This one is for the early risers. We got up before dawn and headed down into Yosemite Valley and parked in the big lot for Half Dome hikers. We packed up all of our food and put it in the bear locker and got ourselves ready to go. The beginning of the hike is one we had done before, but I don't have much recollection of it. Once we got up near the water I started to recognize things like the boulder fields and then the bridge. We followed the trail up past several waterfalls before splitting off.
The hike took us over many different types of trail. It was sandy, rocky, paved, barely there, grassy, and packed dirt at different times. It was also sometimes densely wooded, sometimes on the edge of a rock face, and sometimes a wide open area. The varied terrain added to the fun of the hike, but it was strenuous before we even got to the end. It was pretty long to begin with and then there were steep parts with rock steps.
After a long walk, we started being able to see the rock formation called Half Dome that we would soon summit. As with anything that large, it looked a lot closer than it really was. We had some more winding and climbing over the big rock face in front of it before we got there.
We could see the ladder leading up from pretty far away with little dots of people on it. When we got closer and saw it first hand we just got excited. I did, at least. We perused the pile of gloves at the bottom of the ladder, left there for people to use as they wish. I tried them, but it felt too slippery with gloves so I went on bare-handed.
I felt like I took to it pretty easily. I was on the inclined rock and climbing with the use of ropes no problem. I definitely noticed the difficulty at times, but mostly I was just having too much fun to care. It's just so cool to be up there on the side of this giant slab of rock, pulling yourself up with a rope. We moved pretty fast on our way up except for when we stopped to shoot some photos.
The view from the top was breathtaking. It reminded me of Cloud's Rest last year, but of course that's because Cloud's Rest is just across the valley and the view is very much the same. The gray and green of the mountains and trees lining the earth and creating this really crazy pattern is my favorite part. They almost mirror the puffy, shadowed clouds. I love it.
The trail down seemed long. Just long. It wasn't particularly hard at any point, and we actually took another route that was suggested to be easier on the knees than climbing down the rocky part we came up. We saw some nice scenery with views of Half Dome and the waterfalls from a different angle. The trail seemed to drag on for so long. We were behind people that we had to pass one by one at times, and the switchbacks wrapped back and forth forever until we finally got to the trail split we recognized. I had run out of water also so I was just waiting until we got to the bridge with the water spigots. Even the last part of the trail seemed never-ending. I suppose it's expectation mixed with exhaustion, but I just couldn't believe how long it was seeming.
We finally made it back to the car where I peeled off my socks and shoes and collapsed in the seat for a minute. I didn't want to get back up, but I got the food from the bear box and headed off to the village area of Yosemite where we could get showers. The men's showers had quite a few unoccupied stalls so I jumped in one and took the best shower I've had in a long time. I need that badly. Joanna had a while to wait for the showers because girls. So I sat in the car relaxing, watching a show, and eating hummus and crackers.
When we were all squared away we headed out of Yosemite and towards the coast. We found a Chipotle for dinner with a Starbucks next door to download more episodes of Breaking Bad. We sat in the lot watching some and then wandered down the road to Wal*Mart when we couldn't find a place to sleep for the night. I decided to go out to Buffalo Wild Wings to see if I could make a friend who would let us camp in their yard. No such luck. I had a couple of beers with a Mexican guy who drives trucks in the area. He was a cool guy and we had a good conversation, but no luck with a new sleeping arrangement so it was back to the passenger seat for me.
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