Normally we don’t spend a vacation day going our separate ways, but we decided that we had different priorities for Monday. Scott really wanted to climb Half Dome while we were here, and I really wanted to read my bookclub book. (I’m not fooling anyone, I know I can’t even hike the trail to Half Dome, let alone climb the dome).
Scott headed out about 3:30am from our hotel. He was nice enough to set off the car alarm, twice!, prior to leaving, so everyone knew he was leaving. He arrived at the parking lot about 5:00am and had to hike about a mile just to meet up with the trailhead. The Valley Shuttle stops at the trailhead, but it doesn’t start running until later in the morning.
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| This is Half Dome taking the day before Scott's hike. The trail starts at the bottom right and winds through the valley, ending up on the back side of the dome where the cable system is. |
Once he got to the trailhead, the hike to Half Dome is just over 8 miles one way. The last 700 feet of the hike is straight up a cable system that was put in place in the 1920’s. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday you have to have a permit to hike the cable system because it gets so busy. The permits are $5 and are sold out six months in advance. Because Scott hiked on Monday, he didn’t need a permit.
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| Getting ready to climb the cable system |
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| The view from the top! |
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| Proof that Scott was there. |
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| After climbing the cable system, Scott was feeling pretty daring! |
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| Made it back down the cable system! |
People die every year on the cable system. Last year, one guy died because he got impatient and went outside the system, and another guy died from someone above falling and taking him out on the way down. It wasn’t busy when Scott was going up, but coming down it was busier so he used a rope system to tie onto the handles. People are both going up and down on the same system and it gets pretty scary in some places.
He got back to the hotel about 5:30pm, and was nice enough to bring pizza from the Village. It was such a nice change from the dining room food!
Me, I spent the day doing exactly what I wanted to. I slept in, read my book, walked around and took pictures, read my book, visited the pioneer/history museum, and read my book. It was quiet at the hotel in the afternoon and the weather was perfect. It was a great way to spend the last day here.
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| The old stagecoach ticket office in the pioneer museum |
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| The last of the summer flowers at the hotel |
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| Enjoying a good book! |
Tomorrow is laundry, grocery shopping, and driving across the park to the East side. We can’t wait to see what is over there!
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