Day 76: Yosemite NP- Half Dome - Yosemite Valley

Date: 22.06.2018Miles hiked today: +/- 12 non PCT miles Total Mileage: Mile 942.5 Today is my birthday and it's also the day where I shall climb Half Dome! That's awesome, I couldn't have planned it any better! I always planned to hike Half Dome but as it is pretty hard to get a permit I was not sure if I'm able to hike it at all. And now it worked the first time I applied, that's absolutely incredible! Yosemite is just beautiful and even without being able to climb half dome I would have spend a day or two there. For me it's hard to understand that hikers would just hike on and miss out on yosemite, being that close to it. Alarm is set for 2:15am. We want to be on Half Dome for sunrise, which is around 5:30am. It's only about a 2.6 miles hike so we are worried to be far too early now. But as Giggles couldn't hike with us due to a different permit we agreed to meet him at 3am at the junction. So we have no choice. But that means we can take it easy and are in no hurry which is also nice. We are at the junction around 3:10am. We couldn't find the trail from our camp spot and it took us a while to figure it out in the dark! A group of 4 people just passed us. So we are not the only ones up that early! But that are day hikers and they are muuuch slower than we are. We left our tent and most of the gear back at our camp spot so I only carry some water, all my clothes (could be cold up there!), my sleepingbag and some snacks. This is no weight. It's so good to see that we are faster and it seems much easier for us too than for them! We don't really have this feeling with our full backpack on. Uphills are always hard, we are breathing heavily and are sweating. Joanne is always annoyed as she thinks we should now be running up the hills, without heavily breathing or sweating! But the backpack weight is still a burden and I guess will always be. Without it however we are flying along the trail! The first mile is fine. The second is hard! It's the uphill hike to Quarter Dome and finally Half Dome. The hike to reach Quarter Dome is very steep and basically only consists of big, massive steps build in the rock or just straight uphill walking on the rock. Well I guess it's good for my legs and my bud - buns of steel, buns of steel,... I keep telling myself :) and happy birthday you old bugger, not that easy anymore! It feels ages by the time we actually reach the cables which lead up to Half Dome. I'm a little disappointed because it's only 0.6 miles left to the top and I thought we hike for at least 1 mile along the cables. But only 0.6 miles, that's nothing! I shall soon realize that 0.6 miles is far long enough! Looking at the cables is freaking me out! Hell, that looks steep! I always thought that all these americans totally exaggerate about how steep and crazy it really is but not here! It's more climbing than walking. And it's still pretty dark, in the middle of the night, a little later than 4am. Not sure if that's my luck cause I can't really see that much or if it would be better hiking it in light. So we make our way up. The cables are set up high, a little too high for me and my arms start to burn immediately from holding on that tight. We have just started our climb and I wonder how in earth I shall climb up there, it looks so far away and I don't know how much longer my arms can take it. Every couple of meters there is a wood piece attached on the rock where you can rest. Just when I thought there is no way it can get any steeper it does get steeper. How is that possible?! I shortly had a little panic attack but it passed by fast and eventually I reached the top. I worry now about the down hill climb though. It's still dark, its only 4:40 am and we are the very first ones on top. I get my sleeping bag out, put my warm layers on and enjoy how the sky slowly changes colours until the sun rises. Other hikers finally start to arrive. Joanne packs out a muffin and lights candles for my birthday - thank you so much! What a sweet birthday surprise. Also, out of her groundsheet she prepared a banner with Half Dome and the date written on it using tape! That's really cool! Hauser massages my feet while i have a hot chocolate, how much better can my day be?! That's awesome, I feel like a queen today being spoiled by everyone! Being on top of Half Dome, with these fantastic views is just phenomenal - I could really not have planned this any better! After like 5 hours on top of Half Dome we descend. I'm anxious about the downhill climb but it turns out to be awesome- I love it and have no fear at all! Passing one hiker Giggles and this hikers backpacks scratch each other and the hikers phone falls out. Ohhh nooo, there it goes down the mountain, nothing we can do but watch it falling and breaking. No pictures of Half Dome for that poor hiker, that must suck! We continue our hike and go back to our camp spot to pack everything and hike down to the Yosemite Valley. It's an about 6 or 7 miles downhill hike. We pass all the day hikers hiking up to Half Dome now. So many tourists and most of them I would not have thought of being able ro climbing Half Dome. They seem very unexperienced - I really wonder how they get up there. I also wonder how many people a year die climbing up Half Dome. I know of two death (sadly one PCT hiker) already this year... hiking down further our trail joins the Misty Falls Trail, where you hike two beautiful waterfalls. It's crowded with tourists. I've never seen so many people since being out here hiking and I feel like in a zoo watching humans, a different species than we currently are. We definitely differ from all these tourists with our backpacks and hiking gear and the way we are dressed and smell (stink is better, the last shower is 5 days ago!). But we jumped into a river on our downhill hike, so we should be a little cleaner at least! The path is very steep and we can feel our knees starting to hurt. Also, we can only hike slowly as there is one row of people hiking down and the other row of people hiking up. Impossible to pass. But the hike is very nice. We made it to the valley around 3pm and wait for the bus which is driving around the valley in circles and has different stops to hop on and off - It's also for free. People would turn their faces in a different direction, away from us, looking at us as if we were aliens! I feel so sorry. The bus is crowed and we must stink as hell! Of course the first thing we do is food! While eating I check for a camping to stay the night and we buy some drinks and food for tonight. There is a backpackers campground which still has availability, everything else is fully booked. It's 6 USD for the night and offers toilets, but no running water. So we still have to use the river to get water and another day without a shower. I'm 31 now but still dirty, actually I have never been so dirty and stinky on my birthday as today! :) But it was a fantastic day and it doesn't bother me at all. I'm exhausted from today but as it is my birthday we make a camp fire and mix some drinks. At 11:30 pm I'm done, I can't do any longer. Joanne, Giggles and Peter are still out, while I pass out in my tent! That's how old I am now :)