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lilagray
Thank you for the response wherever! Are the switchbacks similar in difficulty to heading up yosemite falls? Do you recommend going in the opposite direction?
Thanks!
If you stay on the trails, the difficulty is the same in either direction. The choice of direction, in my opinion, depends on the temperature and your photographic aspirations. Snow Creek is in the sun in the morning, and gets shade earlier in the afternoon. In hot weather, I'd go up the falls and down Snow Creek. Also, Half Dome is poorly lit for photography in the morning, which is a reason to hit the falls trail first.
If it is really cold, go up Snow Creek and down the falls trail. You will get more sunshine on the trail itself that way.
You didn't mention what time of year we are talking about. If it's in the next month or two, be mentally prepared to just turn around and go back the way you came if you get into sheets of refrozen ice crust on top of snow, or if the weather turns bad. Of course, if you carry crampons, and that sort of stuff, it's another matter. There are some threads about that on this forum.
But you should be OK just hiking for a few weeks, since the ground isn't frozen. The prediction for this Monday is for snowfall above 5500 feet. That should melt fairly quickly, if there isn't another storm just around the corner. The main thing this time of year is keep your plans flexible. There are lots of fun things to do without completing the loop that you planned.