Yosemite is one of my favorite National Parks and I have visited it often; however, this visit was for the specific purpose of climbing Half Dome - via the back side!
We arrived in the Park after lunch, but still had time to visit Yosemite and Bridalveil Falls and hike around the area. Toward evening I saw some bears down along the Merced River, so I walked out in the meadow to take some pictures - only to have one of the bears charge me! Fortunately, it was a "false charge" and the bear stopped after about 20 feet, but by then I was long-gone.
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| Bridalveil Falls with Half Dome in background |
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| Yosemite Falls |
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| Bridalveil Falls |
The next morning we hiked up Mist Trail past Vernal and Nevada Falls and then located the trail that leads up the back side of Half Dome.
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| Vernal Falls |
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| Nevada Falls |
We were part way to the base of Half Dome when we decided to stop for lunch. I found a comfortable rock just off the trail and started to eat my PB&J sandwich when I heard someone coming up the trail. I turned, only to see a California Brown Bear walking up the trail directly toward me. After my previous encounter with the bears in the meadow the night before, I could envision this bear having me for lunch, so I decided that I had better take a picture to document my demise. However, fortunately, the bear ignored me and kept walking up the trail apparently looking for a better lunch.
When we arrived at the base of Half Dome, we were astonished to see the line of people trying to get up the cables that are embedded in the slick granite incline. The people looked like a line of small ants going up the mountain! (There are two parallel cables about 36 inches apart and 40 inches high for your hands, with boards attached to the granite surface so that your feet do not slip backwards.) After getting in line and slowly inching our way up the cables, I realized what was taking so long - people were getting part way up the incline and then panicking and were afraid to go up or down. Some people were trying to help the frightened people down, while other people were getting on the outside of the cables and trying to negotiate their way past the people that were stranded part way up. This created a really dangerous situation!
After about an hour of treacherous climbing on the cables, we finally reached the top of Half Dome. Due to the large crowd at the top, we just snapped a few pictures and then headed back down. On the way down we positioned ourselves on the outside of the cables and passed all of the crowds that were stranded part way up the incline. (Once you are on the outside of the cables, you only have one cable for both hands and no boards for your feet - Exciting!)
On the way home we decided to cross the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range using the Tioga Pass Road that leads to Lee Vining. This is probably one of the most beautiful roads in America and should be on everyone's bucket list. Fortunately, the road was open and we made it home in good time! (The road is close frequently due to snow and rock slides.)
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| Tioga Pass Ranger Station - Elevation 9,945 feet. |
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| Tioga Pass Road leading to Lee Vining |
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