Tick It Before You Kick It
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Tick It Before You Kick It
How to Hike Half Dome...and Live to Tell About It
Read the full guide and get more tips 👉 here
🎟️Securing a permit to hike Yosemite's iconic Half Dome can feel like winning a lottery, with only a 22% success rate, but the reward at the summit makes every setback worthwhile.
😱Join Alexandra from the Bucket List Mermaid as she shares her journey through the grueling permit process and the meticulous preparation required for tackling this 17-mile adventure.
🥾From the steep ascent on the Mist Trail to the descent via the John Muir Trail, discover the physical and mental demands of conquering one of the most challenging hikes in the United States.
💪Discover practical tips on how to train and prepare for Half Dome, especially if you’re planning a solo expedition.
🎒Learn what essentials to pack, such as hydration systems, safety gear, and tech equipment, to ensure you’re ready for anything.
⚠️Safety is non-negotiable when it comes to Half Dome, known for its daunting ascent cables.
😍From the thrill of reaching the summit to the joy of sharing this achievement with others, this episode is filled with inspiration and practical advice for anyone with Half Dome or similar adventures on their bucket list.
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Hello there, adventurers. My name is Alexandra with the Bucket List Mermaid. It is my goal and wish to help you with your bucket list, and today we are going to be talking about one that is on a lot of people's bucket lists and it's very elusive, it's very prestigious, and that is hiking the Half Dome in Yosemite. When I was looking into all of this, I was wildly unprepared and there wasn't a lot of information on it. I mean, I could see how scary the cables were going up which we'll talk about it and I saw a lot of videos of people actually hiking it, but I didn't see a lot of videos of people actually prepping for it and talking about the permit process. Let's go ahead and let's talk about how I got the permit, what I packed, how I trained. Now, first, let's talk about the permit process, which is a lottery and, yes, it's as scary and daunting as it sounds. Now I looked up some statistics on what the actual chances were of getting a permit. It was actually like 22%, because in 2023, there was about 35,000 people who applied to climb Half Dome and only a little bit under 8,000 actually got it. So my hopes for actually getting a permit to hike this was not too high and if you actually hike without a permit, they take that very seriously. You could be fined thousands of dollars and you could also actually end up getting some jail time. So would 10 out of 10 not recommend doing it without a permit? I did see a lot of people that just took their chances and didn't do without a permit. Now that's bucket list dedication. I don't know if I would do that for a bucket list item Stay legal folks.
Speaker 0:You can get a permit one of two ways, one of which is through the pre-season lottery, and that's where you go on about March-ish area and then again you just start to bid on when you start to go. I would definitely recommend this. If you are coming here to hike Half Dome, they only allow a certain amount of people up there per day. A section of those go to backcountry permits of people staying at Little Yosemite. But if you miss the pre-season lottery, do not panic. That's what I did because, again, I just thrive on chaos and I don't plan anything. They also have spots that are allocated for the daily lottery and those are ones that just come from cancellations or just various other reasons, and they just have an allocated amount of spots for daily. So, in order to do the daily lottery, here's what I would do every single day I would wake up every morning, I would go on to recreationgov.
Speaker 0:Now I had a little trouble finding this, but here's the best way that I found is that you actually search half dome permits and then it'll give you the website and then scroll down. It says how to get a permit and for some reason, if you just search recreationgov, that takes you to a different place. But if you go there and hit the recreationgov, it'll take you to the actual half dome permit page. So after you do that, you have to create an account, which obviously we're all adventurers, we all have accounts anyway and you pay ten dollars in order to put your name into this lottery. If you get it the first time, that's like getting into an ivy league school. I've actually heard that several times. It's getting a permit itself is like getting into an ivy league school. It is seriously like something to be so proud of that you win this daily lottery to go hike half dome.
Speaker 0:Now, when you do sit down and do this, it is for two days in advance. So, for example, if I wanted to hike Monday, I would apply on Saturday, results would be out pretty much by 4 pm. I never had any result. That was past 5. I got rejected a lot, and keep in mind that this is $10 each time you enter the lottery, so that's something that I was not prepared for. Is hiking Half Dome is expensive. Now, I talked to several people about this and they were kind of outraged, myself included. Just spending $10 a day, every single day, just for a rejection was painful, painful, painful, and knowing that it was just pure luck that I would get rejected or accepted was painful. So keep that in mind, that trying to get a permit is kind of disheartening at times. However, obviously I did it, I got one. I'm going to be honest getting a permit was probably harder than the hike itself, or not? Probably not. The hike was really hard.
