScottyS - Mar 18, 2004 10:43 am
Route Climbed: Snake Dike Date Climbed: March 15, 2004Did the Snake Dike route for the first time with my friend bearbnz --- very fun. The trip was a bit of an adventure, all told. Read about it in this trip report.
derbilly - Feb 24, 2004 2:59 am
Route Climbed: The Cables Date Climbed: October 17, 2001After trail running up to the cables and waiting for some dude to come down and tell me how cramped up his hands were, I grabbed some gloves and pulled myself up. The cables had just been taken down a week earlier making the climb up a little more exciting. I had the summit to myself and took some time to explore the area and soak in the views. I was rather content after hearing stories about traffic jams on the cables.
mposner - Feb 23, 2004 11:46 am
Route Climbed: The Cables Date Climbed: September 1992My wife and I did the one day hike to the top. It was a long day. I had a real bad case of poison oak. We made it, but we didn't have much gas left in us after we finished.
Going up the cables was a blast. I felt like Batman going up a side of a building.
birdhead - Feb 4, 2004 1:57 am
Route Climbed: Cables Date Climbed: May 2002 and 2003I guess this is the hike to do. Great views. Lots of people.
Rob - Jan 29, 2004 8:14 pm
Route Climbed: N.W. face Regular Route Date Climbed: 2000Climbed the NW Face reg route once, and Snake Dike about 5 times.
Lara - Jan 27, 2004 7:13 pm
Route Climbed: The cables Date Climbed: October, 2003After a lovely side trip to Nevada Fall we made it to top for a very late lunch. After an hour we only shared the summit with about 10 other people. One Half Dome veteran planned to enjoy the full moon by himself at the top. D and I jogged down all the relatively flat sections to make the most of the disappearing daylight. I was glad I wasn’t wearing sandals like one of the people we encountered on the trail. I got back to the car tired, happy and pleased to be in such good company.
Sam Mills - Jan 24, 2004 4:24 pm
Route Climbed: Cable Route Date Climbed: Summer 1976I climbed this with a few high school buddies during a road trip to Yosemite in 1976. We started around 9:00 am in just tennis shoes and cut-offs, no shirts, food or water, and got back at sundown.
mtnfoto - Jan 21, 2004 1:30 pm
Route Climbed: NW Face Date Climbed: September 19982 day trip up this amazing wall!
Dave Dinnell - Jan 13, 2004 2:09 am
Route Climbed: Cables Rt.; Snake Dike Date Climbed: July 1986; May 1987Climbed the cables route with a group of kids that some friends and I were leading on a day hike from Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley. Half Dome was a spontaneous side trip. Snake Dike, climbed with friends John Pfieffer and Russ Stein, is great and I've been back several times to repeat it. In '87 it was still o.k. to spend the night on top, so we climbed with packs on our backs and cooled our beer in the summit snow pack. Unforgetable view of the stars that night!
Dave Daly - Nov 2, 2003 11:18 pm
Route Climbed: Snake Dike Date Climbed: July 1996My first Yosemite multi-pitch climb. A few false starts below the overlap but managed just fine. Waited an hour and a half for one party to clear the second pitch belay anchors while 4 other parties waited below us!!! Also jogged up the Cables about a half dozen times over the years.
fedak - Oct 24, 2003 11:06 am
Route Climbed: Cable Route Date Climbed: 18-Oct-200310x for Half Dome and 1st time with the cables down. Hadn't planned on doing the dome a 2nd time this year, but was playing tour guide for a friend who had never been to the park.
Beautiful clear fall day and the Aspens were displaying their colors.
Pics are here
TDRoberts - Oct 20, 2003 8:38 am
Route Climbed: Cables Route Date Climbed: July 03Great hike from the Valley. Very warm day - and very crowded. Met a large group of teens gathering thier energy and looking for encourgement before going up. Took Mist Trail variation and enjoyed the spay on the way down.
Johnhl94563 - Oct 12, 2003 10:16 am
Route Climbed: The Cables Date Climbed: 10/10/03Time for the annual trip up Half Dome before the cables come down (3rd year in a row now). Despite being a Friday in October there were quite a few people on the summit. Beautiful fall weather. Nice and warm once the sun came up (high 30's before then).
Personally I find I don't like the gloves. Just grip the cable with your hands :-) However on the way down, gloves would be nice to allow your hand to slide down the cable for a faster descent.
Rick Kent - Oct 9, 2003 3:17 pm
Route Climbed: Standard Route via the Cables Date Climbed: May 31, 2003Loved it! The cables were cool. Only complaint: too many people.