Re: Half Dome Permits

Yet another unsuccessful attempt in the Half Dome cable permit lottery.Very disappointed but I guess we can still try for the daily lottery while we are there.

We are told that it doesn't matter if you enter the lottery the minute it
opens or a minute before it closes - your chances of getting a permit
are equal. Well.......I have entered the pre-season Half Dome permit
lottery 4 times. Each time, I have made my request within an hour of
when the lottery opened, and each time I have been successful in
getting the date that was my first choice. This year, that date is
Sept. 2. Just sayin......

It is likely your choice of September 2 which is a weekday and late in the season impacted your lottery results.

I was trying for mid-June on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. If I don't get lucky and win the permit lottery soon, I will be too old to do Half Dome!

I never bother with Half Dome. Always win that way - get to go all kinds of fantastic places other than Half Dome. The Diving Board is hardly populated. Loads of peaks to walk up. Slept on Alta during the Supermoon.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/15/2014 06:38AM by AlmostThere.

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shaunsmomo
Yet another unsuccessful attempt in the Half Dome cable permit lottery.Very disappointed but I guess we can still try for the daily lottery while we are there.

This is a quote from our trip last year:
http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,67296,67296#msg-67296

What we intended last year was to entering the lottery three days in a row. Three of us each time.
"The plan was to successively enter the daily Half Dome lottery for Thursday, Friday, or Saturday (You know the results of one before you have to enter the next). We would do the Diving Board if all of those failed.
As it turned out, we won the lottery for Friday."
So we didn't have to enter the Saturday lottery.

What you will want to do is to look carefully at the daily success rate in per cent last year for permits given one day before:
http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/images/successrate2013_2.gif
Which is a figure from this web page:
http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/hdpermitsapps.htm

Thanks. Looks like the Tuesday we are there would give us the best chance. I recall last year trying to help some folks from Switzerland enter the daily lottery but we were having a terrible time with internet access in the valley via my mobile phone. Is the daily lottery only online or can you call in to try to get a spot?

In regards to the view from atop Half Dome....

A Yosemite employee once told me that under the right conditions, you could see
the ocean from Half Dome's summit. Well, I have been up there 3 times and can
file this report: You CANNOT see the ocean - the Empire State Building is in
the way.


They won't get me with that one again.

I suggest staying overnight, leaving from Happy Isles, Glacier Point, or Cathedral Lakes. Way better than huffing up the mist trail for a day.....

Unfortunately its another example of the whole daft/unfair Yosemite reservation system where its possible to obtain a cables permit as part of a w/p long before the cable permit window opens. its all in the timing. good luck with your daily application. ps.

Backpackers aren't getting them either. They changed the rules again.

Fortunately, no one needs to be one of thousands on Half Dome to have a good time.

What do you mean they changed the rules again - (I have some friends' kids who are coming from back east in June who wanted to climb HD) I have Wilderness permits for the Sunrise Trailhead to camp around Clouds Rest the first night and climb HD the next day - When I requested the permits back in January, I requested to also have the permits for HD and I was granted the permits - Am I now not going to get the HD permits now when I check in?

(Just an aside, I am totally Half Domed out and wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for our friends' kids really wanting to do this - I agree that there are many other hikes that are far more interesting and rewarding throughout the Sierra)

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SoCalCPA
What do you mean they changed the rules again - (I have some friends' kids who are coming from back east in June who wanted to climb HD) I have Wilderness permits for the Sunrise Trailhead to camp around Clouds Rest the first night and climb HD the next day - When I requested the permits back in January, I requested to also have the permits for HD and I was granted the permits - Am I now not going to get the HD permits now when I check in?

If they granted you HD permits with your Wilderness permit back in January, then you should be receiving your HD permits.

But just to verify and be 100% sure, I would suggest that you phone Yosemite Wilderness Permit Reservation Office at (209) 372-0740 between the hours of 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM (Monday thru Friday) and confirm that your HD permits are attached to your Wilderness permit.

.

Thank you for the advice - I called Yosemite Conservancy and they stated that if on my Permit or Email Reservation Confirmation it gives the Number in the party Hiking Half Dome, then I should be just fine - I just checked my email confirmation and it has the entire number in the party as hiking Half Dome so I shouldn't have a problem

Quote
SoCalCPA
What do you mean they changed the rules again - (I have some friends' kids who are coming from back east in June who wanted to climb HD) I have Wilderness permits for the Sunrise Trailhead to camp around Clouds Rest the first night and climb HD the next day - When I requested the permits back in January, I requested to also have the permits for HD and I was granted the permits - Am I now not going to get the HD permits now when I check in?

(Just an aside, I am totally Half Domed out and wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for our friends' kids really wanting to do this - I agree that there are many other hikes that are far more interesting and rewarding throughout the Sierra)

The "new rule" may be 75 per day and only 50 can be reserved. I thought it was 100 before, and they weren't very clear on how the calculated it. Some assumed that it was just sort of an average they were shooting for because nobody ever reported being denied a HD permit with a wilderness permit with a reasonable side trip to HD. It's not very well explained, but I think the applicable quota day might be the first day. They also say that the HD permit attached to a wilderness permit is valid for the entire trip, but HD must reasonably be doable according to the itinerary.

Quote

http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/hdwildpermits.htm

If Half Dome permits are available and Half Dome is reasonably part of your itinerary, you will receive a reservation that includes them. Half Dome permits received in this way will be valid for all dates your wilderness permit is valid.

If "nobody" reported it they just weren't posting here - I've heard of three occasions where backpackers were denied HD permits on the WP.

My annual go-to for this area is the Diving Board. Harder, more rewarding, had it to ourselves.

We haven't done the Diving Board, but we feel the same way about Cloud's Rest. Higher than Half Dome, fewer people, and much better views.

And while it doesn't have the "epic" quality of Half Dome or Cloud's Rest, Mt, Hoffman has even better views.

---

Check our our website: http://www.backpackthesierra.com/
Or just read a good mystery novel set in the Sierra; https://www.amazon.com/Danger-Falling-Rocks-Paul-Wagner/dp/0984884963

Quote
balzaccom
We haven't done the Diving Board, but we feel the same way about Cloud's Rest. Higher than Half Dome, fewer people, and much better views.

Diving Board is next on my to-do list as well. I day hoofed HDome & Clouds Rest a couple seaons back, (on separate days) and I also preferred Clouds Rest by a mile for the better views; and since we stayed up for sunset, we had it totally to ourselves. Even though traffic was 'Lite' on HDome when I went, there were still a fairly good number of people, which is a far cry away from the comparative solitude atop Clouds Rest. Here are a couple shots from there.





To the OP, I can understand the frustration of not getting the permit, but I got mine mid-season, just by constantly checking the resv. site, and eventually just found one available. But as for personally rewarding Yosemite Hikes, I strongly recommend the Clouds Rest as a better alternative.

Cheers,

Any word on when the cables will be up?