Half Dome Climber's Log

Viewing: 1-20 of 499
Chris Doig

Chris Doig - Oct 13, 2004 1:08 am

Route Climbed: cables Date Climbed: October 7, 2004  Sucess!

Climbed Half dome for the first time last Thursday. Went with my 15 year old son Zach and a few friends, Wow. This was the highlight of a 5 day backpack trip from TM to the valley. Met a bunch of Danish gymnasts on top, wait till you see the pictures!

Johnhl94563

Johnhl94563 - Oct 10, 2004 12:19 pm

Route Climbed: Snake Dike Date Climbed: October 7, 2004  Sucess!

Time for the 4th annual climb of Half Dome. This time, Snake dike instead of the cables with my climbing partner Gail. What a great climb.



Even on a Thursday in early October there were over 10 climbers on the route. We were just lucky enough to be the first ones there :-) Did this as a EASY 3 day trip with two nights spent at Little Yosemite Valley.



About 4 hours spent on the route with another hour (more or less) hiking up the slabs to the summit.

shakesman

shakesman - Oct 1, 2004 2:00 am

Date Climbed: Sept 03  Sucess!

A great way to spend your day!

usarock69

usarock69 - Sep 7, 2004 4:54 pm

Route Climbed: via Yosemite Valley Date Climbed: 9/5/2004  Sucess!

We started around 7AM via Happy Isles, following the Mist Trail reaching the summit at 1:30 with plenty of stops to take pictures. This was my second time to hike Half Dome and once again I had a blast! The weather was perfect, the only downside were the crowds. The line at the cables was long, we ended up climbing the final part outside the cables, instead of inside. I think we saved an hour, maybe hour and half. otherwise, it was a beautiful hike with stunning views.

RobertCharlesAltman

RobertCharlesAltman - Sep 4, 2004 11:41 pm

Route Climbed: The Cables Date Climbed: 9/2/04  Sucess!

Hey! I did it! I hiked on up the extraordinary trail past Vernal and Nevada Falls. I loved the stairs cut right out the granite. Be sure to take your camera for the falls! The trail up from Nevada to the Cables is sweet.. very fine for running down. I ran down it from near the Cables to top of Nevada Falls-about 4.5 miles. The Cables are great! I loved going up and coming down-lots of fun..! Be sure to take you camera! I also ran down from Vernal Bridge to Happy Isles. It's pretty easy to run down most the trail. It's too steep for running from near the cables and between Vernal and Nevada Falls which is about 2 miles total that needs to be hiked down. I love to run-so I ran about 6 miles of it on down. Great area. I love Yosemite.

orandall

orandall - Sep 2, 2004 2:25 pm

Route Climbed: tourist trail+cables Date Climbed: August 2003  Sucess!

fun but be sure to go early or else you get to share the cables with out of shape people who decide they need to stop halfway up the cables themselves.

jtschanz

jtschanz - Aug 23, 2004 12:57 pm

Route Climbed: Snake Dike Date Climbed: August 17, 2004  Sucess!

Awesome route - and my first time climbing in the Sierras! Climbed with Kathy and Liam on a perfect August day. Started up the trail at 4:30am, reached the base of the climb at 8:30am, and took about 6 hours on the rock (with 3 people). The friction move on the second pitch was a bit scary but the rest was pure fun. Met up with my family on the descent and enjoyed a swim in the river and a snack before finishing the hike out at dusk. I'd love to do this one again ...

tahoeberne

tahoeberne - Aug 13, 2004 8:42 pm

Route Climbed: The Cables Date Climbed: circa 1963, 1970, and 1988  Sucess!

I summited Half Dome three times. Twice from Yosemite Valley and the last time from Clouds Rest on a 2 day backpacking trip. Manuevering around people ascending and descending the cables is not my idea of fun, but that only bothered me for less than a half hour. What a thrill to peer off the sheer face with a two thousand foot drop.

blmcclain

blmcclain - Aug 9, 2004 5:30 pm

Route Climbed: Cables Date Climbed: Aug. 8th, 2004  Sucess!

bpgbennett and I started at Tenaya Lake at 7 am and traversed Clouds Rest first. After decending from CR we joined up with the Half Dome trail and reached the summit at 1:30 pm. Had a nice lunch, enjoyed the views (the views from CR are better I think). After flying by people on the cables, we ended up in the Valley 12 hours later and 21 miles from where we started. Very enjoyable hike, nice to get two peaks in one day.

