High Sierra Topix

My neighbor is a member of a dinner club. Several of the members decided they wanted to climb Half Dome. Tim played the lottery, won the 6 permits and reserved a camp in Upper Pines only to have all of the “wanna climbs” bail out on him.

So Tim went to 5 people he knew had back country experience and could endure the climb and invited them to join him on a day hike to the top.

We got an early start. The weather was perfect. The park officials really need to do something about these over grown fury rats.
We ran into a lot of these vermin.

The mist wasn’t too bad below Vernal falls.
This is in comparison to last year in late June when walking Mist Trail was like taking an extended freezing cold shower.
If you look carefully, you can see the ant trail of people climbing to the summit.
Here is a closer look at the traffic jam.
We eventually made the summit and I joined Tim for the obligatory “diving board” photo.
And the group photo at the top
If you can’t tell, I am the good looking one in this picture.

Again, there was a traffic jam on the way down the cables.
As always there were some real Yahoos up there.
We stopped to do a little fishing in the Merced.
After thinking about how we were all replacements we decided to call ourselves the “B” Team. If you ever want to summit Half Dome don’t plan to go with a bunch of “wanna climbs”. Be sure to hand pick the best and most capable of your friends.

We all had a great time and had the chance to meet a bunch of really great guys.

-Russ

Looks like a great trip Russ. Yeah, I've had my share of "wanna go's". It's amazing how adventurous many people are until they need to commit their time and money, then suddenly, something came up, can't make it.

I spent much of my younger years doing things and going places by myself due to "wanna go" friends. I quickly learned to plan my adventures with the idea that it will probably be a solo trip.

Glad you had a good time. Nice to see a trip to that dome that does not involve trauma.

That is the visor. The diving board is not on the dome.

Hi VC,

Wow, look at all the traffic. Cool TR, though thinking you guys "climbed"
HD via the Snake Dike route located on the southern side, which is really fun, and
a lot less people!