Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board How late is too late for Half Dome

Since hiking whitney earlier this month, I've been itching to do one last hike before the end of season. I'm interested in hiking up to half dome, but it sounds like the park pulls the cables down sometime in october...actually, i read on a website that the cables are coming down oct 13th. I hate hiking with crowds..and half dome sounds like it attracts hoards. If I can't make it up there in the next two weekends...when is the best time to go in 09?? I want to do this in a day. Maybe a full moon hike?? Any suggestions will be appreciated.
celeste

We did half dome in early July on a week day a few years back and there were hardly 10 people on the top. We started around 4 am at the curry village and leisurely did the 8 miles. We forgot to take gloves and when I saw the splayed ropes with broken wires poking out in some places, decided to turn back but some one pointed to a crack in the rock near the foot of the cables and there were plenty of used gloves thrown in by the returning folks. I just picked two sturdy (unmatched) ones and did the rope climb. It was a bit windy on the top. Obviously very different from Whitney!!! If you want to be real early, camp at little yosemite camp ground (you need a permit) above Nevada falls and then start at the early light. That well published photo of crowds on the rope way probably was a very rare sight!
Krishna

Longabear:

If you can get up to the Valley in the next two weekends, I would highly recommend it. While a bit colder on this hike, the colors are changing, and generally the number of people on the trail is much lower. It's been a few years (2006) but I did HD on the weekend before they lowered the cables and there were almost no people (relatively). I had no one in front of me on the ascent, and maybe about 20 coming up as I descended. Like Whitney, it would be tough to actually go on this hike and see no one. (Actually the people watching alone can be fairly entertaining, like high heels on the Mist Trail). Other things to watch this time of year are the usual suspects: weather and ice.

Otherwise, I think mid-week times are generally best. Starting early (0500-0600) will get you up the cables before most of the hordes arrive.

Good luck and safe climbing!

-Laura

Celeste, if you're stuck doing it this year on a weekend, probably your best strategy would be to leave very early, 3-4AM if you can, and get up there and be heading back down the cables before say, 11AM. The Mist trail is not wet this time of year, so should be reasonably done in the dark with headlamps (there's a full moon around the 14th, so you should have a healthy moonlight the previous weekend). Don't be foolish enough to go up the cables if you see signs of thunderstorms, but leaving early will give you the best chance of avoiding that.

Plan on most of a gallon of water if it's warm, and you can fill up around Nevada Falls from the river if you're not squeamish, or have a filter. Don't leave Nevada Falls with less than a half gallon each, and your thirst well quenched. Beyond that, don't depend on water this late in the year.

If you go next year (and maybe I shouldn't be posting this where more will get the idea), watch the Yosemite Park website for when the cables go up, and plan to go immediately, the first few days if possible. Leave early at 5-6AM, and again, if you can avoid weekends, do it. Mon-Thu are the best days. Usually the third weekend in May is when you can expect them to be up, conditions permitting. Like anything in Yosemite, you have to make your plans and take what comes along, weatherwise and otherwise.

It has always been an enjoyable hike for us, though this year we scheduled it in mid-May, and all went well...cables were up, no summer crowds yet...but a miserable hot spell came along, and by 9AM it ceased to be fun:

At Satan's staircase (below the cables) we decided that it wasn't worth it, near-90's at 8000 feet, and had a nice lunch and threw snowballs, then had a nice early walk back. If it had been our first time, it would have been a bummer, but it was no big deal. So the point of all that is give it your best shot at planning, and that's all you can do. Try the first weekend, leave very early, and hope for the best (if you have to do a weekend).

A lot of folks scorn the Half Dome hike because of its popularity, but it is a beautiful hike, and the top of Half Dome is a magical place, no two ways about it.

Celeste:

I'm not really going out on a limb here, but the best bets are mid-week early in the day as late in the season as possible.

True, The Cables' metal supports and wooden cross-slats are removed (the Cables themselves stay on Half Dome year-round) each year around Columbus Day, give or take. You should be in fine shape re the crowds if you choose a day sometime in the middle of next week and start from the parking lot at Happy Isles an hour or two before sunrise. Good luck and be safe.

BruinDave

Thanks for the info all. If I can get a friend or two together, I just might try to get up there mid-week before the cables come down. I read someone's post here that you can climb on the outside of the cable?? (gulp) if there are too many people slowing up the line? I'm not really too squimish when it comes to heights, but I don't want to die either.

You can walk "outside the cables", but that only means walking up holding onto just one cable. The great majority of people feel the need to walk the path between the two cables, one hand on each one. Problem with that is that you still have to let go of one cable to let people coming in the opposite direction pass.

I always walk outside the center path. The path between is worn smooth from the hordes, outside is not. On the outside, you go up at your own pace, which is always faster, since you don't have to wait for the slowest person in the line to move.

The "outsiders" go up on the right, and down on the left.

As for the cables being "down" that only means they are not held up by the metal pipe stanchions. Instead, the cables are lying on the granite. Hikers just grab onto a single cable, and walk up, holding that cable. There is a little more strain on the back, because you are lifting maybe up to 20 lbs of cable weight as you climb. But you sure have way more traction doing that. I have gone up the cables while they were down several times.