Speaker 0:Let's talk about how to train because, if you want to know my actual stats, I ended up going just a little bit over 17 miles. I ended up taking the Miss Trail up and the John Muir Trail down. It was about 8.3 miles up to the summit, including the cables and the sub dome hike. Now I'm going to be honest, this is brutal because you're going at an uphill for probably like four to six hours, depending on how fast you go and you're tired. It was so funny I was actually using all trails and they have these little points where you can learn about it and I clicked on the point for the cables and it said now is the time that you will learn, if you trained hard enough for this hike. And that is 100% true. Those cables require all of your focus, all of your mental attention, all of your physical energy, of you literally just climbing up, just giving it your all. But once you're at the top, oh the sweet reward. And then you have to go down 5,200 feet for another five hours. But that being said, I'm going to go purely off of where my body absolutely hurts right now because I'm just coming off of this hike my quads, my calves and maybe a little bit of my back muscles, just because you are pulling yourself on those cables, but really it's just legs. So I would do the squats, stair stepper, maybe climb a little bit, just so that you are very, very prepared. And also important, I would do some long endurance hikes.
Speaker 0:Before this, before this, I was at Great Basin National Park. I was also in arches National Park. So I did like a 10 mile in arches and then I did a nine mile in Great Basin. So I started doing these long endurance hike. Was it like 17? No. So if I were to change it, I think I would do more in a day just to really prepare my body for that hike. And it was also hard because with Arches there's not really elevation, but there is elevation here. So maybe try to do some long endurance hikes over some elevation, just to get you prepared.
Speaker 0:If you are in Colorado because I am a Colorado local I would 100% recommend just doing a bunch of 14ers. I think that would do the trick. I didn't train a ton for it and I was still okay, but I was very tired by the end. So I do think that you have to be realistic with yourself and you have to think you know, am I above fitness level? I mean, I don't think you need to be this crazy athlete in order to do it, and I saw all walks of life on this trail. I do think that it is doable. However, if you want to have a good experience, I would recommend training beforehand.
Speaker 0:And now the fun part. Let's go into what I actually packed. Now, just for some information. I did do this and it was commented on a lot that I was doing it solo, solo female hiking crazy hikes like this very, very empowering. I would expect to feel very empowered, but here's all the things. I do have to say that I wish I would've packed less, and especially for the cables, just because it's hard to have that extra weight when you are pulling yourself up on those cables. However, these are the things that I brought. I'm going to be going through what I brought, what I wish I would have brought and what I wish I would have left at home, and also the essentials. So let's get started Now.
Speaker 0:Starting off strong, I would 100% recommend bringing a camelback Now. They do recommend that you have a minimum of four liters of water Now with this camelback, I actually do have the bladder down at the bottom. I've just found that this, for women specifically, is just better because it puts more of the load on my hips rather than my back Just personal preference. You can also get the ones that go the entire length of the back as well. I also like it, just because it gives me a lot of space inside of this as well. This is only a three liter camelback, so I ended up taking two bladders with me. This was extremely heavy and I'm not sure I would recommend this. If I had to do it again, I think I would end up getting a water filter. I just didn't have one of those and I only pretty much had a day to prepare for this because of how the lottery works.
Speaker 0:Now, on the backpack itself, I do have some various things. I have a whistle, I have some hand sanitizer and then I also have this little alarm thing, and then also I don't have it on here, but I also had some bear spray or some mace that I kept in my pocket for the first part of the hike. Now, just going on the things that you for sure need, I ended up printing out my permit. I just wanted to make sure that I had everything all printed out, and it also had me bring my driver's license as well. Other things that I had that were pretty nice. I had some layers that I could take off and put around my waist. I had some Kleenexes, just because I have allergies. Just hiking with a runny nose is the worst thing ever. I also ended up getting this. This is just a small little first aid kit. I think it might be a little overkill and I ended up taking all of this out and just putting it in and leaving the box. But it's nice that the box is still there, but just in case of emergencies, this is very nice. And another thing I brought wet wipes and I will let you use your imagination for what this is for. The average time it takes to do this trail is about 10 to 12 hours, maybe a little bit more if you're stopping at the top, you might need to use the bathroom With it. I just took a plastic bag so that I am leaving no trace and I can pack all of these huggies and everything out.
Speaker 0:Headlamps I would recommend these because you are most likely either going to be doing this early, early in the morning, or you are going to be still hiking when it is dark. But this one I especially like, just because if you hold it, it has a red light. So the night that I was there it actually was a new moon, so I could kind of do a little starlight hike with this and it wouldn't disrupt my night vision. I saw a lot of people with red light headlamps, so definitely good for this. I also had some extra batteries in my pack, just in case, because I just can't imagine anything worse than this dying and just being completely in the dark alone. So, safety first.
