On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
On the Road: Week of October 26 (5 am)
Albatrossity
Steve from Mendocino
?BillinGlendaleCA
Captain C
Jim AppletonWe are going to do something special with On The Road After Dark for a couple of weeks in the run-up to the election and in the days that follow after November 3.
Election Respite Edition
I invited about 15 people to submit photos that wouldn’t necessarily be from a single place or time, but would simply be collections of photos that are especially beautiful, happy, soothing, or calming.
The folks who were interested rose to the occasion and submitted some amazing collections, which I will be posting each night without introduction. I am wound up, too, and I want to get to experience them each night, as everyone else does!
On the Road After Dark: Week of October 26 (10pm)
Albatrossity – Election Respite, Staying Chill Edition
lashonharangue – Election Respite, Sights Near and Far Edition
Dagaetch – Election Respite, World Edition
SkyBluePink – Election Respite, The Magic of Trees Edition
cope – Election Respite, Beautiful, Soothing or Calm EditionIf you are reading along and think you might want to be part of this by submitting your own collections, contact me by email or let me know in the comments.
…..
And now, back to ?BillinGlendaleCA.
Holy crap, I am so not brave enough to climb that rock. Bill, is that really you in the 4th photo?
Maybe we should have a series where everyone (who wants to) sends a photo of themselves when they were young and we put up 5 at a time, along with a list of 5 nyms, and we try to guess who is who. ~WaterGirl
?BillinGlendaleCA
When I graduated from High School, my father gave me a choice; I could either go to Grad Night at Disneyland or I could go on a backpacking trip to Yosemite with our church youth group. I chose the later. We started out hiking from Glacier Point to our base camp in Little Yosemite Valley on the Merced River above Nevada Falls. The hike to Half Dome was pretty much an all day affair, beginning with a hike on a portion of the John Muir trail.
The first part of the trail is heavily forested until you get close to Sub Dome, a small rock structure northeast of Half Dome. One on Sub Dome you encounter the Half Dome Cables which assist in the final climb to the top of Half Dome. The view at the top of Half Dome is really incredible and there is little to obstruct the view. You get a fine view of Yosemite Valley to the west and the high Sierra to the north, east and south. These shots were originally shot on Kodachrome with an Olympus OM-1, I’ve modified the shots quite a bit to bring out some more color and correct some issues with the original shots(also the slides are 42 years old).
Half Dome from Glacier Point. I’ve modified this photo quite a bit, I replaced the sky and warmed it up quite a bit(it was originally overcast).
As we moved up the trail, the trees started to thin out revealing Sub Dome with Half Dome behind it.
This is the final portion of the hike to the top of Half Dome. This is the back of the rock that you usually don’t see in most pictures. Ther is a set of cables on each side of the trail with wooden blocks every few feet.
Your intrepid photographer has reached the summit of Half Dome, Mount Star King can be seen at the upper right.
This is the view from the summit of Half Dome looking east. Mt. Clark is at the center of the photo with Gray Peak to its right. Our campsite in the Little Yosemite Valley is at the bottom of the frame.
The view of Yosemite Valley from the summit of Half Dome. El Capitan is visible just to the right of center.
Omnes Omnibus
Photo 4: Dude, where is the ink?
eclare
That guy behind you in photo #4 looks to be really close to the edge!
Omnes Omnibus
Also, a pity about the mountains… They get in the way of the view.
randy khan
Those views are breathtaking.
frosty
They call that set of cables going up Half Dome a trail? Not touching that in my lifetime! Morro Rock in Sequoia was scary enough.
?BillinGlendaleCA
WG@OP: That would be me, freshly graduated from Thousand Oaks High and eagerly waiting to attend UCLA in late September.
@Omnes Omnibus: Ink, I wasn’t in the Navy.
@eclare: That would be Rev. Born making the final portion of the climb after the cables.
@Omnes Omnibus: Yeah, otherwise you’d be able to see Mammoth. Silly mountains.
Gvg
I’ve been there! Yosemite not the top of half dome….I think it was 41 years ago, I was 16. Dad wanted to try hang gliding off the half dome, we talked him out of it or he couldn’t figure out how to find equipment for rent on time. No, he never hang glided that I know about but he was kind of a daredevil and managed quite a few accidents before I was born. I on the other hand was never attracted to risk at all. He watches a lot of risk sports on YouTube these days which is how I know about surfing off Portugal and 60 foot waves”…
I loved the redwoods. I hope to get back someday.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@randy khan: It’s really incredible. Though last month, a young woman I follow on Instagram posted a pic after she climbed it…looked more like Mars with all the smoke.
@frosty: The other path up is worse.
Oh, one other thing, going up is the easy part.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Gvg: I’ve only been to Yosemite that one time, I’m hoping to return later this year(got the pass and all).
