It's 5 months in advance, actually. If you get in line early as you are planning, you stand a chance. We have successfully gotten campsites that way with groups of 8 or 12 - however. The second year we did it, we had someone in line at 4 am, and got nothing but the waiting list. HOWEVER - you come back at 2 pm and check, if you're on the waiting list (or 1, or whenever they tell you to) and yoby AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
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.by AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
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.by AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
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.by AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Went up Saturday, on the way to the Diving Board. By June there ain't gonna be no slippery... no worries.by AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotey_p_w QuoteAlmostThere I have those. They are good for granite gripping - going up steep slab. I wear hiking shoes (Trekstas or Keens) on the Mist Trail without issues. Good lugs on the sole are all you need - just stay away from street shoes and you'll be fine. I heard this kind of shoe would be ideal for going up the Half Dome cables. I was wearing Merrell backpacking boots with Vibramby AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I have those. They are good for granite gripping - going up steep slab. I wear hiking shoes (Trekstas or Keens) on the Mist Trail without issues. Good lugs on the sole are all you need - just stay away from street shoes and you'll be fine.by AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
In other words - to get a reservation, you need to have gotten online well before March 19 - months ago, in fact. Folks will start showing up to check in March 19th on those reservations they made much earlier.by AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I go by what I am told - not what's on the website. The signage in Tuolumne backpacker camp also disagrees with that "non food item in bear boxes" prohibition. Personally, i use the empty pack under my feet out of sight of the bears, or keep it on my back.by AlmostThere - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
The tower on Hoffman is for high band - for YOSAR and park ranger use only. If you are caught using their channels - that's a big if, I have a high band SAR radio that would need reprogramming to do it - you'd get in huge trouble. Even high band does not work all the time. It's easy to lose the tower. Sometimes they have to use planes to bounce signals back to base. The Motorola radios you buby AlmostThere - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
QuoteKen M Wow! You'd expect with spending of 58 million, there'd be a big effort to try to reduce the need. Don't know what you could do about suicides, but hiking???? Boating is easy. Lifejackets fix almost all drownings. Swimming? Above waterfalls? Hmmmm. But hiking? ten essentials, anyone? Boating ain't easy at all. Substance abuse happens - goes with boating and hunting like bby AlmostThere - General Discussion
There is also an active mountain lion den upslope toward Grizzly Peak. That was in a trip report by some climbers I read a couple years back. The cat is probably still there... it's a great place to get away from tourists.by AlmostThere - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
The backpacker parking is six spaces across from the front porch of the lodge restaurant. There is no parking at the backpacker campground. The YARTS stops right in front of the restaurant.by AlmostThere - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
Thanks for confirming that I do in fact meet forum folks on the trail sometimes. I was on the Dance Floor that day with friends.by AlmostThere - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
Quotechicagocwright QuoteAlmostThere Quotechicagocwright Yes someone is eventually probably going to perish attempting Half Dome with the Cables down. But someone is also likely to perish climbing El Capitan, walking at Glacier Point, riding a bike on the bike path, swimming in the pool at Curry, and maybe even eating pizza. But let's not close it down and make it less accessible. Please?by AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotechicagocwright Yes someone is eventually probably going to perish attempting Half Dome with the Cables down. But someone is also likely to perish climbing El Capitan, walking at Glacier Point, riding a bike on the bike path, swimming in the pool at Curry, and maybe even eating pizza. But let's not close it down and make it less accessible. Please? How do you know no one has perished gby AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
There's a growing response to the permitting - people are starting to go up before the cables go up. Met a number of people on the trail who flew in from out of state to do just that. "I tried for a permit last year and couldn't get one, so I came back this year to do it before the cables go up." It's going to be interesting to see if the trend continues, and what the park's responsby AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotechick-on Tioga is open. It can wait til next April. It'll still be there. Just like the big ol rock. I'll be on to other big ol rocks... plenty left to sit on that don't have a solid line of climbers going up one side, and tourists going up the other...by AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
This is a good time to go - the spring was flowing well, things are green. That won't be continuing much longer...by AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Went back yesterday to look for the camera, and to take more pictures if I didn't find it. Turned out to be a better day for pictures than the last. Didn't find the camera (but didn't much expect to). That is a truly difficult hike. While searching for the camera on the way down, we got off track and nearly pitched off the slabs to the south of the route. Fortunately we were just 50-60 feet toby AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
http://blog.sfgate.com/stienstra/2013/05/08/lightning-sparks-high-country-to-life-amazing-yosemite-image/by AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotechick-on Quoteeeek Quotechick-on(Happy Wife, Happy Life) You're not taking her bushwhacking through thorny manzanita this weekend? I wish I'm sure she'll forgive you.by AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quoteryanmj Quoteparklover One bothersome thing is that in his profile he is listed as an advanced hiker and a climber so he should know better. know better? they bother you and don't bother me, that's all there is to it. The most unsightly thing in the park is the flocks of tourists. You don't have to be a conservationist to hate 'em. People put them up where they don't belong in the backcoby AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotechick-on Good for you OK. Same as Volunteer Firefighters. Unpaid. Non-professional. The Yosemite SAR team are real professionals. World Class. Not quite. A lot of the volunteers train for rock and water too, at their own expense. We have lots of folks who do the leg work, a few who do the ice and rock work, and fewer still who will tackle water rescue/recovery... but we got 'em.by AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Uh. Most SAR are volunteers even in the park, except for the rock and water guys that have to train constantly. I'm volunteering in a neighboring county.by AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Yep, shoe of masochists! I gave it up after about 50 miles on granite - not sure what kind of insole my buddy is wearing, but he's a lot younger and still impervious to foot pain, evidently.by AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotequmqats I just hope my first chance encounter with SAR isn't professional. So do I! We're fun folks when we're not in a hurry to find you.by AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Yesterday, coming down the Mist Trail, I had to tell three people they were on the Mist Trail, and one person that he was not on the JMT YET but would be at the top of Nevada Falls. And then he asked where Nevada Falls was - I turned my head 90 degrees to the right and stared at it. Last year, at dusk, at the top of Vernal Falls, I ran into a fellow who had been hiking ahead of me as fast asby AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I'm standing on the Mirror Lake loop trail holding an umbrella. It's raining. A guy with a full backpack, sleeping pad strapped on the back, three beers in each side pocket (bottles) and an open one in hand, wearing shorts and tank top, walks up to me. It's about 50F and falling. "Is this the way to Half Dome?" Thinking about the possibility of lightning, storms, etc. and tryingby AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotehotrod4x5 If you don't know what you are doing , stay on the trail! And how do you know that you don't know what you are doing? Serious question - you know exactly what you are doing out there, no matter what, because your ego says so. Doesn't matter how much experience you really have, since you can easily make the same mistake (such as getting separated from the group) many times witby AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion