Hiking up Half Dome Mountain in Yosemite

Hiking up Half Dome mountain in Yosemite was epic.  It was definitely the hardest hike I've ever done, but oh so worth it.

We won our passes in a lottery, so there was no time to reserve a camp site.  That meant we had to drive through the night Thursday to ensure we were one of the first walk-ins Friday morning and could get a site.  One of the first things we noticed was hour friendly the animals were – there was deer that would walk right up to our campsite. After setting up camp it started to rain and the ranger came by and said it was hailing one campground over.  Great…

 

After getting only about 3-4 hours of sleep in 48 hours, we started our descent up the mountain at Midnight Friday night in the dark so we can beat the heat and get to the top around sunrise – perfect for pictures. Stopping every 1-2 hours to catch our breath and eat an energy bar, I would pass out for like 5 minutes on the trail. All in all, the hike took a total of 17 hours including breaks.

 

I didn't realize it would be so intense, though. It was about an 8 hour hike up the mountain which at some parts was like a stair-master x 10. Then Half Dome was literally straight up the mountain and you had to basically pull yourself up with these cables. I'm a little scared of heights so I wasn't totally thrilled to do it, but I'm glad I did! Nonetheless, then we had to hike another 8 hours back. We stopped at a river and napped for about 2 hours Mark Twain style. It was seriously the hardest hike I've ever done, but I'm so glad I did it. Climbing up the cables on Half Dome blew my mind.

The Yosemite forest and wildlife was beautiful, featuring two majestic waterfalls plus deer and Marmet that would walk right up to you fearlessly. I wish I never had to leave…