I was hiking around Half Dome last Sunday and was wondering if it was possible to still climb the darn thing via the cables without a permit. Now I'm pretty sure I could have gone up in the wee hours of the morning before the rangers get out of bed, but I wasn't really there to climb Half Dome. Instead I was heading to Clouds Rest to catch sunrise. Others were doing similarly at the top of Half Dome:

After leaving Clouds Rest I wandered down to Quarter Domes and followed the long ridgeline towards Half Dome. I wondered if I could simply ask a returning hiker from Half Dome for his permit since they wouldn't need it anymore. Seemed like an obvious way to bypass the system since the rules state only that you can't hike past the shoulder without a permit. As it turns out that plan was too simplistic as I found the nice ranger checking permits at the base of Half Dome's shoulder on a Sunday morning:

Note that she's checking names off a list she has on a clipboard with her. Pretty neat, huh? They don't go to such lengths even on the Whitney Trail. I walked on by towards The Slabs on the NW side of Half Dome and I don't think she even noticed me. I had heard that a huge rockfall had wiped out portion of the climber's route on The Slabs and that it had been deemed unsafe for months. I was happy to find that it appeared to be much as it always has and the the trail has been reestablished once again. The highlight of the day was a visit to Ahwiyah Point, a smallpeaklet off the lower reaches of Half Dome, overlooking Tenaya Canyon. A good deal of bushwhacking was required to make it out there, but the views looking both up canyon and down canyon where superb:

Too bad that permits are needed in the first place. I suppose and even accept that it's a necessary evil, but for me, if there is too much red tape, I just go elsewhere. Plenty of places in the world where I can go without much hassle.

Btw, your pictures are not showing - when I looked a bit deeper, I got a "403 Forbidden" error message, so I'm guessing that the site to which you are referring is not open world wide.

Cheers, Rob

Bob,

Like any other NP, as the masses come and overwhelm the location, restrictions, "the system", need to be put in place. These restrictions are needed to limit the access in order to have some sort of control over the impact that all these folks will make on the environment if left to their devices.

I figured that you of all people would understand and endorse that.

Maybe I figured wrong?

The Chief wrote:Bob,

Like any other NP, as the masses come and overwhelm the location, restrictions, "the system", need to be put in place. These restrictions are needed to limit the access in order to have some sort of control over the impact that all these folks will make on the environment if left to their devices.

I figured that you of all people would understand and endorse that.

Maybe I figured wrong?

Only partially wrong. I do understand why the restrictions were put in place and for the most part agree with the reasoning, even though it restricts my free access. Despite the ranger, it was still possible to bypass the system in place, but I chose not to and I think that was in part due to respecting the system. If it had been 5am or a weekday in October I might have acted otherwise. That is, I'm not above cheating the system if I think the impact is minimal. I know you think little of that reasoning and for the most part it is just a rationalization, but that's how I roll - far from perfect.

rgg wrote:Btw, your pictures are not showing - when I looked a bit deeper, I got a "403 Forbidden" error message, so I'm guessing that the site to which you are referring is not open world wide.

Sorry about that. I had too many hacking attempts from China and Eastern Europe, so I closed access to my server outside North America. The kids in those countries need jobs or girlfriends or something.

Nice little TR and beautiful blueBurd day. Love the shot of Half Dome and view up Tenaya Canyon.