Half Dome Ascent via Cables Route

A friend (and fellow Goal Zero athlete) Steve Schrag had some permits to do the Cables Route of Half Dome on June 9 2012, and had asked if anyone wanted to go up with him. I happened to have that day off from other scheduled things, and was in a recovery week from my Steamboat Springs Half Marathon run, with some “miles” available, so I asked to go with.

I flew into Fresno and met him and his family at the curb, and we drove to Curry Village where we stayed in a tent cabin Friday night. Early Saturday we hit the trail and walked from the tents to the trailhead, about a mile. We selected the Mist Trail option, since that was shorter and maybe a bit more scenic. We stopped to filter water and top off our bottles, then proceeded to the cables.

[map kml=”http://charlesmiske.com/files/2012-06-09-073529-Hiking-Charles-Miske.kml”]

The cables were steep, but especially with the boards every 5 feet or so, quite manageable, and we hit the top in a respectable time of 4:15. I have my Google Maps off my Polar RS800CX above, and since Google has basically banned non-blogger blogs from showing the Earth Plugin, I have the Google Earth version on my old blog at blogger.

We hung out at the top for about a half hour, then went down the cables and reversed the route, including the now extremely scenic, though congested, Mist Trail. We managed to get down to the bus stop in 3:15 in spite of the crowds, with a little bit of running in the last mile, and rode the shuttle to the Village Store, where we hooked up with Steve’s family. They had spent a relaxing day as tourists. We detoured to the Glacier Point overlook, for some great views overlooking most of the route we’d hiked just hours before.

They dropped me off at my airport hotel, and I checked in for a soak in a hot tub, and good, though short, night sleep. I flew out the next day for Denver, so I could spend a couple days recovering in Summit County. I loved the trip to Half Dome, and the exquisite beauty of Yosemite, and wonder what I could do with a year of training and preparation and maybe the assistance of one of my rope-gun friends?

Late Update: I’m including this in Elbrus Race 2012 since my performance here was instrumental in my decision to pursue working up the logistics and training for that goal.