Friday August 25th
I'd set the alarm for around 4.30am, meaning to get going before 6 on the Half Dome Hike I'd booked into, knowing that it could take a good 12 hours. The trail was about a 26km return trip, with something like a 5,000ft (1,500m) elevation gain – that’s 1.5km straight up. I had done hikes nearly as long as this, and a hike with 900m elevation gain, but nothing with both the elevation gain and distance, so I knew it would likely be the most difficult hike I’d ever done, by a fair margin, and I wasn’t certain I’d be able to complete it.
As usual it took longer than expected to make breakfast and get organised. I filled my water bottles and took a 2L "camel pack" with water as well, giving me about 4 litres. While I was getting ready before sunrise I somehow managed to press the button on my keys that set off the van’s alarm, and I was madly trying to stop it, so early in the morning, argh!
If it was wet or stormy, it was strongly advised not to do the last part of the hike, but it was looking like a beautiful day: sunny, but not scorchingly hot. In the morning as I left, it was still fairly dark, and it wasn't so easy to find the track that I’d identified the previous night, but I did find what seemed to be an ok way through, and nobody was up so early. I'd got part way to the trailhead when I remembered I'd forgotten my pass, which would let me do the last part of the hike, so I had to turn back and go and get it, then work my way back to the track again and finally get to the trailhead.
So it was about 6.30 I think before I really got going, and the sun was just starting to rise. There were quite a good number of people on the trail, though I wouldn't say it was crowded. I fell in with three men in their early 60s, and we did most of the walk up together, which was great. They were really nice, and going with them helped to pace me. I might have tried to get up there too fast otherwise.
We saw two large waterfalls, with a lot of strenuous climbing in between, much of it up steep stairs, and we gained altitude pretty quickly. It was a tough section. We stopped at one place, which had toilets and a generator going, and had a snack. I had brought a big sandwich for lunch, and also several snack bars, so I had one of them. We kept pushing on, and after a while the trail levelled out somewhat through a forest area, which was welcome, until it started getting steep again.
One of the group was checking his smart watch every so often to see what our altitude was, and how far up the climb we were. At one of the streams, one filled up his water bottles, using a filter that he'd brought with him. I don't remember if it was the same man, but one had some electrolyte tablets that he offered us, to put in our water, since we were sweating a lot. I think that helped quite a bit.
As I hiked I started to get weird visual effects, kind of like little red splotches that didn't go away. They did fade out after perhaps half an hour or so, but it was strange. Eventually we came in sight of the large lump of rock called Half Dome. Part way up the last strenuous climb to the bottom of Half Dome, a ranger checked our passes, and gave us advice about how to climb the dome.
There were metal ropes held up by poles which you used to haul yourself up the steeply sloping bare rock face. There was one rope to go up, and another to come down, and boards nailed in every few metres, for footholds, when you wanted to rest. He told us what to do if we wanted to pass someone, but I was pretty exhausted by then, and I was sure I wasn't going to pass anyone!
We rested at the bottom of the Half Dome, getting towards midday by then, and two of my group decided they'd had enough, and started the walk back down. The three knew each other and I think they were going to meet the other member of the group at the bottom. The other man and I started the arduous climb to the top. I could see the two ropes, and boards, going up and up into the distance, a rather daunting sight.
There were a good many other people going up and down. Basically I would haul myself to one of the boards, then wait panting furiously until the person above me started up to the next board, then I would work my way to that board. It was very hard work, at a 45 degree angle, using mainly arms, because the rock was quite slippery from people ascending it for over 100 years, so there wasn't a lot of grip with the feet. Following advice I'd read online, I'd brought cheap gloves to wear for this part, which made it easier on the hands.
As I went, people were going by me on the way down on the other rope, which was quite close. A few people gave me encouragement as they passed, especially as we neared the top, telling me that it wasn’t far now. Finally we made it to the top! That section took around half an hour.
There were perhaps 50 or more people at the top, and it was a large fairly flat area. There was a group of ladies sitting down, who looked to be in their late 20s or 30s, and one said hello as I passed, and offered to take my photo. There was a spot sticking out of the dome, which she knew about. People would stand out on what looked, at the right angle, as though you were jutting out into a huge sheer drop, though it wasn't actually as bad as that. You did have to be careful getting on and off though!
There was a line up, as was often the case in the US parks, to get a photo. I waited in line, and she waited some distance away at the spot where people were taking the photos. It took something like 15 or 20 minutes to get to the front of the line, it was very kind of her to wait.
I had lunch there, near the edge. There was nothing stopping you from going right to the edge if you wanted. It must have been something like a three or four thousand feet sheer drop from the edge. I got within a couple of metres and saw cars like dots at the bottom and thought that was close enough! I stayed there for a while, and my friend I'd hiked with left to go down.
After a while I started on the descent down the ropes, which we'd been advised to do backwards. It was definitely much easier going down, though I still had to ease myself down using the rope. We stopped for about 20 or 30 minutes at one place, because one person way down near the bottom had a harness and was clipping and unclipping himself, making everyone else go really slowly behind him, then a lady started to panic part way up, and held onto both the up and down ropes and wouldn't let go, stopping everyone. The views were nice while we waited, and eventually she was convinced to keep going, I think she kept going up rather than turning back.
It was a long way down back to the campground. There were two routes for part of the hike, forming a loop, and I took the other one going down. Part way along I was met by a young guy with lots of tattoos, and rather punk looking hair. He said he'd got lost, separated from the people he was walking with, and somehow got off the track he’d been on and had been wandering without a track, which must have been scary. He found his way to this track but wasn't sure where he was. He asked if he could walk with me and was very grateful I said yes.
As we got lower, we got to another stream and he plunged in. I went on after a little, and lost sight of him for a while, but we ended up together again. When there was reception he rang his friends, and from the sound of the phone call they were unimpressed that he'd got lost and separated from them. He asked me where the track went, and arranged to meet them somewhere at the bottom. After a while I stopped to take photos and he went on by himself.
Near the bottom I was getting very footsore. I hiked along a beautiful river, and was looking for the campground, which I thought was next to it, but couldn't find it. Opening Google Maps revealed that I'd ended up on the wrong side of the river – the campground was on the other side! So I had to take a longer detour. I took off my shoes to reveal some decent blisters, and bathed my feet in the river, then found my way to a bridge further down, and backtracked to the campground. I was very glad to be back, around 7pm!
I made some dinner and lay down on my bed, and then someone knocked on the door. It was a European lady who said I was in their campsite. She and presumably her partner had arrived after dark. I went outside and looked, and indeed I was in the wrong one. We tried to find where mine was, and there were some branches obscuring the sign. I'd seen the number before mine, then assumed that the next one I saw was mine, not noticing the obscured one in between. I'd spent a night and day in the wrong spot! Thank the Lord they didn't come while I was away. I drove around and tried to back into my spot without much success – I still wasn't very used to doing that, and much more so in the dark, but got in there with their help, then slept!
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