Thank you all for the words of wisdom. No, we did not summit but we had fun!
Our hike started at 0630 instead of the 0530 start. Poor proper planning on my part. Did not adhere to my 7 Ps-Prior Proper Planning Prevents P*ss Poor Performance. I did not factor in the mileage and speed to get to the trailhead from just south of Coarsegold. Some drivers do not know what those turnouts are for on the road to the Holy Shrine of Yosemite.
Nobody at the gate. We drive on through.
Parking at Happy Isles not a problem.
Well, we take the "wrong turn at Albuquerque" and went down Happy Isles. What the? Dead end. Turn around and go on THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STREAM!
We reach Vernal Fall at 7:30. What a workout! Didn't break out the shell. Water felt fine. My girlfriend dons hers. Beautiful. We encounter several hikers on the way up. That narrow portion with the handrails kind of gave me the heebie-jeebies but I kept pushing. I said to myself I hope there isn't anyone COMING DOWN!
We reach Nevada Fall at 8:31. Not bad.
We see a rattlesnake off-trail near the 2-mile mark to HD at 9:40. Didn't inquire as to what it was and didn't want to! We left it alone. Looked like it was trying to "warm up."
The "steps" kicked our you-know-whats. Every 10 steps. Stop, rest, breathe, continue. Luckily we had our trekking poles out still. I had considered packing them away before the steps. Good call!
We reach the cables at 11:30. There are hikers up the cable slope like ants on a sidewalk. Where did they come from? No progress. We abandon all hope and turn around. I slip on the way down and suffered a cable burn on the inside of my right arm (nice bruise later). Luckily I held on to that cable for dear life and I had some help from other hikers on the slope.
We head back down. Masses of humanity coming up the "steps." Maybe it was a good thing we didn't make it to the top of HD or we would have never of made it back down.
Looking around at the base of the cables, the views were magnificent. We had never been here before. We were not disappointed. We took a few pictures. There wasn't a cloud in the sky.
Nevada Falls was packed with people. I opted to go down JMT instead of Mist Trail since I figured it would be crammed with people coming up. Good call on my part as we made it to Vernal Falls Bridge and noticed all of the people. We thought we came up here to get away from it all. It's okay, we anticipated the crowds. The view of Nevada Falls from the JMT were spectacular.
We encounter a pack of mules going down JMT. They let us pass at one of the switchbacks. One lady was too close to one of the mules and I told her that she was too close and she could hurt someone including herself if she wasn't careful.
We finish at 4:30 p.m. Ten hours. I figure with all the wrong turns and the walk to and from the parking lot, I give us a 17 mile hike.
My perennial New Year's resolution is "have fun." My girlfriend and I did just that. We will definitely come back probably with TeamBruin in early October since they were successful with their trip last October. Aside from the failed summit attempt, it was a hike worth doing. It was a great workout and a wake up.
We later met up with my girlfriend's brother and his girlfriend at the Pizza Factory in Oakhurst. That pitcher of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale tasted mighty fine with that pizza. We got home, took that nice shower and we were cutting z's soon after. No energy for any "extracurriclar activities."
Lessons learned:
1. NEVER EVER GO ON A 3-DAY WEEKEND AGAIN EVER! My "other" axiom is "once before, never again." I knew it would be packed, but OH MY GOD! Go during the week if possible. Getting out of the park was an adventure in itself. I cheated by using the "special use vehicle" lane. My bad. Well, the Subaru Forester turbo is kind of like an "SUV" so why not! Made a lot of "friends" using the f-word. I just kept on going behind the SUV in front of us. I bet some of those yelling obscenities are posters on the board! The park ranger saw us and started shaking his head. I confessed to him, "We bad, we bad, we bad" and he allowed us to continue on. Guess he could have written us a ticket.
2. Go up JMT and come down MT? The late afternoon shower should feel refreshing, but my concern is the tread portion of the steps, not the risers. One misplace heel step and thump, thump, thump you go with your pack as a personal flotation device. Bring a kayak just in case?
3. Go light, go light, go light. DUH! Highly recommended if the weather reports are favorable. Pack your smallest Camelbak pack (H.A.W.G) with your Osprey Stratos pack. Dump the Stratos and don the HAWG and GO! I think I will nominate my HAWG as the 15th Essential for the HD hike.
4. Climbing shoes? Maybe. My Montrails didn't cut it on the cables. The reason for my slip. I saw people in basketball shoes going up. Others in trailrunning shoes.
5. Snapping in? Maybe. I saw it done by a couple of hikers going OUTSIDE the cables. I did pack my climbing harness but did not use it.
6. We each took 100 oz. of water and ran out about a mile from the end. Next time I "may" replenish with a few ounces of water at the spring. I did pack my SteriPen. I could have used the water fountain at the bridge but I didn't feel like standing in a line. I dumped my Nalgene bottle into the Merced River and used my SteriPen. Guess I will find out in a couple of weeks how well that SteriPen works.
7. I feel I may have "bonked" at Vernal Falls and the Steps. Need to eat more food to boost my energy levels.
8. Leather gloves. I guess they work but I can tell you I held on for dear life after my little episode. I am left-handed and now my right hand and arm now hate me.
Guess I will opt for those rubber nubbies! Early October is now the next attempt. With my girlfriend's brother living close to Coarsegold (yes, we did purchase the $80 annual card), chances are we will go up earlier and try again during a weekday.