Half Dome

Location Description

63 photos

Monica and I hatched a plan to climb Half Dome on Friday...
Monica stands by the mighty Merced River as it races by....
Monica climbs the steps cut into the cliff band of Vernal Falls.
After climbing to the top of Vernal Falls, we pushed on...
Monica and I hiked on a small climbers' trail marked...
Before long, our hard work was rewarded with a view...
As we climbed higher the scenery became more dramatic...
We finally reached a final ledge where the uninterrupted...
The ASCA campsite abounded with expensive climbing gear...
More ASCA gear hanging from trees.
That's a lot of bolts!
Monica and I wandering through the ASCA base camp....
Improbable as it seems, this narrow ledge is our path,...
Monica tiptoeing carefully across the exposed ledge.
Fun! And we haven't even gotten the rope out yet!
Monica climbing up to a higher ledge as we traverse the...
Very cute and colorful lizards up here. I can't remember...
View back to the east and south.
Monica climbing the sandy switchbacks to the base of the climb.
Our planned route up half dome. The route is called...
Monica scrambling up to the base of the climb.
When we arrived at the base of the climb, we found a...
Monica, following up the first pitch of Snake Dike (5.7R).
Monica nearing the top of pitch 1 on Snake Dike, with...
Monica at the top of pitch 1, with Yosemite falls in the...
At the top of pitch 3: Monica is working her way up the...
John at the top of pitch 4 or 5.
John at the top of pitch 4 (or maybe 5) with Yosemite...
Monica making her way up to the top of pitch 4 or 5....
Monica climbing Snake Dike, with Illilouette Falls in...
Monica climbing up pitch 6. The climbing and the pitch...
Monica, almost at the top of pitch 6.
John, belaying from the top of pitch 6 with Yosemite...
This was actually my least favorite pitch of the climb....
Monica actually standing on pitch 7 of Snake Dike.
After the eight roped pitches (and a mini 9th pitch...
As scary as this rather exposed 3rd class "dike hiking"...
The heavily featured granite on half dome was incredibly...
The way the granite was pitted and eroded in different...
Monica taking a breather. We have climbed to about 9,000...
Thousands of years of rain coursing down half dome has...
Monica on our endless third class slab hike.
Taking another breather. Monica did a really great job...
Often in mountain climbing, reaching the summit comes as...
And sure enough like clockwork, we came over a rise in...
John and Monica on the summit of Half Dome. Because of...
Another reason the crowds were absent is that this year...
Monica standing on the edge of the northern face of Half Dome.
Looking northeast to Tenaya Canyon, where I have...
Monica glad to be at the summit.
Goofy diving board pose.
Regular pose
John and Monica, with Tenaya Canyon in the background.
This sort or reminded me of taking pictures of Lone Peak...
Since we had our harnesses on with daisy chains, we...
The cables are seriously steep! Without the wooden...
Monica working her way down the cables....
Almost at the bottom of the cables.
Monica scurries down the last few stanchions on the...
At the bottom.
Monica doing a Captain Morgan pose. I thought the...
Sunlight colors a tree, and Tenaya Canyon in the...
We definitely didn't want to be on Half Dome if it had...