Trip Report
A Safe Half-dome Adventure~~~

by Karen
Saturday October 17, 2009 9:54pm
Warning: this isn't a climbing TR but rather an account of my daughter and I's Half-dome trip last week. Early last Spring she stated she wanted to climb/hike up Half-dome, I suggested Snake dike but got a definite "No"....

We arrived in the Valley and wandered around:

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We couldn't resist hanging out in the Ahwahnee but as you can see my daughter went all ghetto on me... lucky they didn't throw us out:)

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We got up at the butt crack of dawn to begin our hike..what a shock to find the first part of the trail was all asphalt!!!!!


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Credit: Karen
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Totally dug Little Yosemite Camp, how nice someone created a table for us, oh and the toilet up there-heaven-sure beat the wag bags we had to use on our Whitney trip and the bear boxes (cool no having to lug up those damn bear canisters). There weren't many people in camp, private and quiet.

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The next day we got up early and I felt sick, but what really sucked were these steps up the so called, "subdome"...WTF? I climbed Snake dike back in the day and I had no memory of this part of the trail, of course we only descended them back on that trip but even so, this was no fun, not up nor down, have any of you guys ever just flat out forgot some aspect of a trip? guessing the trauma stuff gets stuffed away.

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Credit: Karen
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Clearly it states when it is and isn't safe, so why do people disregard these warnings?


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The summit was awesome with amazing weather, we lucked out, got in between the two storms.

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Credit: Karen
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The requisit shot..


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What's down here?...

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I wasn't messing around with my daughter's life so set her up Via Ferreta style.. the best part however, there were very few people up there, besides a few really sketched out guys who for whatever reason wanted to follow us..yikes, I made them go before us


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On the way down we had the John Muir trail to ourselves..

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All we really wanted was a coke, feeling great, and happy to be safely back...darn though, the rock certainly beckons...


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Lastly, stopped to check out the guys on El Cap, but got lost in the meadow instead.

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Anyone up to climb?


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  Trip Report Views: 2,939
Karen 		About the Author
Karen is a trad climber from So Cal urban sprawl Hell.

Comments
Karen

Trad climber
Prescott, AZ ~
Author's Reply  Oct 17, 2009 - 02:13am PT
Why are some of the pictures so small? sorry about that!!!!

Karen
pc

climber
  Oct 17, 2009 - 01:53pm PT
Well done. Nice TR.
SilasCL

Sport climber
San Francisco, CA
  Oct 17, 2009 - 03:58pm PT
Since you're linking from photobucket, you can copy/paste links for different size photos. Go back and check that you grabbed the right link, not the thumbnail one.

Nice report, how early in the spring?
Jaybro

Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
  Oct 17, 2009 - 04:26pm PT
Really nice! whatever the photo sizes....
Karen

Trad climber
Prescott, AZ ~
Author's Reply  Oct 17, 2009 - 07:39pm PT
Silus, I've tried playing around on photobucket and can't seem to get anywhere.

Our posted trip was last week in between the two storms. It was last Spring when my daughter suggested we plan the trip. The original time we had planned on was in July, but had to cancel, and I am so thankful we did since there were few people on the dome/cables.
Russ Walling

Social climber
from Poofters Froth, Wyoming
  Oct 17, 2009 - 10:43pm PT
Good stuff! Thanks for the TR.
rgold

Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
  Oct 18, 2009 - 01:50am PT
I liked the via ferrata set-up. I've heard that the path between the cables has become so polished from use that it is now easier to climb outside the cables, but I'm sure that more slippery with a tether is a better deal than less slippery without.

Any time we can share the joys of the back country with our children is a blessing.
Karen

Trad climber
Prescott, AZ ~
Author's Reply  Oct 18, 2009 - 02:44am PT
Going up the cables was a breeze, coming down wasn't so bad-then again we had total comfort knowing we were secure. I found I could face downhill until the steeper section, they I just turned and put my back against the cables sort of like I was rappelling, it only took like two moves and then a long step to reach each wood plank. There are a few sections where the cables are really sketchy, and a couple of spots where there is no wood, no biggie being a climber I just used the poles as a kind of "foot hold" but I am sure it scares a lot of people when they get to these parts.
I have to say this, I feel the people who just let their young children free solo the rails are simply being irresponsible, why risk your child's life? Hell my daughter is 22 and I was not about to risk her safety, especially since she is not that experienced climbing.
Doug Robinson

Trad climber
Santa Cruz
  Oct 25, 2009 - 05:01pm PT
Sweet trip report, and good timing.

I was up there with friends in July (their choice), and sat at the base of the cables for 3 hours while they crawled to the top and back. In the first 20 minutes they made less than a hundred feet, so I scrambled up the outside of the cables to take photos of them.

No point in joining that cluser... I'd been on top before.
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