There is a great article in the San Francisco Chronicle this weekend entitled, "DANGER ON THE DOME". It's subtitled, "Overcrowding: Hikers swarming Yosemite's Half Dome create a bottleneck at the treacherously steep granite climb to the summit". I've never climbed Half Dome, and hadn't realized that a climb to the top could easily be accomplished as a day hike. I guess I'm in the minority of Yosemite travelers that didn't know this, because have a look at the photos in the article! Everyone is climbing that thing. In fact, the article says waiting to ascend may take 45 minutes or more. I don't think I'd feel too comfortable in that position, stuck on a 45 degree slope hoping the guy in front of you doesn't fall backwards. I mean, look at that, people are stacked on top of each other climbing those Park Service provided cables up the mountain.
The article gives focus to the dangers present hiking this challenging route. Among the dangers cited, people are arriving quite unprepared. Folks don't bring enough water, and their hiking gear is sub-par (did you catch the photo of the person climbing the mountain in sandals?). As you may recall, three people have died on Half Dome in just the last year, and according to the article, a fourth would have been a goner if his clothes hadn't caught on the cable before he slipped over the edge.
The article ends with some interesting facts regarding deaths in the park. While Half Dome has received some attention lately, people are more likely to die in water related accidents -- like falling from the top of a waterfall. Gruesome.
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i have climbed up Half Dome and I am only 11 and also two of my other friends did it with me. We were told that if haven't done it before you should so we did. And the 3 of us were beginners and hiked 70 miles in 9 days and at the end of the trip we had the option to go up Half Dome and we did. It was that scary and it wasn't that hard but the view is worth it. The only kind of creepy part was when you go down the cables. But if you have the option to go up Half Dome and you haven't then you should and don't forget a camera.
The exclamation in the article about there having been climbers who are actually hiking in sandals is pretty ridiculous. Obviously the ascent to the top shouldn't be made in flip-flops or things like that. But after clicking on the link to see the hiker in sandals I saw that he was climbing in Chacos. A shoe that is specifically designed to hiking with the traction on the tread, toe and back straps, these sandals are sometimes better than shoes.
I climbed Half Dome for the first time on Aug 5, 2008. I'm 63 years old but in good shape and have done this sort of thing before.
This is not a silly dangerous undertaking. The present Park Service policy should remain, though I suspect that they have decided to limit access to the cables. This is because they were taking a survey there when I came down, and the questions were clearly slanted to get the result that "the overcrowding is too dangerous".
There are several things people have not mentioned. First, it is perfectly possible to get up and down the cable route without aid of actually holding on to the cables. I in fact got down without a "death grip" on them, just sliding along them prepared to grip hard if my feet slipped: but in fact they did not and I got down on foot friction alone. This was in well-worn Vibram sole hiking boots. I was not able to get up on foot friction alone, and had to pull up with my hands. But ... I saw one guy with "approach" shoes (i.e. shoes intermediate in stickiness between ordinary Vibram and the really sticky climbing shoes) get up without grasping the cables, just sliding his hands along without grabbing. With real climbing shoes an experienced free climber would do it free. This would be seriously dangerous, but that's their idea of fun.
It is a long day hike. At about 16 miles it is still not enough that I felt pooped when I got down (I left at 4:15 in the morning,
reached the top at 9:15, left the top at 10:15, spent two hours on Sub Dome watching the show (which never had a wait
to go up or down the cables) , and made it back to Curry Village at 5 pm in time for a shower and a nice dinner at the Ahwahnee (yes, you can get reservations the day you want to eat there, even at 5 pm.) By 11AM there were lots of people coming up who had started at a "prim and proper hour" from Happy Isles and seemed to me to be not terribly pooped as they started up the cables. At 1 PM on the way down I met the stragglers coming up, and these were those who, perhaps, had bit off a bit too much, with many questions to me "is the rest of they way up harder than THIS???". (Yes, folks, it is!)
Half Dome, and its cables, is a great piece of historic Americana. It's a leftover from a free America that was not overly concerned
with being a nanny state. It is an accomplishmet of sorts to get to the top. Its a place where the nanny state should overlook. Nobody is forcing anybody to do it (well, perhaps a few are trying to shame friends or children into doing it against their will, but that must be rare.)
Just do it, come back, and spend $100 at the Ahwahnee dining room celebrating!
This article makes me happy and sad. I am happy to see so many people enjoyng such as great climb but sad that one of my fav spots is so well known. I like to climb areas that are off the beaten path and this one is not not one of them.
Why is this even allowed? I understand allowing a certain amount of people to hike up at one time, but allowing a whole trail to march up at the same time? Seems irresponsible to me...
I did the hike when I was 17 and 21. One of the most exhilirating things in my life. Whoever suggested shutting half dome down because it is risky is an idiot! Take all the risk out of life and what you are left wirth is oatmeal. Tasteless, lifeless, boring, predictable, utterly mind sucking..but safe. Anyone who suggests this kind of thing should stay home in their nice cozy little houses and leave the adventures to the adventurerous.
(for Christ's sake, if the top of Half Dome isn't wilderness, where is??)
As a former Yosemite Park Ranger, trust me Half Dome is NOT wilderness, even if it has that offical designation. It's sickening to see the crowds of people lining up to make the cable climb, and even worse to see all the trash and refuse that goes along with that amount of people.
I went up with my wife 4 years ago. We got to the cables saw the lines and turned and went down the trail. I wasn't going to take the risk especially after watching morons passing people by going way outside the cables. This year I am going back. We are going to glacier point hiking way around to washburn lake and at last staying just up past the half dome trail. We'll get up early 5 or so and take the 1-2 mile hike up before the morons are even at the falls. I suggest that to all of my friends who are going up.