Omnes Omnibus
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I was only there once as well. I was five. My understanding is that the overcrowding now is horrific and you can no longer just camp and hang out with climbers like my parents did in ’69.
Kent
@Omnes Omnibus:
Yosemite Valley is indeed overcrowded. But it’s a massive park. There are plenty of other relatively empty corners to explore. If you get more than a couple of miles from the trailhead you often have the place to yourself.
Wag
Beautiful photos. The Cable route is in the bucket list. You need reservations these days.
WaterGirl
Bill, I was happy to see that your next post is about two of my favorite people!
Loosely speaking, on the people part.
BigJimSlade
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I think I climbed Half Dome (the first time) in 1981 – great memories! My wife and I also climbed it last year :-)
Going down, did you go forwards or backwards? I’ve only gone forwards. It’s intense. Some of the rock has been worn a bit smoother than I would like.
Anne
I’m floored by that shot of the cables. A gorgeous day in mid-June with only a handful of people on the cables? Not something you see anymore. It’s been more and more crowded every time I’ve been up there. But it’s still one of my all-time favorite hikes.
For folks who shudder at the cables but still want views from a summit, Clouds Rest to the north is a shorter hike, less vertigo-inducing, with views that rival those from Half Dome. And you get a neat view of Half Dome while you’re at it.
Omnes Omnibus
Like Australian rappelling?
lashonharangue
@Anne
Could never do the cables up Half Dome. However, the Clouds Rest trail was vertigo inducing for me. Got up to a section that was about as wide as a suburban sidewalk with a drop off on both sides that went down a long way. No cables or railings – freaked me out.
ThresherK
Anyone else getting a Paramount logo vibe for the Half Dome from Glacier Point photo?
Anne
@lashonharangue: Totally fair, that last sidewalk section is exposed! And that’s a helpful clarification: Clouds Rest is still vertigo-inducing, just… less so. Or maybe differently so.
lashonharangue
I think of that section of trail whenever I come across a reference to Reb Nachman and narrow bridge.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Omnes Omnibus: Yosemite Valley is really crowded, especially in the summer, the backcountry less so. Certain routes are a bit crowded like the hike to Half Dome, you need reservations.
@Kent:
@Wag: Yup. I don’t know if we needed reservations back then, but it wasn’t too crowded when we got to the cables.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@WaterGirl: People, heh. I thought it’d be a good post for my last one pre-election.
@BigJimSlade: I know I tried both, but I don’t remember what I settled on(it was 42 years ago).
@Anne: I’ve heard Clouds Rest is nice. I think even the hike to Little Yosemite Valley would be a stretch now.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Omnes Omnibus:Look, you keep your kink from downunder to your self.
@lashonharangue: OK, Clouds Rest is off the list.
@ThresherK: Well, if you cut the Paramount mountain in half
We actually do have half a volcano here in SoCal, the other half is Pinnacles National Park about 200 miles north.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Anne: OK, Clouds Rest is definitely off the list.
@lashonharangue: The cables?
BigJimSlade
@Omnes Omnibus: I don’t know you naughty boy, I’ve never Australian rappelled: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/257831147392258603/
Ok, just googled it – dang, yeah, but not STRAIGHT down!
BigJimSlade
@Omnes Omnibus: I was there one spring break in, oh, 1988? It was a rainy April, so we nearly had the place to ourselves (me and a few college friends).
We camped near El Cap and one night a real grizzly climber (must’ve been over 30, lol) talked to us about climbing. We had tried our luck on little 5 foot cracks down at the bottom. He told the story of a woman who said, “that must be fun!” He said, it’s many things, but you’re scraping your knuckles raw sticking your hands into cracks to support your body weight, and could hurt yourself or die in many ways — ‘fun’ is not one of the things it is.
hotshoe
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Now that Pinnacles has grown up to be a National Park, it’s the closest national park to where I live. It’s the 5th-smallest national park, so no surprise I’ve hiked every mile of trail there (although, not all in one day!) Revisited the High Peaks trail this summer and was surprised how terrified I was by the steps cut into the rocks in some steep sections — I didn’t remember they were that bad — some steps are only wide enough for one heel or toehold at a time, much worse than climbing a ladder. But at least there’s a railing in each of those sections.
Maybe someday I’ll road-trip see the other “half” of the Pinnacles where it got left behind in SoCal when the Pacific Plate skidded north along the San Andreas. It would be kinda sentimental. I know we have the more beautiful and imposing half.
If you’re ever in the mood for an expedition to the photogenic hoodoos, give me a shout. We can meet up and take a hike :)
Rokka
One correction: it’s Mount Starr King. I climbed Half Dome by myself in 1973 when the cables were down after hiking in from Tenaya Lake and climbing Clouds Rest the day before. I had more trouble going down the cable because I didn’t have any gloves and ended up with a few blisters. There was only one other person there.
