Half Dome Hike - June 2, 2009

On June 1st, my Dad and I drove to Yosemite with the purpose of hiking Half Dome the next day. On the way into the park, we saw a black bear and several deer as we made our way to Curry Village where we were staying. Next, we did a warm-up hike to Mirror Lake, ate dinner and went back to the cabin to rest up before the big hike.

We woke up at 6am on June 2nd, ate breakfast, got our backpacks ready and set off for Half Dome. The Half Dome hike is 17+ miles round trip (we took the John Muir trail both directions) with an elevation gain of 4,800 feet and the summit is 8,800 feet above sea level. I have documented more details during my 2007 Half Dome Hike and 2006 Half Dome Hike, so I won't elaborate too much. Here's the timing of our hike this year:

• Started the hike at 7:00am
• Made it to the top at 11:45am
• Spent 15 minutes on the top
• Finished the hike at 5:00pm

This was my 6th summit and my Dad's 10th. There was a ton of water in the rivers and waterfalls which was good to see. The weather was mostly cloudy with the temperature in the 60s and might have touched 70. This was GREAT hiking weather since it wasn't hot like it has been most of the other times we've done the hike. We didn't have to stop to rest as much and didn't need to carry much water since the weather was so mild.

The only downside was that the view from the summit wasn't very impressive since the top of the dome was surrounded by clouds. We only spent about 15 minutes at the top since it was cold, windy, a little wet and we wanted to get back down the cables and granite stairs before they got too wet and slippery. We made it down to where the weather was much better, ate lunch and enjoyed a leisurely hike down.

Once we finished the hike, we showered, ate dinner and hit the hay. After a good night rest, we woke up on June 3rd and headed back home. Overall, it was the best hiking weather we've ever had, the most disappointing view from the summit, but another new experience hiking The Dome; it's different every time.