When you are on your Half Dome hike and are on the switchbacks above Little Yosemtie Valley, keep glancing to your left. HD will become visible through an opening in the trees with a perspective you may not have seen before.
Half Dome from afar
As you can see, the cables are in view if you have binoculars or a good zoom lens. If you pause and survey the rock, hikers will soon become apparent. What I notice is the mark of the cable route clearly shown as a light path. But even more surprising is the gradient sloping west or to the left.
In person, the cables appear to be level. If you’ve been on cables and have seen water bottles fall they seem to go to the western, or left side. This is clear from the photo. The few people who have fallen off the cables tend to go down that side. I’ve not heard of anyone actually falling completely off the rock here. There is a ledge that tends to accumulate debris.
In September each year, the Climbing Association hosts a park clean-up and a wide variety of material is found near this base.
Unrelated thought worth quoting: “Slip slidin’ away Slip slidin’ away You know the nearer your destination The more you’re slip slidin’ away.” – Paul Simon
MrHalfDome™ – Rick Deutsch – www.HikeHalfDome.com
One Best Hike: Yosemite’s Half Dome
Comment on Facebook