Day 76 : Half-dome

4th July 2013
Half-dome to Yosemite Valley
Mileage : 0 + 9
The alarms, or at least my alarm, went off at 3:30 and by 3:45 Pan, Starfox and i were on the trail on our way up to the top of Half-Dome. 45 minutes later the three of us were at the top of the sub-dome looking up at the cable route in the early dawn light. When Yosemite was first explored by white settlers it was thought that it would be one of the last peaks in the range to be climbed due to the steep almost completely smooth slopes of the mountain. Ironically, it is probably now the most popular and accessible mountain to climb in all of US. Even though the cables make the climb pretty straight forward, it is still a 45 degree slope without the cables it would be nigh impossible for the experienced climber let alone a hikers or even a tourist. Nevertheless being the first and only hikers en route to the summit we made good time up the cables.to the top. By 5 am we were at the top of Half-Dome watching the light grow over the whole of Yosemite Valley and the surrounding wilderness. Peter Pan, Starfox and i sat on the monolith that is Half-Dome for 45 minutes before the sun finally appeared between two pinnacles.on Clouds Rests bathing us in sunlight as we took photos on The Visor trying not to get vertigo while sitting with our legs dangling over the sheer drop thousands of feet below. For almost two hours the three of us had Half-Dome to ourselves, incredible really given the date and the popularity of the mountain with the American public. Eventually we made our to the top of the cables about to start the descent when we met the first group of early bird day hikers and tourists up on Half-Dome just not in time for the dawn. It was at that stage that i realized just how dangerous the cable route could be in the rush hour. Just like the Mist Trail that i descended a couple days ago, and that i would redescend later that day, the danger is not  the trail itself but the myriad tourists struggling up and down the cables, i was glad to get up and down with no dramas. By 7am we were back down at our camp.about to go our separate ways. Starfox was off up the JMT that we same down yesterday, and Pan and i were returning to Yosemite Valley via the tourist Mist Trail. The descent proved uneventful, better even than the first time as most tourists were on their way up, so i didn't get stuck behind anyone. Instead i clicked my hiking poles loudly on every step announcing my presence forcing tourists to look up and avoid me as i came barreling down the trail. Soon enough we were back in the valley having met up with HoopDreams and other hikers sipping cold drinks and contemplating our next move. We had intended to hitch our way to see some big trees in the south of the park, but our tiredness, the heat, and the humidity put paid to that. Instead we did as little as possible for a few hours before catching a bus back up to Tuolumne Meadows.
Our bus left from in front of the visitor centre, and we past some time looking through the exhibits. There was a small amount of  information about the natural history of the park at a level  adequate for a primary school child, quite a lot regarding the history of the arrival of the settlers in the 19th century, and a small amount about the  Native Americans who once called the valley their home.
I found the display and information extremely thought provoking. My main thought was how inadequate, if not disingenuous the word 'settler', and all its forms, is when describing the arrival of white men in the 19th century as it does not describe what they did in the slightest. What they actually did was to invade an already populated land, rob the native inhabitants of all the had, evict them, and finally decimate their population to the extent where i wonder if the term 'ethnic cleansing' is adequate to describe what ultimately happened to them. After all these abuses the remainder of the native American population were relocated to areas of little interest to the rest of the population and marginalized there after. As i thought about it thought further, i realised the extent of my contact with native american culture is summarized as : a grinding stone i saw on the second day, a piece of native American land that i passed on the third day but didn't enter s it wasn't on the trail and also as there were signs saying entry was prohibited, two place names, Tehachapi and Yosemite, one  swanky hotel in the middle of the valley called the Ahwahnee, and one grainy photo in the visitor centre of a tribal leader performing a dance. That is all that remains of a people and civilization who probably lived in California for hundreds if not thousands of years.
Before so long the bus arrived to take us back up to Tuolumne Meadows and away from the oppressive heat of the valley and the tourist masses. That night was spent battling mosquito, which oddly there were none of in the valley, which were so bad i put ubky tent, but invariably a few got in, so i battled those before drifting off to sleep after a long and successful day.

The glove pile at the base of the cables

Clouds Rest from Half Dome, the sun came up right between the the two pinnacles to the right of the main peak

Breakfast beer anyone

Beer o'clock

These guys were persistant and had no fear of humans whatsoever

Here comes the sun...

As close as i could get to the edge of The Visor

A long way down

A perfect silhouette of Half-Dome

Descending the cables was much easier going backwards

Most images taken like this have a steady line of people going up and down the cables, we had the peak to ourselves for almost 2 hours