(8/26 – 8/30/2025)
Among all the trails in Yosemite National Park, Half Dome Trail was said to be the one trail that you cannot die without hiking it. It was also joked to be the one that you are most likely to die while hiking it.
To climb Half Dome, you will need to enter the lottery system to win a permit (see Practical Information). We have been pondering about doing so for many years. This March I finally applied for the permit. I have never won any lotteries in my life. Imagine my surprise when I received a congratulatory email from the National Park Service saying that we won the lottery of 8/28 climb!
The next step was to secure the lodging. Since Half Dome is a 16-mile hike, it’s essential to stay in Yosemite Valley the day before the hike and the hiking day at least. When I contacted them, I was told that there’s only one room available in the entire Yosemite Valley (due to a cancellation)! It’s a hotel room in the Yosemite Valley Lodge that costs $375 per night. Take or leave it! I took it.
Yosemite National Park is one of my favorite national parks. (The other one is Bryce Canyon NP.) We used to go to Yosemite Valley every year for a while, but we stopped doing that more than 10 years ago because it became too crowded. Since we’re going this August, we’ve decided to stay a couple extra days to explore.
Day 1: Yosemite Valley
We arrived at Yosemite National Park this afternoon. When we drove past Bridalveil Fall around 3:30pm, we were surprised to find out that the waterfall was flowing with abundant water! It was probably due to a recent storm a couple of days ago. Rei said we should check into the hotel first and then return for sightseeing.
We were staying in Yosemite Village Lodge, because that’s the only place with a room available when I tried to book. The room was quite nice. We had a balcony and there’s a mini fridge in the room, which was very convenient.
After checking in and moving everything from the car to the hotel room (we were not allowed to leave any food items inside the car due to the bear issue), we drove to Bridalveil Fall for sightseeing.
We haven’t been to Yosemite Valley for more than 10 years. The Bridalveil Fall area has seen a lot of improvements. When we last visited, we had to hike through a narrow stony trail to reach the fall. Now there’s a paved walkway for easy access. However, the viewing area was further away from the base of the waterfall. There were a lot of visitors in the area. We spent some time exploring the area and took many pictures.
Rei made a 6:30pm dinner reservation at the Mountain Room. We figured that we still had enough time to see Yosemite Falls. The weather would be mostly warm and dry for the next few days, so we had better see the waterfalls when they were still flowing.
Even though Yosemite Falls were flowing, they didn’t have a lot of water. We were still able to take great photos of both upper and lower falls. There were also many visitors, but it has not reached the overcrowded level.
The Mountain Room was a more expensive dining venue in Yosemite, which explained why we had never eaten there before. Rei couldn’t decide whether he wanted to order chicken or trout, so the solution was for him to order chicken and for me to order trout, then we shared. Both dishes were very delicious.
I read in the news that Yosemite had less visitors this year. People have read about overtourism and decided not to come. Moreover, Canadians were canceling their trips to the United States. (The latter was probably why we could still get a room.) Anyway, Yosemite was still quite enjoyable with decent number of tourists.
Day 2: Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall
Today’s plan was to hike Mist Trail to see Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall. This was a scouting trip in preparation for tomorrow’s Half Dome hike. The trailhead parking information was very confusing. GPS pointed to a parking lot that was closed. We finally managed to find a roadside parking around 8:35am.
When we walked to the trailhead, there was a sign informing us that Mist Trail was closed from Monday to Thursday between 7am and 3:30pm due to a renovation effort. Visitors were advised to use the alternate John Muir Trail.
The initial section of the trail was paved. It was a steep ascent until it finally leveled out near Vernal Fall Bridge after more than half an hour of hiking. There was a restroom and a water station. We could see raging water under the bridge, which was a good sign that the waterfalls would be magnificent.
Shortly we reached the junction of Mist Trail and John Muir Trail (JMT). There were two rangers there to deter hikers from illegally entering the closed Mist Trail. We continued walking on JMT. The trail was no longer paved. It’s a steep dirt and rock trail going relentlessly up. We finally reached Clark Point after almost 2 hours of hiking.
Clark Point offered a stunning view of thundering Nevada Fall. There were many hikers gathering in the area taking pictures. We saw many ground squirrels scampering around. A Steller’s Jay stopped by and I managed to take a very good photo. We also had a snack break.
To see Vernal Fall, we had to climb down a steep trail. There were many hikers on the trail going in both directions. From this trail, we were able to walk all the way to the top of Vernal Fall, which was also thundering with a lot of water. We walked past the beautiful Silver Apron and Emerald Pool. There was also a restroom near the waterfall.
