UKC

I'm off to Yosemite in September. I'm not sure I can be doing with the regimented way Half Dome now operates ( permits, queues etc ) can anyone advise of a similar / better top out and view point we can walk to without the restrictions.

In reply to speedymushmouse:

You can climb there at 5.9
Or walk to the top of el Cap

In reply to JJL:

Snakedike is 5.7 isn't it?

In reply to 1poundSOCKS:

Yeh maybe. There's one hardish move on p2? Yeah, perhaps 5.7. I found the grading didn't translate well!

In reply to JJL:

I haven't done it, I was a total trad novice when I was there, the R rating was a bit off-putting for me.

In reply to JJL:

The crux move is in the first 20/30 ft of the first pitch - although there is a hardish move on pitch 2.

In reply to speedymushmouse:

What about glacier point?

In reply to speedymushmouse:


I didnt know this, but not surprised. I thought it was one of the most dangerous situations I've ever been amongst. I think two people died in the vicinity the week I was there.

The walk up to Glacier Point is stunning and gives amazing views up the valley.

I would have thought likewise the walk to the summit of El Cap? I only walked up to level with the falls though.

Maybe walk up to the shoulder of Half Dome - presumably this is still feasible?

In reply to speedymushmouse:

The place is one big view, just explore.

On Snake Dike I'd say it is VS 5a in UK terms with a bolt next to the slab crux and yet once on the dike you have belay to belay unprotected pitches with the odd move of VS 4a, 5.4X.

In reply to Offwidth:


Shurely shome exaggeration in the last bit: when I did it there was one bolt in the middle of each full length run-out on the dike pitches!

In reply to Solaris:
When was that? ... must be since we did it as the only bolts then from belay 3 were belay/rap bolts until you almost get to the top.

In reply to Offwidth:

2008. No idea how long they'd been there but I don't think they're all that recent. Still a sporting day out, though!

In reply to Solaris:

The topo is free on Super Topo.... it says no new bolts just a few on pitch 2 and one near the top. The main dyke is all belay to belay apart from one at the very beginning and very end.

In reply to Offwidth:

I don't know whether we're at cross purposes. What I meant is that when I did it, on the pitches after the 3rd, from each two bolt belay there's a 25m runout to a single bolt runner and then a further 25m with no fixed gear until the next two bolt belay.

From the UKC description:
"WARNING: Despite the glass traverse and 25m run-outs on the 50m pitches, most climbers will find the crux to actually be the chaotic descent..."

And from the Supertopo forum
http://www.supertopo.com/rock-climbing/route_beta.php?r=yohasnak
June 13th 2011:
"The dike climbing got monotonous pretty quick and although the climbing is not difficult 80' run outs are a bit much if you were a 5.7 leader."

In reply to Offwidth:

I've now had a chance to look at my Supertopo guidebook. It shows one or two bolts on all pitches apart from the 7th and 8th, and the description says: "On the worst runouts, you will climb as much as 75' of 5.4 R without any protection, clip a bolt, and then climb another 75' of 5.4 R to the anchor"

In reply to speedymushmouse:

To avoid the queues on Half Dome tourist route, aim top be there late in the day. I got to the base of the cables at about 5pm, long after most people had gone. There were no more than half a dozen others on the summit. Of course you'll need a head torch, as it gets dark around 6.30 in September - but at least there's less chance of afternoon thunderstorms.

Superb views from Clouds Rest, it's very busy but no permits needed yet as far as I know.

Much better would be Cathedral Peak (up at Tuolumne) fantastic pointy summit, with a tricky scramble to get there (the last section is graded 4, but is around Diff).

But as Offwidth says - The place is one big view, just explore.

