Day 75 : Half-Dome set up

3rd July 2013
Tuolumne Meadows to the base of Half-Dome
Mileage : 0 + 19
Last night, we had taken advantage of the fact that we were in a real campsite and had had a fire, which are banned in the park outside of proper campsites owing to the dry conditions, and a few drinks. We were all up late-ish the next morning and it took a while before i was up and moving. I, along with Pan, intended hike down the JMT back towards the main valley in order to set-up for a sunrise summit of Half-Dome the next morning. Another reason i wanted to do this hike is that it would connect the dots of my continuous hike from Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne Meadows, from where the PCT heads north. Just before we were set to leave, Dishcloth announced the was getting off trail for a couple weeks to sort out some personal stuff had been putting off. We were sad to see him go, but hopefully he'll be back with us before so long. Pan and i covered the 19 miles to the base of Half-Dome in just over 6 hours, arrived just as the light was fading and set up camp while waiting for Starfox. Starfox, who had stayed in the valley the night before was due to join us for our Sunrise attempt, and was also supposed to have permits  for Pan and I. Permits for climbing Half-Dome, perhaps the most popular mountain to climb in all of the USA, are massively oversubscribed, and notoriously difficult for the general public to come by, except for PCT hikers. Starfox simply went into the same wilderness office that i had visited yesterday, asked for 3 permits, and walked out of the office with them 5 minutes later. No hassle whatsoever. It is known, and greatly appreciated by the PCT community, that the park looks favourably on us. Technically, our thru-hikers permits are only valid on the PCT and nowhere else, meaning i had been hiking illegally in the park since i crossed into it following my High Route adventure. However, the park staff, and especially the back country rangers, know about the trail, know how far we've come on human power alone, and are confident that we know what we're doing out in wilderness and generally let us go where we please in the park, and this includes Half-Dome. Starfox had ascended the same Mist Trail that I'd gone down the day before and said that it was just as bad, if not worse, than it had been. Pan and i would be running the gauntlet one more time the next morning, whereas Starfox.would be taking the the JMT back to Tuolumne in the opposite direction to what we had done that day. We prepared stuff for the climb the next morning before getting an early night, in order to see the sunrise we would have to be up.and on the trail by 4am. I am not a morning person, but the early alarm would definitely be worth it tomorrow.

Tourists