We lingered in the area for a while, then finally continued climbing to the top of Nevada Fall, passing through Silver Apron Bridge. This was a steep climb on a stony trail with slopes and steps. The one mile or so trail was challenging. There were so many bugs that I had to put on my mosquito hat net.
We could see Nevada Fall closely from the trail. I finally reached the junction of Mist Trail and JMT at 12:20pm, and Rei was 10 minutes behind. There was another restroom at the junction.
Rei was exhausted and hungry, so we had lunch at the junction. After lunch and a short rest, we continued walking down JMT to reach the top of Nevada Fall around 1pm. We realized belatedly that the top of Nevada Fall offered a much better lunch spot. Everyone else was taking their lunch break there!
We spent about 15 minutes in the area taking photos before continuing down JMT on the return trip. This section of JMT was an easier walk.
The sky was gray, and it started to rain, so we decided to put on the rain ponchos. That was a smart decision because shortly it hailed too! Several “smart” hikers like us were also wearing their ponchos or rain jackets. Some hikers were taking shelter to wait out the rain, while others decided to simply brave the rain.
The light rain continued, with occasional thunder. We saw a lot more hikers climbing up. These later hikers mostly had ponchos or even umbrellas. They probably began the hike when the rain had already started.
Due to the wet weather, we didn’t take more photos. We simply walked down the trail at a faster pace. The trail was now a bit slippery because it’s wet. We finally returned to the car around 3:10pm. So, we spent almost 7 hours on the trail!
It rained even harder when we returned to the room. Therefore, we had to give up the plan to go swimming. We simply took a shower and then went to the food court across the street to have a quick dinner.
Day 3: Half Dome
Today is our Half Dome climbing day! Some friends had already climbed Half Dome. They told us that they started at 5am and didn’t return until 6pm. They’re strong hikers, so we thought we should start even earlier.
I woke up at 3am to make sandwiches and pack fruit and snacks for the hike. We also had to make sure that we packed all the essential equipment such as headlights and climbing gloves. When we finished breakfast and drove to the trailhead parking lot (shuttles wouldn’t start until 7am), it was already 4:45am.
Several hikers arrived around the same time. Because it was still very dark, everyone carried a headlight. Since we already scouted the route yesterday, we had no problem finding the path even in the dark.
Most hikers picked Mist Trail, which was shorter but more dangerous. Rei and I decided to stick with JMT. Even with headlights on, we still had to be very careful and couldn’t walk too fast. When we arrived at Clark Point, it was already past 6am and there was enough light that we could put away our headlights. We didn’t see anyone else at Clark Point.
We continued walking on JMT to reach the top of Nevada Fall. The place was also very quiet. When we finally arrived at the junction with Mist Trail, there were a lot of hikers and there was a long line for the restroom.
JMT continued past a back country campground and a ranger station. The trail was an uphill dirt and stony road. It wasn’t very steep. We had a “banana break” on the trail.
Afterwards, we left JMT to hike on Half Dome Trail. About one more mile on the trail, we got an excellent view of Half Dome. After we got even closer, we could see the steep cable climb section.
“You must be kidding!” exclaimed Rei.
Then we reached a place with a sign with instructions and information. We were to climb Subdome first (about 30 minutes) then to walk on the cable section to reach the top of Half Dome (another 30 minutes). We were required to show our permit and ID. However, we didn’t see any rangers nearby, so we simply started the Subdome climb.
The trail involved climbing on narrow stone steps hugging the rock face. In some places there weren’t even steps, and we had to walk on the rock face without any protection. The climbing was actually quite scary! After about half an hour’s climb, we finally reached the start of the cable section.
Originally, I planned to have lunch on top of Half Dome, but Rei was already hungry and wanted lunch before climbing the cable section. It wasn’t even 10:30am, but I acquiesced, so we had lunch there. This turned out to be an excellent decision, because the cable climb was extremely exhausting!
There were still no rangers there to check our permit and ID. Other climbers were equally surprised. A guy commented that it’s disappointing that no one was checking considering the process we had to go through.
I thought the cable was only there to protect the climbers from falling. I didn’t realize that in most sections hikers actually needed to pull on the cable to hoist themselves up! It was extremely exhausting, especially for people like me without strong arms. I had to take several rests during the climb. It was brutal!
Many hikers were equipped with rock climbing equipment that included a harness and carabiners. They had to switch carabiners to different cable sections during climbing and therefore were progressing slowly.
The climb became easier when we were near the top. We finally reached the top around 11:20am and collapsed on the rock! Many other hikers were also resting on the rock.