Omnes Omnibus
@BigJimSlade: I haven’t done any climbing in 20 years, but I grew up with it. Fun or not, it’s one of the things one did.
BigJimSlade
@Omnes Omnibus: :-) the five foot cracks were all I did (besides going up the cables on Half Dome), but it was enough to get how you have to inspect the rock for all the possibilities, every few inches of rock face presented something else, and what it presented was different for your hands and your feet. It kind of reminds me of road riding vs mountain biking – 10 yards of mountain biking can be more exciting the 10 miles of road riding! (I guess the comparison would be climbing vs hiking.)
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
Wonderful blast of nostalgia, Billin! I graduated from HS in San Diego in June 1978. Somehow I always thought you were a bit older – or that I was much younger! My family and I went camping many times in Yosemite during my childhood and it’s been a favorite destination ever since. I’ve done the hike up from the valley to Glacier Point a few times, as well as the Vernal and Yosemite Falls trails and many others, but my fear of heights is overwhelming and I know I’ll never manage Half Dome. Thanks for the great views.
After my HS graduation we took a family camping trip up the east side of the Sierra and then crossed over WA to the Olympic Peninsula and back down the coast to SD. My little brothers were absolute pains in the ass all the way up and back and it’s a wonder they survived. Seven people + one VW camper + 15 days = 100% misery for a 17-year-old girl who couldn’t wait to get the hell away to college. Now I can’t wait to get back to the Sierra.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@BigJimSlade:
Must have been from out of state, the California Grizzly is extinct.(couldn’t resist)
@hotshoe: It’s called Neeach Volcano and it’s rather unimpressive(I only know about it cause it’s on Google Maps and I was like what the hell is this). Y’all got the better part of the deal. We have another volcano in western Ventura County between Thousand Oaks and Camarillo, Conejo Mountain. I grew up in TO and I had no idea it was a volcano until earlier this year.
@Rokka: The 5th photo actually has a companion that shows the view further south and you can see Mt. Star King. I think I was trying to shoot a pano, but it was on slide film(I’ve put them together, but they’re not quite lined up vertically).
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Comrade Colette Collaboratrice: Well, if you graduated from High School at 17, I’m a bit older(I was 18 in January of my senior year). I’ve spent a great deal of time on the Olympic Peninsula (my parents had property up there and wanted to retire there).
?BillinGlendaleCA
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Pano with Mt. Star King.
StringOnAStick
When my now husband and I first started dating, we drove from CO to the East side of Yosemite and spent a week rock climbing, the biggest route we did was Fairview dome (a multi hour affair, lots of pitches), and I was completely hooked after that.
We climbed every summer weekend for decades, until 10 years ago when my arthritic knees put the kibosh on that. I had both knees replaced last year, and two weeks ago I led a 5.9+ route here in CO. Not bad for a 62 year old with artificial knees! I have been pleased with how fast my skills at reading rock came back, these new knees gave me my life back.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@StringOnAStick: I was looking at the eastern part of the park for lakes for Milky Way shots, but Tioga Road seems to be snowed in too late in the season for shots to work.
UncleEbeneezer
Great pix and story!
You forgot to mention the switchbacks. The hike on the way up the sub-dome is absolutely BRUTAL on the knees. 600 foot elevation gain in only 1/4 mile with a seemingly endless number of steps/switchbacks with shear drops, that destroy your legs even before you get to the base of HD. We did it about 15 years ago, hiking from LYV, on a 95 degree day and between my buddy and me only brought a 32 oz gatorade bottle of water (young, stupid). The climb up the cables was very scary for me and downright paralyzing for my friend (especially coming down, I thought it was scarier on the way up, myself). We didn’t have a permit for LYV for that night, so after doing Half-Dome we had to hike all the way down to Curry Village. I think we used JMT rather than the slippery steps of the Mist Trail because our legs were already so shot and we had done the Mist Trail a few years earlier. I thought the views from top of HD were great but not THAT much better than you can get from other spots (like Glacier point) that are far easier to get to. The fun was really in the achievement of doing it, but if you have a bad fear of heights I tell people to skip HD and get high views from other ways.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@UncleEbeneezer: I didn’t remember the switchbacks, it was a long time ago and I’d done quite a bit of hiking with switchbacks in those days. I think I remember the cables cause they were different.
Patrick ODonnell
This year I solo climbed Halfdome for the 10 time. 2 on the west of technical face when I was younger and 8 times up the cables. This year I left the trail head at 11:00 pm and arrived at 3:30 am ( alittle ahead of schedule. I brought a climbing harness and a runner and climbed the cables by headlamp. The stars where over the top!!!! I watched the sunrise, did some Qigong and went down the cables and.
I lead hikes every year ( except this COVID year) if anyone is interested.
http://www.patinalifesolution.com