Hiking Half Dome

Half dome-8,839 feet in elevation and 16miles round trip. Full day hike

This is no ordinary hike, it is a long, steep climb just to the base of rock of half dome. Once you get there you have to climb up narrow steps carved into the rock and then you get to the part where there are chains in the rock that help you scale the rest of the way up. The last part is the true challenge, especially since  you are already tired from hiking, at least we were! 

I didn't think we would be able to hike half dome but when we ran into Kim at Groveland she told us the chains were up and that we could sign up for permits! Online it previously said the chains wouldn't be up until the end of May so be sure to keep checking up on it if you are not going during peak season. You can hike it when the chains are down supposedly but I don't recommend it. Here is the site to register for permits. It is a lottery system so no garauntee you will get one, if you go during the middle of the week you should be ok. Its a two day in advance registration. We signed up Monday (before 1pm) so we could hike on Wednesday. 

I was so excited about getting a permit to hike it, Matt was a little hesitant about this long hike. We woke up early to get a good start because this is an all day hike for sure. It is a really beautiful hike past several waterfalls. You can take two different paths to get there. We decided to take the Mist trail because it took a mile off of the overall route, but this one lived up to its name and it was a lot of steep stairs! You hike right next to the waterfall, getting very misty, so bring a jacket (it's windy near the top so you'll need one then too). I liked hiking up this way but we took the John Muir trail back down so we didn't have to tackle the slippery stairs coming back down. 

You need gloves for the chains but if you forget them don't worry there is usually a big pile at the base that you can borrow for your climb. Matt was nervous to go up the cables, which made me start to freak out a bit and I had done this before. Pictures do not do it justice for how steep this thing is. For this hike you need to make sure your legs are ready for the challenge but also your arms. Going up the cables is quite the arm workout.  There are wooden slates you can stop and rest at which is a big help. Despite some fears we made it all the way to the top! It was a great view and was such an accomplishment. I don't think I'll ever do it again but I'm sure I said that last time too ;) 

Top Tips

1. Lots and lots of water and food for this hike (something with potassium an salt is a good idea- my calves were a bit shaky after the dome and this really nice guy gave me a salt/K pill that helped me a lot) 

2. You have to have a permit to hike to the top of half dome and there is a park ranger there checking them. If you don't have access to a printer you can just take a snap shot of it on your phone, just make sure you bring your ID(sometimes people bail out on their groups and you can join up with them, but it's a risk) 

3. Gear- gloves, jacket, sunnies good shoes

4. I wasn't as sore the next day hiking this time and I think it's because we stretched along the way (we also didn't get lost like I did with my friends, so maybe that was really the difference) but you will be sore the next day unless you are in extremely good shape. 

5. Mist trail- wet and stairs 

John Muir- you can take all the way up it is just lots of gradual switch backs. I suggest taking mist up and john Muir down so you can get all the great views this hike has to offer. 

6. Wake up early and get going!