We were asked by several hikers whether we’ve climbed Half Dome before. It seemed that many people climbed multiple times. An older gentleman told us that it was his 22nd climb on Half Dome! It was truly amazing! I couldn’t figure out how he managed to win so many lotteries. He said that he was lucky with the daily lottery.
We were surprised that many families brought their teenager or even elementary school aged kids to climb Half Dome. They were truly adventurous!
Rei left his backpack at the base of the cable section. I carried mine so that we could have drink and food on top. Since it was unlikely that we would climb Half Dome again, we decided to make the most of it by exploring all areas on top and taking as many pictures as possible. After food, rest and photos, we finally started the descent shortly after noon.
The descending was also very slow due to the traffic jam. There were many more hikers climbing up at this time. The descending was a lot easier than the climbing up, and I actually enjoyed it very much.
Walking down the Subdome felt less scary to my surprise. When we finally got down, we saw a ranger stationed there. We asked the ranger whether he wanted to check our permit and ID. He asked for the name of the permit holder to check off the list. But he said he didn’t need to check ID since we were already down.
It was a relief to finally “return to the earth” around 1:05pm, but the return trail seemed even longer than the climbing up. We heard loud helicopter noises along the way, but we didn’t see any helicopters. This time we decided to detour to the Little Yosemite Valley campground to take a break and to use the restroom. We reached the campground around 3pm and had a 20-minute break there before hiking down again.
When we reached Mist Trail junction, it was already past the 3:30pm closing time, so we decided to take Mist Trail instead of JMT. This trail was more slippery, and I fell a couple times. There were bugs galore around the Nevada Fall area. This time even Rei put on the mosquito hat net.
The renovation section was from the top of Vernal Fall down to the JMT junction. It was a dangerous and slippery route. However, it offered a splendid view of Vernal Fall. We even saw a rainbow near the base of the fall!
When we finally returned to our car at the trailhead parking lot, it was already 6:10pm. So, today’s hike was nearly 13.5 hours long!
We returned to the hotel room to take a shower first before going back to Curry Village again to have dinner. We wanted pizza, but it required a 30 to 35-minute wait. So, we ended up ordering chicken and pasta at the café.
Day 4: Glacier Point
We didn’t set a plan for today, because we didn’t know how well we would survive the Half Dome hike. Since Rei and I were both doing fine, we decided this morning to drive to Glacier Point to do some sightseeing and a short hike.
We left the hotel room around 8:45am to drive to Glacier Point; we arrived before 10am. The panoramic view from Glacier Point was stunning! We could see Half Dome, Clouds Rest, Nevada Fall, Vernal Fall, North Dome, Basket Dome and Yosemite Falls among others.
There’s a gift shop on site where Rei bought a black Glacier Point baseball cap. He immediately wore the cap as usual.
Then we left Glacier Point to drive to the Sentinel Dome trailhead parking lot. The plan was to hike 1.1 miles to Sentinel Dome and then to decide whether to return to the car or to continue to Taft Point.
We started the hike around 10:45am. The hike to the base of Sentinel Dome was quite easy. Then, we continued to climb on the stone slope to reach the top. This part wasn’t difficult either.
The view from the top was fantastic! We had a snack break and took many pictures. Since we both felt great, we left Sentinel Dome around noon to hike to Taft Point.
The trail was mainly a dirt road on forest floor. There weren’t a lot of altitude changes. We saw many other hikers on the route, though it wasn’t as busy as the previous two days’ hikes.
We reached the Fissures around 1pm and then climbed up to Taft Point to take photos. Afterwards, we picked a shady spot to rest and to have more snacks before walking back to the parking lot.
On our way back, we saw two Sooty Grouses, a deer and a few chipmunks on the trail. Everybody was very excited with the wildlife viewing!
We wanted to start a new national park passport. (We had an old one when the kids were little.) So, we stopped by the Welcome Center to purchase a new passport and to get stamps on it.
Then we drove to Curry Village to have a pizza for late lunch/early dinner. This ended the 2025 Yosemite trip. We would return home tomorrow morning.
Practical Information
You need to have a permit to climb Half Dome. The preseason lottery application is in March every year. Check the national park website for more information (https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/hdpermits.htm).
Since Half Dome climb will take an entire day, it will be a lot more convenient to stay in the valley overnight. You will need to bring a headlight, a pair of gloves for the cable section, and enough water and food. Many hikers are also equipped with a harness and carabines for better protection.
It goes without saying that you will have to train for the Half Dome climb. We had a practice and acclimatization hike at Tinker Knob the previous weekend, which really helped. The scouting trip before the actual climb also helped us get familiar with the environment.
Amy 'n Rei 