We were up before the sun today with a long hike in front of us. We made sure all our smellables were packed away in the bear locker. Our packs were light since we were carrying a minimum of food and gear. We planned to either catch the early afternoon shuttle back from the valley or stay there for the night and hitch back tomorrow. The trail was level at first as it paralleled the stretch of civilization around Tuolumne, then it turned to the southwest and started climbing. We had a few steep stretches as we climbed out of the Tuolumne valley and over Cathedral Pass. From there it was nearly all downhill, all the way into Yosemite Valley (except for our side trip to Half Dome).
We passed through rolling green meadows surrounded by high, pale granite peaks. In many places two or three trail treads were worn into the soft soil – an example of what high use will do to an environment. We felt lucky that the vast majority of the PCT was less traveled than this. As we started our long descent, we also felt lucky to be hiking down into the valley instead of up out of it. The JMT must be a brutal trail for the first few days before hikers get their legs in shape and their lungs acclimated. We dropped down a series of tight switchbacks, passing laboring hikers going the other way. Above us the weather was unsettled for the second afternoon in a row and we heard thunder for a while. It sprinkled enough for us to put our ponchos over our packs.
At this point it was late enough in the afternoon that we needed to make a decision: skip Half Dome and catch the afternoon shuttle back to Tuolumne? Or do the dome, finish our hike down in leisure, and stay the night? The choice was obvious, and we started searching for cell reception to call the valley for a place to stay. Lack of 3G complicated things. Such a first-world problem, to not have cellular internet service 6 miles out from the main hub of a national park…in a deep river gorge. We did things the “old-fashioned” way – by calling my mother and asking her to google the number for us. After a surprising amount of effort we hit upon the right place to call and soon had a tent cabin waiting for us in Curry Village.
Our place and plans secure for tonight, we booked up the trail towards Half Dome. Or, at least we booked it until the trail turned steep. We rose gradually out of the trees. More and more rough granite appeared under our feet as we approached the subdome. Soon we reached the bottom of the staircase – tiny, winding steps cut into the granite. Thank goodness for hiking poles. We slowly worked our way up. As we got up further the path became less distinct and more of a scramble from cairn to cairn. And then we were on top, facing the towering bulk of Half Dome. A row of twin cables stretched up the side of the rock.
We took a few minutes to admire the incredible scenery around us – all the granite domes, the ridge of Clouds Rest to the northeast, and the deep valley to our north. We could see some trail switchbacking up the canyon wall, cutting a path into the green foliage. We had the place to ourselves – pretty unusual for a summer day, but the bad weather earlier had caused the park to close the dome and probably discouraged a lot of permit holders. The ranger usually stationed there had left for parts unknown, so no one was around to check our permit either.
As we admired the scenery someone started coming down the cables from the top. It was nerve-wracking to watch as be turned around and started down backwards. When he reached the bottom we chatted for a bit and found out he had come up the opposite side via a climbing route. As though the cables weren’t frightening enough. We came up to the start of the climb, where the lines were bolted into the rock, and discovered a cache of grippy work gloves. We each took a pair and started up. I didn’t get very far -maybe 15 yards – before I started to feel uncomfortable. Heights are not my cup of tea. The granite under my feet felt slick from the thousands of feet that walked over it every year and the wind was picking up. I might have been able to make it if I had the discipline to not look up OR down, but I didn’t have that kind of restraint.
We came back down, not too disappointed, and picked our way down the tiny stairs back into the trees. Soon we were back at the junction with the JMT and on our way down again. We passed the Little Yosemite Valley backpacker camp, with its nifty solar composting toilet that looked like a two-story outhouse. We crossed over the incredible Nevada Falls and started down steep switchbacks that gave us an even better side view – the cascade framed by the granite bulk of Half Dome. Down, down, down, on hard granite trail that was slick with dust and easy to slip on.
Finally we reached the bottom and started north along the Merced River. Another mile brought us to the shuttle bus, which brought us to Curry Village and the masses of people there. It was quite a shock to be thrown into such a crowd. We grabbed a much-needed bite to eat and headed to our tent cabin, exhausted from such a long day.
– Posted from the PCT
Location:Pct mile 942