Half Dome '09

[Burnin' oil]

10-7-09. Couple observations: First, it was very cold, low thirties at the trail head and sub-thirties in Little Yosemite Valley. Second, there were a lot of fuzzy foreigners on the trail. Third, the female fuzzy foreigners were consistently good looking. Fourth, none of them knew Livi. Fifth, Todd was not there so I pushed a random stranger off the top, just so it wasn't a wasted trip.

Ice and snow on trail



The objective:



The stairs on the shoulder. Ice and snow = dicey:



Clouds Rest from the shoulder:



Moonscape on the top of Half Dome:



From the ice cut on the John Muir trail on the way down:

[Talewinds]

Awesome. Dang the snow is in early this year. Makes me concerned about a peak I'll be attempting first week of Nov.

[kaisen]

I was there the third week in September. Lots of furry foreigners (German mostly). No ice or snow, thank goodness, as I took Tioga Pass out of there. Saw a gaggle of late-model Ferraris (incl 599GTB) coming in from Tioga presumably from the Virginia City Hillclimb. I have photos of that part of my trip if anyone cares.

[Tishabet]

Great pics... I was on the JMT with my brother and dad last month, starting from the valley floor. We considered the side trip up half dome but we were so bushed after climbing out of the valley carrying 6 days worth of food that we took a pass. Then when we tried to get back to the valley at the end of the trip to pick up our car the road was closed due to fires, so we ended up having to hike back into the valley from Tuolomne. Great trip!

Looking back on Half dome on day 1


Smoke coming out of the valley (viewed from Cathedral)


During the descent back into Yosemite


Triumphant return to the car (I'm the guy on the right)

[porsche4life]

Cool pictures guys... Oh what kinda pansy wears gators Grant?

[Tishabet]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

Cool pictures guys... Oh what kinda pansy wears gators Grant?

The kind of pansy who used to be an alpine guide. Those gators have about 4k miles of backpacking on them Sidney

I also own taller ones (knee high) and insulated ones.

[kaisen]

Photos taken by my wife and I September 19, 2009







Smoke from what was left of the fires:

[porsche4life]

I might could see insulated.... Now the rest is just un necessary.

[Burnin' oil]

Grant,

Looks like the Happy Isles parking lot. Where did you guys go and how did you get back into the Valley? Through Tenaya Canyon?

[Tishabet]

Originally Posted by Burnin' oil

Grant,

Looks like the Happy Isles parking lot. Where did you guys go and how did you get back into the Valley? Through Tenaya Canyon?

Good eye... it was indeed Happy Isles where we left the car.

Our original plan was to show up in the valley on Sunday AM, drop the car and pick uur permits, take the YARTS shuttle out to Mammoth and hike back to the valley. Due to fires, the pass to get to Mammoth was closed, so we had to rethink.

Ultimately, we spent Sunday night at the backpacker's overflow in Yosemite and then headed out Monday AM. We headed up the Mist trail to get out of the valley, then linked up with the JMT. We had planned to end the trip at Devil's Postpile, arriving there Saturday AM, then catching YARTS back from Mammoth to Yosemite on Sunday. Unfortunately the road was still closed from the fires so we took the shuttle as far as it would go (Tuolomne) on Sunday AM and then hiked down into the valley to retrieve our car and head back to the bay area.

Ultimately we did a little over 80 miles over 7 days. We've done more aggressive in the past (in the 100 miles wilderness in Maine we once managed a 34 mile day) but my dad is going to be 70 this year so we decided to take it easy on him

[scottmandue]

You didn't base jump from the top?

Pfft... what a wuss!

[Tishabet]

Oh, and yes, we descended to the Valley via the Tenaya area, although we never descended into the Canyon itself. Instead we skirted the edge and ended up with a very steep descent that ended up near the Ahwahnee.

Here is a pic as we entered the the Tenaya area


And here is the knee-busting descent to the Valley floor (about 1-2 miles later)

[Burnin' oil]

Grant,

Nice hike. I am thinking (and have been for several years) about Mt. Whitney to the Valley - speed style. Your route is probably more realistic - especially your original plan, from East to West.

[Tishabet]

Originally Posted by Burnin' oil

Grant,

Nice hike. I am thinking (and have been for several years) about Mt. Whitney to the Valley - speed style. Your route is probably more realistic - especially your original plan, from East to West.

I'll tell you, the JMT seems almost made for an ultralight speed trip... the weather in the late summer lets you bring as much down as you'd like (not a good option in the Northeast), and you can easily get away with a bivy or tarp for shelter. On my trip we weren't ultralight (we were each carrying around 18-20 lbs base weight plus around 11lbs per person in food, fuel and bear barrels) but I could see carving out another 5-8lbs of pack weight without much issue in that climate. Given how much of the JMT has been graded etc to handle horses, I'm thinking you could make some serious time, especially if you factor in a resupply.

[fingpilot]

I live up a little farther north of there (on the slopes west of Lassen). They are saying second snow of season this tuesday. Your pics are of the first snow. Looks to be a reasonable wet season here this winter; the jet stream and mid-pac ocean temps are indicating a 'normal' wet season, at least in NorCal.

[Burnin' oil]

Grant,

I believe you came down the Snow Creek trail, left of lower center in this picture:

[Tishabet]

Originally Posted by Burnin' oil

Grant,

I believe you came down the Snow Creek trail

I believe you are correct... I just checked my map, and we came down on Snow Creek to the West of Tenaya and descended into the valley close to Mirror Lake.

[nostatic]

i feel so left out. Did the pushee scream like a little girl?

[aigel]

Beautiful hike and images.

Not a lot of fat girls on that hike. The age of the hikers looks to be bimodal. College aged and retirement aged. No working population, if you discount the ever present Germans that have 6 weeks of vacation to burn. I always did that hike in early summer. Less likely to get surprised by an early winter storm!

George

[Burnin' oil]

Todd, well yes, the pushee did scream like a little girl, mostly because she WAS a little girl (I can't believe I just wrote that). Maybe next year?

George is right. Generally, the closer to the top, the better overall fitness. Coming down - rapid degradation. Between the trail head and the footbridge over the river, bunch of fat cows huffing and wheezing