Half Dome, it's an iconic feature in Yosemite National Park, with around 30,000 entries into the pre-season lottery and only around 19% of applicants being successful, it is a highly sought after hike. And after four years of entering of entering the lottery, I finally scored a permit for September 2024.
Sitting at the eastern end of Yosemite Valley, Half Dome acquired its name from its shape; sheer on one face while the others are smooth and round, it calls to both climbers and hikers alike. Summiting this icon is strictly controlled by permits when the cables are up. This is usually from around Memorial Day weekend to about mid-October, of course this is dependent on the weather. No permit is required to hike half dome when the cables are down. You can find a more detailed guide to Half Dome permits here.
We started our hike out following the most popular route, taking the Mist Trail up to Little Yosemite Valley where we would camp for the night. The Mist Trail is popular for a few reasons, first it's a bit shorter than taking the JMT (John Muir Trail) and
takes you right next to both Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls, depending on the time of year these falls can be roaring and make the trail a bit slippery and wet. The drawback is quite a bit of elevation gain in a short distance: 1000 feet (300 meters) of gain to the top of Vernal Falls and 1900 feet (580 meters) to the top of Nevada Falls. Besides the elevation gain, I found the footing to be quite challenging, both mentally and physically. The steps are quite uneven, and the size of the stairs is also quite irregular - The Incas would not approve. We were huffing and puffing from the trailhead to the top of Nevada Falls.
The hike from the top of Nevada Falls to the base of Sub Dome is fairly easy going. You steadily gaining elevation there aren't any steep inclines. Most of this hike was done in the dark, on the way to Half Dome and on the way back I was tired and by the time we hit Little Yosemite Valley, I was pretty over it so I can't say I appreciated the scenery very much. Something I did find surprising was how sandy and dusty the trail was, it reminded me of walking on the beach or in a horseback riding arena and just required more effort than I expected.
Through a lot of persistence, I was able to acquire a backcountry permit to camp at Little Yosemite Valley so that we could break our hike up over two days instead of having to conquer the whole thing as a day hike, having now completed the hike, I think doing it in one day might make me cry as it's quite a long day and hard hike. I also wasn't able to train much over the summer due to breaking my toes in May and Half Dome was the first hike of our trip, so having some time to acclimatize might have been helpful (I'm quite sensitive to altitude) but with my asthma I huff and puff regardless. Even with spending the night at Little Yosemite Valley, we opted for a 3am wake-up and 4am start to try and reach Half Dome around sunrise so we could be up and down before the crowds really started to arrive around 9am and the cables got super busy. We were also able to leave most of our gear at camp and just summit with day packs, whatever gear you carry to Half Dome you should carry to the summit. It's not advised to leave your pack at the bottom as squirrels and marmots are prone to chewing through packs to get at what's inside.
We arrived at Sub Dome just as the sky was starting to lighten, it doesn't get mentioned as much as people tend to focus on the cables, but Sub Dome was quite challenging to hike and took longer than expected. It may have been even worse than the Mist Trail. Again, you have to navigate irregular steps, and sometimes we were just walking up the flat, steep surface of the rockface. On the way up I thought we'd lost the trail in the dark, but as we were coming down, I realized the trail just isn't well marked in some stretches. The bottom of Sub Dome is also where a ranger will check your permit. The ranger hadn't arrived when we summitted but was there checking permits of people coming down off Half Dome as well as those who were going up.
As we arrived at the cable section, the sky was being painted with pastel pinks, purples and orange of the sunrise. The first ascent of Half Dome was in 1875 by George Anderson, a Scottish mountaineer. He also established the method that is still used today by hikers to
reach the summit: drilling into Half Dome's smooth sides and setting eye bolts that allowed hikers to use ropes to help them reach the top. We arrived at the cables at the same time as a group of day hikers, one of them had summitted Half Dome back in July and was happy to pass on his take-aways from his previous experience. One benefit of summitting early is that you can utilize both cables and essentially crabwalk your way up without really having to worry about hikers coming down. By going up this way you're able to keep your feet wider and the granite has more traction compared to how it has been worn smooth on the track in-between the cables. Ascending the cables took about 20 minutes, taking breaks when we needed to catch our breath and stopping to snap a picture of the sun as it burst over the mountains opposite the cables.
We spent about 45 minutes to an hour on the top; walking around, taking pictures, eating and napping in the sun. There was great cell service, so we also sent a picture to my parents
who had been following our journey via my Garmin InReach. By 8:45am there was a noticeable increase in the number of hikers arriving at the top, so we decided to head down before the cables got too crowded. We had to pass maybe 3 individuals and 2 groups; it took about 30 - 40 minutes to get down as navigating around people going up was a bit more time consuming. There was one person panicking a bit as we were navigating around them, and that was honestly the most stressful time on the cables and the only time I was worried, you can't predict how a panicking person will act. We went down the cables backwards, using the same technique of crab walking as much as possible, my feet did slip a bit on the way down, going up I didn't slip at all.
When we reached the bottom of Sub-Dome again the ranger had arrived and was checking
permits of hikers both going up and coming down. The ranger also gave hikers preparing to summit a bit of a pep talk, giving directions on how to use the cables, when there is high traffic one cable is used for traffic in each direction, so one cable going up and one cable going down, which means you can't utilize the crab-walk technique that I did, personally I would feel less secure going up the cables this way. After a brief rest at Sub-Dome, we headed back to LYV and now that it was daylight we were actually able to enjoy the scenery of the trail, and my obsession with the giant pinecones from the Lodgepole pines. Once we reached LYV, we packed our campsite up, filtered water and rested a bit before making our way back to the trail to finish our hike back to the valley.
