Hike Half Dome

John Muir, Half Dome Trails

To the non-climber of yesteryear, and even today, Half Dome seems impossible to ascend.

In his 1870 Yosemite Guide-Book, California’s leading geologist Josiah Whitney pronounced Half Dome “perfectly inaccessible” and described it as “the only one of all the prominent points about the Yosemite which never has been and never will be trodden by the human foot.”

First to surmount Half Dome was George Anderson who, in 1875, doggedly drilled his way to the top--securing eyebolts every five feet or so, standing on the last bolt while drilling the next. John Muir followed fast on the heels--and eyebolts--of his fellow Scot.

Today, Yosemite’s icon summit is scaled by rock climbers using several different routes. And Half Dome can be conquered by the experienced hiker, too.

The very long day hike begins in Happy Isles where the John Muir Trail begins. Past Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls you climb, then on through Little Yosemite Valley.

The final assault on the summit requires climbing at an almost 45-degree angle up slick granite with the help of twin cables that hikers grip to haul themselves to the top.

Depending on weather conditions, the park service installs the cables in mid-May and removes them in early October. Bring gloves to wear for the cable part of the climb.

The acrophobic and out-of-shape should hike elsewhere. Even the most experienced hikers should remember that mid-afternoon summer thunderstorms in Yosemite are common. The last place you want to be in an electric storm is atop Half Dome, forced to make a hurried descent over slippery rock while holding on to wet metal cables. Get an early start on this trail. You want to top Half Dome and begin your descent by early afternoon--just in case a thunderstorm blows into the valley.

Up top, there’s a lot of top--a very broad summit indeed. From the 8,842-foot dome you get 360-degree vistas: up and down Yosemite Valley, Clouds Rest and Cathedral Peak, the jagged Sierra crest.

The hike: Beginning at the beginning (more often the end, actually) of the Happy Isles-to-Mt. Whitney John Muir Trail, hike along the Merced River. You soon cross the river on a wide bridge and ascend on a paved pathway.

One mile along, cross the river again below Vernal Falls and reach a fork. Two trails climb to Nevada Falls. Mist Trail shaves almost a mile from the distance, but is a strenuous, stair-stepping route. The right fork--the JMT--makes a more moderate ascent via well-engineered switchbacks.

The Muir and Mist trails reunite 2.7 miles from Happy Isles and you continue climbing above and parallel to the Merced River, and traveling into Little Yosemite Valley. At the 4.5-mile mark, the trail divides again (the right fork leads to a campsite), then reunites again in 0.25 mile.

A bit more than 6 miles out, bid adieu to the JMT and bear left on Half Dome Trail, climbing wooded slopes toward the great rock. About 0.75-mile from the top, you begin the final ascent, first climbing granite steps, then topping a minor dome before descending briefly to a saddle, where you find the cables. Get a grip on the cables (and yourself) and climb to the top.

Make your way carefully over to the dome’s very highest point, located at the north end. Enjoy the view, but stay away from the cliff edge.

Yosemite Hiking Trails >>  
Hetch Hetchy | Mariposa Grove | Wawona Meadow | Glacier Point 4 Mile Trail
Glacier Point to Yosemite Valley | Half Dome Trail | Yosemite Falls | Vernal & Nevada Falls
May Lake | Cathedral Lakes | Clouds Rest | Gaylor Lakes | Lembert Dome | Lukens Lake
Merced Grove | Mirror Lake | Mono Pass | Mount Dana | North Dome | Taft Point
Ten Lakes | Tenaya Lake | Tuolumne Falls | Tuolumne Grove | Tuolumne Meadow