CPSLOKorny

CPSLOKorny - Aug 8, 2004 4:42 am

Route Climbed: The Cables Date Climbed: October 2003  Sucess!

My group decided to make it a night hike on our drive there. Missed the crowds and saw a beautiful sunrise.

jhalz

jhalz - Jul 26, 2004 3:03 pm

Route Climbed: Snake Dike Date Climbed: June 22, 2004  Sucess!

Great climb. It was a little windy, but I think that helped keep the tmp down. When we topped out, I was amazed to see how many people were up there.

AlexeyD

AlexeyD - Jul 26, 2004 1:37 pm

Route Climbed: Snake Dike Date Climbed: August 2002  Sucess!

hopefully next time, it will be up the NW face...

poorboy44

poorboy44 - Jul 23, 2004 9:07 pm

Route Climbed: Reg Route Date Climbed: 1999-2003

June 1999 - 4 days w/ Nick Tomlin

July 1999 - 2.5 days w/ Luc Buchet

September 2001 - 14.5 hours w/ Jo Bertalot

September 2001 - ~14 hours w/ Ian Huang



I would recommend the following strategy:

Day 1: Approach via Death Slabs and fix 2 pitches

Day 2: climb to Big Sandy

Day 3: top out and descend via Death Slabs (much quicker).



You don't need as much water on this route because it is in the shade most of the day. I would recommend 2 liters/person/day. The sun hits the route around 2 PM in the summer.

Scott Fulton

Scott Fulton - Jul 11, 2004 10:34 pm Date Climbed: Sep 16, 2006

Route Climbed: The Cables Date Climbed: September 1999  Sucess!

July 1994: Brand new to hiking as a fresh-faced 24-year-old. Really liked it, and made me want to hike Mt. Whitney soon enough.

September 1999: Nice climb with four other guys.

September 16, 2006: Introduced two co-workers to Half Dome. It was good, but there are too many clueless people going up and down those cables. Anyone who is reasonably competent and in shape should be able to make it up in 10-15 minutes. If you insist on going up "between the cables", you are likely to be held up by the hordes and it will take you 45+ minutes. Do yourself a favor if you do this route. Go outside of the two cables, both on the way up and the way down, and your schedule won't be dictated by the anxiety-ridden teenage girl.

Completebum

Completebum - Jul 1, 2004 3:05 am

Route Climbed: Cables Date Climbed: June 29, 2004  Sucess!

Made my first trip to the top of Half Dome in December of 02 with some school friends. Our round trip was about 12 hours and ever since I had wanted to see how fast I could do it without having to wait for the slow pokes.

Running it this time I left HI at 6am, reaching Nevada Falls at 6:45 and had my feet dangling off the beak at 8:05. Hung around on top for 5 minutes then raced back down getting to HI at 9:30. Wound up missing the breakfast buffet by 10 mins, oh well.

hyperbolictans

hyperbolictans - Jun 27, 2004 5:43 pm

Route Climbed: Tourist route Date Climbed: 26th June 2004  Sucess!

Wow, there's so many pple up there, its like some popular beach resort. People playing frisbee, partying...etc... Quite an experience.

mike_lindacher

mike_lindacher - Jun 17, 2004 7:50 pm

Route Climbed: Standard Date Climbed: June 7, 2004  Sucess!

Did you know that granite can actually "buzz" with charge during close proximity thunder and lightning storms? Freaky stuff, but it happened on the old Dome.

Paul Spraycar - Jun 16, 2004 12:15 am

Route Climbed: The Cables Date Climbed: June 8, 2004  Sucess!

Good weather, good hiking partner, definitely felt like vacation.

kovarpa

kovarpa - Jun 6, 2004 3:03 pm

Route Climbed: The Cables Date Climbed: September 2001  Sucess!

Pretty fun. We took a friend of ours with us who never "climbed" before and she really enjoyed it. Wasps on the top were sooo annoying that we did not spend as much time as we wanted.

dankras

dankras - May 24, 2004 2:26 am

Route Climbed: Snake Dyke Date Climbed: June 6, 2003  Sucess!

Good climb; long approach and an even longer way down.

Viewing: 1-20 of 499
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