We opted to take the John Muir Trail back down, although it is a bit longer, there is less traffic and if going downhill is hard on your knees like it is on mine, going down the stairs on the Mist Trail sounded like pure torture. The JMT also has more shade than the Mist Trail and after baking in the sun from LYV to the trail junction, shade sounded heavenly. We ran into a ranger who was checking backcountry permits and Ashley almost stepped on a rattlesnake, who wasn't shy and let her know how annoyed it was with people coming by and disturbing it.
The hike down the JMT did seem long, lots of short switchbacks and at by the half-way point I was pretty ready to be done, have a shower, pizza and beer. I had also developed a sore throat, which I thought was from the dust, turns out it was actually Covid (most likely). Taking the JMT also gives a different view of Mist Falls and Nevada Falls, in September both falls are a trickle, but in the spring they would thundering and an amazing sight. We finally made it back to the trailhead; tired, hungry, maybe a little grumpy, but we both were pumped to have finally crossed this hike off our list!
Things to Consider:
As a day hike, Half Dome is 14 - 16 miles depending on the route you take with 4,800 feet ( meters) of elevation gain and can take hikers anywhere from 10 - 16 hours to complete depending on your fitness level and hiking speed. If you do get a permit I highly recommend doing more preparation than I was able to do: longer distance hikes and if you're an east coaster like me, make sure you find some hikes with as much elevation gain as possible. Don't underestimate how hard this hike is.
Footwear - This one comes down to personal preference, regardless of if you choose trail runners or hiking boots/shoes, you want something with good grip. Some people advise to getting approach shoes, but if you're not a climber and don't already have a pair I'd say this unnecessary, I'd only consider this if I was summiting with the cables down. Both Ashley and I wore hiking boots (Merrels - me and Hokas - Ashley) and they had great grip, and neither of us experienced much slipping except on the way down. I personally find that my trail runners don't have the same grip as my hiking boots, which is why I opted for those.
Gloves - These are a must for the cable section. I bought a pair of work glove/garden gloves off Amazon for about $10 that were pretty sticky and grippy on the palms and fingers. Ashley brought gloves but forgot them in the campervan, luckily, there were some gloves sitting on top of the bear box at the permit checkpoint and she was able to snag a pair. On that note - if you bring gloves make sure you pack them out, don't leave them for other climbers, there's even a sign at the ranger checkpoint reminding hikers to pack them out.
Water - The last spot to fill water from a tap is at the top of ..... falls, after that the next place to fill up your water is the Merced river when you reach LYV, in order to fill up your water here you will need to have a water filter, we took the Katadyn 1 liter BeFree which worked well. We both carried 3 liter hydration bladders (this is a personal preference) plus two smart water bottles for electrolytes.
Weather - The weather in the high Sierra, like anywhere at altitude, can be unpredictable and weather moves fast. Afternoon storms are very common in the Sierra Nevada and storms roll in very quickly and by the time you realize there's one coming it can be too late. Another reason we chose to summit early in the morning was to avoid any potential bad weather, two days later there was an early snowstorm, which I would not have been keen to summit during. Make sure to check the weather in the days leading up to your hike and the day of, I carry a Garmin InReach mini that allows me to check on the weather without cell service. The ranger checking permits often advises hikers if there is the possibility of storms, but ultimately it is up to you to judge if you want to summit or not. As I was once told in a wilderness safety course, "You don't get caught on top of a mountain or ridgeline in a storm, you made a bad decision".
Deaths on Half Dome - From lightning strikes, to climbing accidents to base jumping mishaps, Half Dome has seen a variety of causes of death and injury. The cable section has seen 25 (26) deaths over the years. Two of these deaths were related to health (heart attack and fainting), two occurred while the cables were down, and the rest have been weather related. The most recent was in July of 2024 when a young woman slipped off the cable section after getting stuck on them in a storm. This is why checking the weather and using good judgment is so important when deciding to summit with the potential for rain. It took us much longer to get down the cables with only a few other hikers, in the afternoon when lots of people are summitting and trying to get down, you're going to spend much longer on the cables. Granite can be slippery in the best of circumstances; it's going to be much more slippery in the rain. As I noted before, we didn't have any issues with slipping going up, but did slip a bit while going down.
Harnesses - Following the young woman's death in the summer of 2024, there was much discussion in forums and Facebook groups about safety on the cables and using harnesses to clip into the cables. I personally did not use one, and do not think using one would have made me feel any safer. The only time I was concerned on the cables was when I had to move around the woman who was panicking a bit, and she was clipped in. If you do opt to use a harness and don't climb, the recommendation is to use a Via Ferrata system. It's a pretty straight forward system that's easy to operate and is used on Via Ferratas around the world and ensures that you are always attached by at least one lanyard at all times. While it is an easy system to use, I highly recommend being familiar and comfortable with your system, there have been too many reports of people using gear and clearly not being familiar or comfortable with it. This slows everyone on the cables down as they have to either wait for you or make a much riskier move of passing.
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