In reply to Solaris:

The two bolts are what most people call optional belays. Looking with my glasses on there is also a bolt on the optional 5.7 section of pitch 4. Despite what Supertopo say in the text if you do the sums the run-outs are a good bit longer than 75 foot at times. Pitch 3 has about 25m (85') of 5.4 X (its says R, but that's plain dumb) and pitch 5 has 30m (100') of 5.3 X which felt a good bit harder to us. Like many we also did the dike variant on pitch 4 (135') with 40m (135') of no gear as we thought the crack on the left was part of the variant

As for the descent we went down the outside of the cable for a while and stepped inside to help someone struggling who was getting stupidly hassled by the tourist queue; plus its much better now its regulated. No climber need worry.

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

There is no scrambling to the foot of Cathedral Peak - at least not for the normal classic route - you just walk right up to the start of the rock-climbing. Great little mountain route, but start the climbing at dawn so as not to be at the back of the queue and also to reach the summit early because there are often afternoon thunder storms.

In reply to Offwidth:

Your original claim was that "once on the dike you have belay to belay unprotected pitches", that is what I wasn't sure you were correct about - as, I think we are now agreed, the guidebook and other evidence indicates.

Sure, it's runout, sure it's not all jug pulling, sure it's not VDiff, but there are intermediate runners which mean that you will only fall half the length of the pitch rather than its whole length, so long as you don't use the bolts as optional belays. And as my initial reply was feebly attempting to imply, falling 75'-85' isn't likely to be really all that different from falling 150'-160'.

In reply to speedymushmouse:

Agree with Simon Caldwell - Clouds Rest is a superb viewpoint, and an easy walk to the top: http://www.scomuir.com/scoweb/pictures/images/cloudsrest_201012_4.JPG

I can understand your feelings regarding Half Dome. I went up the standard punters way when the cables were down in October 2012 when it was quite quiet (relatively speaking).

In reply to Solaris:

I think big falls on that rough slab would be horrenous. Worst, case you could be looking at more than a 200' fall and in my view anything over 100' where lumps stick out must be X. Ive climbed a few X pitches now and often they struggle to be R (the tunnel on Tunnel vision for instance has good gear) yet other times especially on easier pitches R is really solid X.

In reply to Offwidth:

Agreed, it wouldn't be a smooth slide. Magnificent climb all the same.

In reply to speedymushmouse:

4 mile trail to Glacier Point (shade in the morning), followed by Panorama and any combo of mist trail and John Muir trail back down to the valley. Shouldn't be much water in the waterfalls then so you're unlikely to get wet. John Muir trail is easier with better views in my opinion (well the bit between Nevada and Vernal Falls has a great view), but Mist Trail gets you closer to the falls. I seem to remember that this is also a similar length to up and down Half Dome (16 miles).

Once the cables are down on Half Dome (usually sometime in September), you will no longer require a permit. That said it is dangerous with the cables down in my opinion. Since my previous visit there are more folk taking climbing equipment, prussics and the like with other people not having any. Some of the climbing equipped folk are happy to take their time, resting on the cables every so often. This forces the non-equipped people to either get tired waiting behind them, or swap to the other cable. I found it quite car crash to watch from the sub dome and soon started back for the valley without ascending further. I have made it to the top of Half Dome on a previous occasion though.

In reply to speedymushmouse:

Another idea is to walk to the top of North Dome and back via the Upper Yosemite Falls Trail. I've done some but not all of this. You should get a cracking view of Half Dome from the top of there.

In reply to speedymushmouse:

All the walks are world class - I am hoping to get there in about a week perhaps.

In reply to John Stainforth:

Some are empty as well. White Wolf to the Tuolumne Canyon overlook was lovely couple of hours wander; the park was full with day traffic queuing, being Labour Day, and yet we only saw one other couple on the walk.

In reply to Offwidth:


That's the great thing about Yosemite, and other places - 10 feet off the road and the crowds diminish by 90%+*.

*PS was it Chouinard or who was it who wrote that all the tourists who go to Yosemite sit in the lodge watching movies about Yosemite, and "that is the level of their curiosity".