I have only been once and I walked entirely outside the cables due to crowds being so slow. I even think it might have more traction like the above poster said due to less usage.
Also, if it is dry I would say giving it a try even if the cables arent up. Take rock climbing shoes with you. Just dont fall

Rock climbing shoes are not necessary. Like I said, you actually get more traction since you are "carrying" some of the cable weight.

And "don't fall" should be changed to "don't let go". But that is required any time.

The best advice is to go up without gloves for the best grip, but use them on the way down so you can let the cable slide through your hand as you descend.

I use the outside of the cables as a "passing lane"; it was especially nice coming down from a threatening thunderstorm when a lot of people were going up...made coming down quick and easy. But it does bother some people. Also handy for getting around "frozen" people, but that is more common with summer crowds and everyone and their brother thinking they need to go up Half Dome.

Re going up when the cables are down, it can definitely be done, but you have no backup safety on a very steep and slippery surface, and that's always a dangerous situation to be in. There were two deaths last (off) season from hikers falling while cables were down, at least one was a very seasoned hiker. Of course, many do it with no incident, but that's always the case, and if it starts to rain while you're up there, you can be in a very dangerous situation. Most sections of the cables are steep enough that if you lose your grip and slip, you're going down with no chance of recovery.

I agree about the gloves; it was Steve C's suggestion that made me decide to try (with gloves in pocket, just in case) bare-handed, and I liked it much better. Coming down, I've found leather work gloves to be nice...they give enough friction to let you slide down and control the speed. Cloth doesn't give enough friction, and those rubber-nubbed garden gloves pop the nubs off like popcorn, then you have slippery cloth gloves.

You'll know whether "outside the cables" is suitable for you...you'll either feel perfectly comfortable with the idea or you won't. If not, then stay inside.

Someone forgot to tell the outsiders that :-)

The only time we did the hike to the top of HD was in October, when the cables were down. We started very early, in the dark and finished in the dark. We're not fast but we enjoyed the whole thing immensely. However, getting to the base of the cables and seeing how we needed to go hand-over-hand all the way up was a little unnerving. We watched others for a bit before tackling that last part. We got up there on a beautiful day, light crowds and lots of fall sunshine. Coming down was kinda awkward but we got that done too. We knew in advance the cables were down but didn't think that should stop us from going. We knew enough to take some gloves, that was a huge help for our white-collar hands.

No room for mistakes on the side of that hill while on the cables, but if we can do it so can you. Go for it and enjoy!

We did Half Dome the day after Labor Day. The crowds were relatively thin. Traffic on the cables was not a problem. We started at 4:30 AM and reached the base at 11:00 AM not trying to set any speed records. I bought a pair of goat leather rope gloves at REI for around $25. Bringing quality gloves is much better than taking your chances at the glove pile. I agree with the assessment that one slip will be your last. As R.J. Secor said, the granite is worn annoyingly slick. Worse, if someone above you slips, then a bunch of people could get knocked off. I would not do Half Dome again unless I had a climbing harness and clipped into the cables.

I did HD on Thursday June 5, 2008. We started @ 7:00 am and were on top by noon. It was very crowded on the cables and one lady was frozen in fear. She stopped in her tracks. It took forever to get to the top. I was a little concerned that someone above me could slip and fall. It would have taken out a bunch of folks below. Coming down was also very crowded. Got held up several times while people tried to pass by. It was quite an experience!

Richard is up there now, apparently did the Dome today. Can't wait to hear about how it went!

-L

I am thinking about doing HD next Friday.Have to wait and see how the weekend unfolds.

Hmmm... I might have next Friday off...

I just got back from the Valley but have done HD the last 2 years at this time of year. Crowds were not a problem and the nice thing is Mist Trail is dry because the falls are low.

Most strenuous and nerve racking for me is the area before the start of the cables (Lower Dome). I felt more at risk here than on the cables.

One last note; if you're like most you'll have a concern about coming down (cables and Lower Dome). That feeling is overblown as you'll feel alot more stable coming down. In fact my first time I had such a death-grip on the cables going up that I pulled out one of the poles from the granite. Coming down I was confident to pull off to one side and let those on their way up pass so they wouldn't have to release the cables. I assumed they might have the same death-grip I had.

Enjoy!

BTW, went to El Capitan and because of the light crowds had the tour guide to myself for questions. Did you know that there is an ongoing competition to see who can scale it the fastest? 2 guys set the current mark at 2 hours 35 minutes this past July. I was blown away. Granted they are traveling light but that is sick.

I went to YouTube and there are great videos of these speed climbers.

Hi, The very best gloves to use for the cables on Half Dome are the rubber dipped gardening/work gloves you can buy at Home Depot or Lowes. The rubber palms and fingers stick very well to the smooth cables. They're inexpensive too. $4 to $5 a pair. I always take a few extra to hand out. My girlfriend, Vien and I spent last Thanksgiving on top of Half Dome. We had one of the backpacking Turkey and Stuffing dinners. It was my 40th trip up and one of my most memorable. Oh, I would also suggest you take the John Muir Trail up to Neveda Falls and The Mist Trail down.. The Mist trail can be a Quad (leg) burner with all the steps. Have fun! Mike