Day 1 Final. Aug 3. Yosemite Valley to Sunset Creek via Half Dome: 14.8miles

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step" ~ Lao Tzu

My single step took place at Happy Isles, the official beginning or end of the JMT. CW dropped me off at 0330 and I walked into the morning darkness with my headlamp and a setting full moon. The cool air was a great relief from the 99* daytime temps.

To my surprise there was hardly a soul out. Morning light was at about 0530 as I crossed over the bridge at Nevada falls.
Still very few people awake as I walked near all the tent campers after filling about 5 liters of water for the long climb out of Little Yosemite Valley.

I reached the turnoff for Half Dome about 8 and decided to go for it. You could see ant like figures moving across the granite and along the infamous cables. I reached the base of the cables about 0930. It took about 25 minutes to get to the top. If it wasn't so routine, anyone with an ounce of common sense would view this as foolishly dangerous. Grab and pull, lean into the cables and seek refuge in the poles every 12 feet. Crazy.

But I am glad I did it. I met 2 really nice men my age from Yuciapa and we tackled the task together. Up on top I met 2 young Marines, so energetic and polite. The view in every direction is spectacular and vast.

By the time we started down the cables, they were full of all sorts of folks coming up. It was nice to see everyone cooperate and get along despite the obviously nervous atmosphere of this serious endeavor.

The trail to my planned campsite was hot and dusty. Temps were about 85 and it became obvious that many of the creeks are already dry. This campsite is the exact place CW and I camped in Sept '10. I am enjoying a campfire as I type this. It will most likely be my last fire of the trip.

So today was a good day. Half Dome is off the bucket list. I am getting my pack dialed in a little better and my body isn't as sore now as it was earlier. Tomorrow I will continue to climb through some dry stretches and look forward to meeting CW in Tuolumne Meadows.

One word about the photos. My app for posting this blog isn't too fancy when it comes to the order or adding captions. So I am going to just add the photos and hope you can figure them out OK.

Thanks for following
DW