Commentary by Christy Solo
I was talking about hiking with a friend the other day, and that sent me a wanderin’ down Memorable Hikes I’ve Taken Lane – and there have been many memorable ones.
By far the most memorable – and BY FAR the hardest (that deserves all caps) – was the Half Dome hike in Yosemite.
Take me at my word, I’ve done the hike down (and back, obviously) to Crater Lake via the Cleetwood Trail (2.2 miles round trip, 700 ft. rise in elevation), then hopped over and did Union Peak (8.9 miles round trip, 1,600 ft. rise in elevation) immediately after. Dear Reader, I’d do that every day for a week over conquering Half Dome again.
There is a reason why there are many tee-shirt variations of “I survived Half Dome” and “Half Dome Summit Club” it is indeed a brag worthy hiking experience.
When my BFF Melinda and I decided to hike Half Dome, we were truly naïve and had no clue what we were in for. Even having done our research on length, elevation gain and the time it takes to hike – we pretty much thought we were invincible and would just crank the thing out.
We. Were. So. Wrong.
We did have the foresight to get a motel room at the park and hit the Happy Isles Shuttle Stop at 7 a.m. the day of the hike.
Fun fact: There are a few different starting points for hiking Half Dome, we opted for the one that made the hike the longest it can possibly be – 17 miles round trip (shorter options include 16 or 14 miles RT) and a 5,200 ft. rise in elevation. Yup.
Starting from Happy Isles also ensures you have the absolute maximum rise in elevation.
Our research and foresight were sorely lacking in the “what you should carry with you” department. We did have a ginormous pancake breakfast beforehand, and let me tell you, those pancakes had their work cut out for them…. because…
We only carried one backpack, a small daypack, between us and in that we only put three 16 oz. bottles of water (yup), three bananas, one small bunch of grapes and one half-full baggie of trail mix. Oh! I had a half-full 16 oz. bottle of Sprite too. Yeah…that made all the difference.
I have no answer for all the questions you’re asking out loud right now as you scream at your screen. Truly, I don’t know WHAT we were thinking.
For water alone, the recommended amount is five times more than we brought along.
Obviously we survived, and we did have fun!
Certain parts of the hike stand out in my memory more than others, for both good and not so great reasons.
I remember thinking that Little Yosemite Valley was the best part of the hike (see chart and graphic of hike sections). After that initial climb, the valley restores your faith in the universe and lulls you into the false sense that “I can DO this!”
Cut to The Climb portion of the hike, and I was questioning all the life choices that had led me to that moment. We chose the long route because we were so confident in ourselves! We were hikers. We hiked. A lot.
The Climb humbled us. Doubly so as we – two young women in what we thought was good shape – were flat out lapped by a distinguished gentleman hiker who was easily in his early 70s just practically speed walking The Climb with a rhythmic “click, click, click” of his hiking poles as they touched the rocky path.
The only defense I have is that we were no doubt already dehydrated at that point.
It was, however, the penultimate section of the trail that nearly took Mel out altogether. By the time we hit the Sub Dome Mel was literally taking three steps, then stopping, three steps, stopping.
This was not the worst part though. Her face had turned a shade of scarlet I’ve never seen a human turn before or since. To be honest, Dear Reader, I begged her to give up. Assured her it would be okay to do so.
She did not.
We did split up, however. While she needed the “Triple-step-stop” I needed a “slow-n-steady” pace. With every stop my legs were like “Okay, we’re done now” and I knew I had to just keep moving, however slowly.
We discussed it first, of course. She said I should just go on all the way up The Cables to the top and take pictures for her. She was determined to finish the Sub Dome but was positive she could not manage The Cables to the apex.
While conquering The Cables and standing atop Half Dome – eating the best grapes I’ve ever eaten in my life (we rationed) – was a life changing experience, it was also sad to be there alone without Mel. I did ask a kind stranger to take my photo.
I admit, I didn’t stay up there long celebrating my victory.
Dry your tears, Dear Reader, because just as I reached the bottom of The Cables and was about to return my gloves to the “big box of gloves” the park provides – here came Mel her still-red face set with determination. “I’m going up” was all she said.
I asked if it was okay if I did not go up with her. She – of course – said yes. Then I – of course – gloved up and did The Cables one more time.
I won’t go into details about the hike back down to Happy Isles – in part because I honestly was so tired I don’t remember it very well and in part because it was brutal – arguably worse than going up. For me it was my knees – which up to that day had never given me any issues. By the end of our descent, I wasn’t sure my knees would ever bend again (hot bath fixed it).
For Mel it was her toes, both big toes were “none more black” bruised by the time we hit the parking lot – in the dark – having taken the full 12 hours and a bit more to complete the hike.
What I do remember with crystal clarity is that the XL pizza we ordered at the Curry Village Pizza Deck (ordered and inhaled to the very last crumb). It still stands as the best pizza I’ve ever eaten (and I have eaten a lot of pizza).
If your Spirit of Adventure has been lit up by this column and you feel the need to get an “I survived Half Dome” tee of your own – the bad news is you now need to score a permit – for which there is a literal “Permit Lottery” with just slightly better odds than the actual lottery – 300 permits are awarded for each day, 225 for day hikers and 75 for backpackers only about 29% of people are awarded permits.
For all the information on entering the lottery (which opens SOON!) visit the Half Dome page at Recreation.gov
There is also a daily lottery. The Parks Service also releases about 50 permits in this daily lottery. Here’s how that works: You still apply on the Recreation.gov website. You’ll want to apply two days in advance. So if you want to hike on Wednesday, apply on Monday morning.
Good luck and take LOTS of water if you go!
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Note: I do have actual photos of our actual hike – but they are “in a box somewhere” and I was unable to find them as of press time. They’re worth seeing, so if/when I hit the “box lottery” I’ll come back and add them to this column.
