![]() To be clear, Sentinel Dome and Taft Point Loop do not start in Yosemite Valley. If you find yourself with a free weekend in north California why not take advantage of our list of the best things to do in our Yosemite National Park last minute itinerary. Never the less, even with only a few weeks to secure accomodation and plan your Yosemite adventure, you can experience a weekend in Yosemite. There are a million things to do in Yosemite and to experience it all would take quite a long time. Aside from scoring accommodation in Yosemite National Park, you need time to plan exactly what to do in Yosemite. Lodges fill up months in advance in the National Park and the surrounding villages. Camping sites are so coveted that reservations are mostly allotted by ballot and are snapped up the moment they become available a YEAR in advance. Really a trip to Yosemite should be planned well in advance. We decided that during our month there we would have to make a weekend trip to see Yosmite National Park. Icebreaker Base Layer: What we always wear in the winter and makes a huge difference for keeping warm.We only found out we were travling to California for work with a few week’s notice. Reusable water bottle: To avoid single-use plastic. Life straw: Something that is useful as you can fill up and drink from the creeks. ![]() Trekking poles: We’ve used Black Diamond for years as they are light, solid and durable. We’ve both used these for over three years and they just keep going. Hiking Boots: Merrell Moab (for men and women). Check on Amazon, REI or direct with Osprey Check on REI or Amazonĭay Pack: Osprey Talon 22 (we’ve owned this for years). Having good gloves with grip can be a gamechanger. Gloves for the cables: This is a must if you want to go to the very top. Sunscreen: The hike up Half Dome has very little shade and the sun is brutal most of the year! Check for sunscreen on Amazon or REI Here’s what we pack and have relied upon for years: Having the right gear can make a huge difference when hiking Half Dome. Read more: The Lembert Dome hike - the best trail in the Tuolomne Meadows From all our research it seems that in the past most people didn’t use harnesses and they were even frowned upon but the recent death had clearly had a big impact. We noticed on the day we hiked (two weeks after the terrible incident of a woman falling to her death), over half the people hiking had a harness and they all said they would never attempt it without one. Make sure you know how to use it as someone very sadly died recently on the cables at Half Dome, despite having a harness.īe aware that a harness is also a safety back up and won’t help you climb this steep section. You need strength in your arms and legs to get to the top. If you intend on using a harness, make sure you have two clips with one always clipped onto the cable. It will probably help, but it doesn’t have the security of a Via Ferrata. ![]() Others think that the security of having it made all the difference to their hike.Ī harness could make you feel more secure, but just be aware that the cables were never designed as a Via Ferrata - the poles can come out the ground as they were designed as a handrail cable to haul yourself up on. Some people think it slows everyone down, and you can feel pressure from the queues forming behind you. There’s a lot of debate about harnesses on the Half Dome hike and it is really down to you as to whether you would feel better with one of not. Secure all your stuff in a zipped bag before ascending!įor us the crowds were another factor that put us off, most people are very considerate but there is always one or two who push and shove their way past you for going too slow.ĩ - A harness will help, but won’t guarantee your safety or that you’ll make it We also saw lots of people dropping things which was genuinely quite scary to see as water bottles dropping from a great height could knock you out. This means that if you turn up when it’s busy, you’ll spend some time waiting on the side of the cliff, standing on the wooden planks whilst people move along. By this time progress on the cables is very slow as everyone goes up and down the same way. There are bottlenecks caused by sections where you have to climb up or down overhangs which slow people down, causing queues to back up. The cables can get very congested as the majority of people start their hike at sunrise and arrive at 10-11am. You remember that photo of the queues at the summit of Everest (you can click here to see it if you don’t remember)? Well getting to the summit of Half Dome can be quite like that!
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