Anyone hiked Half Dome in a day?

Advice, experiences, timings, places I can fill with water etc.

All input appreciated – got my permit for 22 September

Half Dome in Yosemite?
Did it s few years ago with my Wife. We were at the trail head 7am, back down by 6pm. There’s a basic shop near the start of the hike, selling souvenirs, water and sweets, but nothing after.
It was the furthest we’ve hiked, a great day and something I’m proud of doing

Avoided it. Plenty of other hikes to do in Yosemite that don’t look like this….

Picture sourced from http://www.sierraclub.org

However on re-reading your note perhaps things have changed (permit?) In which case I’d advocate as early as possible.

That’s the last 300m and the view is worth it. You’ll pass through loads of different types of terrain to get there and two spectacular waterfalls. The waterfalls won’t be at their best in September though.

Did it 21 years ago and it wasn’t very popular then! If it looks like the above pic I’d not bother. If it’s permit and not too many people at a time go very early as it’s a bit of a trek, we did it in just over 12 hours round trip with about an hour at the ‘summit’

I did it about 20 years ago, got up early and was first on the trail. Walked fast for the first hour to get ahead of most people then pretty much had it to myself.

For water I took a camelbak and a filter (it was the height of summer and red hot).

I’d recommend it, had my sandwiches at the top… Which was amazing. Enjoy 🙂

PS. If you’re scared if heights the descent on the section in the picture above is a bit cheeky. Not dangerous IMO but if you’re not used to that type of thing there is a real sense of exposure.

Did it in 1989. Walked in from the road, did a climb (Snake Dyke) to the top, down the cables and back to the road. Finished in the dark, but it was October.
If you are reasonably fit it should be no problem to do the round trip in a day.

That pic must be as bad as it gets, there was probably 20 people max on the cable ladder when I did it around October time. We camped down the valley, driving up past El Capitan seeing the head torches twinkling as the climbers get ready for the day ahead was cool.

I did it nearly 1 year ago today. Wouldn’t fancy doing it all in one go from Yosemite valley, but plenty of people do. Start VERY EARLY!

We did it on the final day of a 4 day trip, and were camped in Little Yosemite valley which is pretty much at the trail head. We set off at 4am and watched the sunrise from the top. Perfect crisp morning.

As we went up the cables (shitting myself) the sun peeped over the mountains behind us, and we saw the shadow move down the rock face. Pretty **** awesome. From the top we could see the shadow of half dome on el cap.

We didn’t see a soul in the way up and thought we had the place to ourselves, until we got to the top and found some nutters who had bivi’d up there!

Enjoy 🙂

Just make sure you’re off the summit before the thunderstorms start. We got a pretty graphic lecture from the rangers about what happens to a body repeatedly struck by lightning….

A brilliant day and well worth it. 16 miles all round if I remember correctly.

The final bit was as busy as in the above picture when I did it in late September a few years ago but don’t let that put you off.

As mentioned above though, if you’re not 100% with heights have a good look at it before you go up. A guy in front of me had a bit of a panic going back down and had to borrow a guide rope/get a bit of help from others.

For what it’s worth though, I’m no great lover of heights and I was absolutely fine with it.

There are communal gloves at the bottom for grip on the rope, but they’re probably not the most pleasant of things so may be worth bringing your own if you think you’ll need them.

Cheers guys:)

I think the permit system has only been going a couple of years and limits the number of people to about 250 per day. It’s done on a lottery system and I won.

I’ve no doubt it’s going to be tough in a day, so much so that the gf has decided she’s staying in the hotel and using the spa facilities for the day whilst I do it. I’m concerned if it’s too much for me, but there’s a good chance this will be a once in a lifetime visit there so feel like I should at least give it a good shot.

I’ll be on my own and planning on setting off about 5:30-6am. I’m no super hiker but I get by ok in the lakes and done a couple of big(ish) ones previously in Canada; but nothing on this scale.

Couple of immediate things come to mind;

Whats the parking like at Curry Village / Happy Isles trailhead?

Seems to be a big split between ppl that do it via the Mist Trail or the John Muir trail (less steep but longer) – thoughts?

Will take a Camelbak with 3l bladder and no doubt a 750ml bottle in there as well – I do have a water filter but never used one – I’m finding it hard to tie-down exact points where I can fill up with water (using the filter) but I don’t think there are that many chances of doing so – any advice here?

Sawyer Water Filter[/url]

I have maps but is the route relatively easy to follow?

I’d always take a map anyway for safety’s sake, and because I like maps, but I’m pretty sure you could find your own way.

I only walked down the mist trail, not up, because we walked from north to south over a few days. The bottom section of the mist trail is a massive tarmac path and very busy and touristy, but still fairly hard going. The further up you go the quieter it’ll be.

Take plenty of water, you can probably fill up at the campsite in Little Yosemite, and then head up half dome from there. We saw so many people going up in trainers and a tiny day pack.

I’d set off even earlier than that if I were you though, get the hardest part done while it’s cool/quiet and enjoy the dawn light. It is just incredible.

Curry village has loads of parking and shuttle buses.

As above, the cables are not for the faint hearted. I found it terrifying enough for myself, but added to that I was watching/encouraging my wife who was freaking out. That was even scarier!

Can’t comment on Half Dome itself, we didn’t have the time (and my wife isn’t a big hiking fan anyway).

Personally would recommend Mist Trail going up and John Muir going down. Mist trail is beautiful and the early tarmac makes for quicker going. The John Muir trail would hopefully be quieter for you and a quicker way back down at the end of the day.

I’d set off even earlier than that if I were you though, get the hardest part done while it’s cool/quiet and enjoy the dawn light. It is just incredible.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot!

Personally would recommend Mist Trail going up and John Muir going down. Mist trail is beautiful and the early tarmac makes for quicker going. The John Muir trail would hopefully be quieter for you and a quicker way back down at the end of the day.

Great advice, thanks

Or should I just forget it and do Clouds Rest instead – meant to be more enjoyable, with better views and less people…but that might just be ppl who could’t get a permit

Brilliant days walking.

We did it in a day starting on foot from Curry Village in September 2012. Plenty of parking from memory.

As others have said starting early is the best plan. Perfectly doable in a day but you will ache on the next day.

We carried lots of water but still needed to fill up.

The cables are a bit intimidating but views are worth it and not as busy as that picture.

Don’t drive to Lake Tahoe immediately after like we did!

We didn’t do clouds rest but it sounded really good. I think it’s a long ridge walk up and down the summit, views both sides. How doable it is as a day walk I don’t know