Half Dome – Wabi-Sabi Sole

Friday, was our last full day in Yosemite. Audry and I discussed possible hiking options. We both decided we wanted to avoid Vernal Falls, Mist Trail, and John Muir Trail all three were part of our hike to Half Dome. Instead, we took the Valley Shuttle to Lower Yosemite Falls. A few pictures of our approach to the falls. The first picture is Upper Yosemite Falls.

Lower Yosemite Falls was magnificent. The extra snow and late season storms in Northern California really enabled the Falls to be a beautiful spectacle this time of year. So much energy! And wind! It’s our “Flock of Seagulls” look.

After visiting Lower Yosemite Falls, we eventually found the trail for Upper Yosemite Falls. It was only 3.2 miles to the top. The guidebook said it would take 3-6 hours. Let’s go!

The trail was a steep vertical ascent with countless switch backs. The views of the Valley floor as we climbed were breathtaking. Half Dome will always be one of my favorites.

Up and up and up we continued to climb.

After about two hours, we reached the halfway point. Here we had a stunning view of Upper Yosemite Falls.

And in the other direction, Half Dome.

As we rested, we contemplated which direction we should go. Further up the mountain, about two more hours to the top of the Falls, or back down. We made a wise choice to head back down. By the time we were back in the Valley, We were both famished. We stopped at the Yosemite Village Grill for a cheeseburger. I quickly gobbled mine down with a Lagunitas IPA.

We hopped the shuttle back to our tent. I attempted to convince Audry we should go see Mirror Lake. It’s flat and only three miles round trip. Nothing I said convinced her. Smart girl. It was 6:50pm. I said if I’m not back by 8:00pm, look for me. Off I went. Expediently. I only paused for a few pictures.

Mirror Lake was pretty and serene. I’m glad I went and glad I didn’t force Audry to go. Because it was a bit anticlimactic after the earlier views and without perfect light and weather conditions.

I returned a faster route and arrived back at our tent at 7:59pm. Audry was making preparations to come find me! What an amazing friend! Our time together was truly an adventure. Thank you for filling my happiness bucket. Xoxo

The popularity of hiking Half Dome in Yosemite has steadily increased over the years. To preserve the integrity of the cables, the National Park Service limited the number of daily hikers to only 300. To obtain one of the permits, the NPS instituted a lottery. The preseason lottery opens during the month of March and results are announced in April. A second lottery is held each day during the hiking season. The hiking season lottery is held 48 hours in advance of the day you desire to hike and results are announced 24 hours prior to your desired hiking day.

Audry and I both entered the preseason lottery and neither obtained a permit. We were disappointed and knew we would try the daily lottery but, didn’t put to much hope into obtaining a permit.

We entered the lottery on Monday, July 3rd in hopes of securing permits for Wednesday, July 5th. Audry was the winner! She was able to secure two permits for us!

On July 4th, I left Tokyo at 8:00 pm and arrived in San Francisco at 1:30pm. Audry picked me up at the airport and we drove to Yosemite. We stayed in Half Dome Village in a permanent tent. It was getting late by the time we were settled and we tried to make it an early night because we wanted to be hiking by 5:00 am.

And we were. We started out to Half Dome at 5:00 am and returned to our cabin just before 7:00 pm. It was a fourteen hour hike. We checked at least 5 times along the way we had our permits for the Half Dome cables. Every time, yes! And we laughed.

We got drenched within the first hour along the Mist Trail and Vernal Falls.

We oohed as we hiked past Nevada Falls.

We aahed as we hiked through the Redwoods and Sugar Pines.

When we finally had Half Dome in our sights, we cheered. And kept climbing.

When we reached the cables, we rested before we climbed. Guess what we didn’t have to do – show our permits to climb the cables! Yep, no one was there to check!! What??!?! All of the other hikers were just as surprised as we were. Guess the day after a holiday isn’t a very busy day!