Speaker 0:Bring a flashlight. This is also another thing to keep in mind. I brought my AirPods, as well as something that plugged directly into my phone, and this is because, by the end of the trip, my AirPods actually died. So keep that in mind that you might need this now. With that being said, I don't have it directly with me, but I actually ended up bringing two portable chargers. This was overkill. I only needed one, but I would recommend bringing something to charge your phone because, in my experience, I was taking photos, I was taking videos, I was listening to an audio book on the way up, so you are are using your phone. I was also using the all trails GPS just in case, and my phone was pretty much dead by the time I reached the summit. I know it can be a little heavy, so maybe try to bring a lightweight one just to keep down on weight.
Speaker 0:Going along with just some personal items, just that I prefer to hike with. I prefer to hike with some eye drops, just because I do wear contacts, and a hike that long, my eyes do get tired. I also do have asthma. Making sure that I do have a rescue inhaler. If I can do this with asthma, so can you. So there you go. Just some hair ties.
Speaker 0:I have in here another thing that really, really helped me. That wasn't actually my idea, but this was my mother's idea. Of course, my mother comes up with the best ideas. Oh, I ended up bringing a Tylenol and caffeine pills. I took the caffeine pills right before the hike and then also on the summit, and then I also took Tylenol once I was on the summit, no matter what I was feeling. And this really, really helped for the descent, because once you start descending off of the summit, you have to go back down the cables and it's very strenuous. Your adrenaline runs out, your legs are exhausted because you just hiked up a mountain for 8.3 miles.
Speaker 0:Downhill is a mental game and I think that these really, really helped me get through the downhill section of this hike. And, of course, I brought some extra contacts because you know I need to see A chapstick, and then this is actually an air tag and this was so that people could actually track where I was and just in case I did fall or I got lost or anything like that worst case scenario, I would have a way to be tracked. And this is where I'm also going to recommend that you get at least the free trial of AllTrails Plus. Alltrails is a hiking app where you can download an offline map, and what I really liked about this is you can actually do a live share, can download an offline map, and what I really liked about this is you can actually do a live share. So I sent a link to a bunch of different people you know, who wanted to track my progress and it was kind of fun. They could, like, congratulate me and, you know, give me encouragement and all that stuff, but they could actually track where I was at all times during the hike. And it was so fun because I actually got a text. Don't ask me how I got service, but I actually got a text from my grandma exactly when I summited Half Dome and she said, oh my gosh, congratulations for summiting, like exactly as I was. So it was really really nice and there was a couple of times where I would check it just to make sure that I was on the right path.
Speaker 0:Again, I did the Mist Trail up and then the John Muir down. So I made this decision all because of all trails, and I actually had a couple hikers stop me on the way and be like where am I? Please help me At least doing the free trial just while you're doing your hike, just for safety purposes here. So just continuing on, and this is what my bladder looks like. Again, I took two of these. It was very heavy, it was very uncomfortable. I started feeling the weight of the backpack about three-fourths of the way up, so keep that in mind. However, once I started drinking the water, it obviously got lighter and lighter as the day went on. Even though it was heavy and it was annoying, I still was very, very happy for the water. I ended up going through about four and a half liters.
Speaker 0:Now let's talk about these. Do you need them? Do you not need them? These are hiking poles and I would say 200 percent, bring two. I used them the entire way up, the entire way down, even if you don't use them the entire time when I would recommend these is on the sub dome going down, because those stairs are very, very steep and they have no railings and if you fall, you would be dealing with some serious consequences, and I saw some people going down without poles and they just were struggling. They were sitting on their butt, they were scooting, but the people with poles were doing a lot better, including myself. Another thing, if you have room, that I ended up bringing that I used the entire time was these gloves right here Now. I would not recommend using these gloves for the actual cables. However, I did notice that when I was using my poles on the ascent up like the 8.3 mile ascent up I did notice that I was getting some blisters on my hand just from using the poles, and so these really did help with just blister and hand comfort when using the poles on the actual hike. As I said, once you get up to the cables, these are not going to cut it. You need like big, thick, hardy, gardening or climbing gloves. These are lightweight and I just put them on my hands the entire time, so I didn't really notice any weight difference and, yeah, really really liked them.
Speaker 0:And now let's talk about the other thing, that is, you need to bring in your bag, which is food. Most of the time when people get hurt on Half Dome and need to be evacuated or whatever, it's because they are dehydrated and they are starving. You are burning so many calories. According to Yosemite, the average person burns about 3,000 to 5,000 calories on this trek, which means you need to eat. So I ended up getting, like these meat sticks, some beef jerky, and then I also personally love to hike with yogurt covered raisins. Like don't ask me why, that's just my thing, I just love them. Like they're just so sweet, but they're not too sweet and they raise my blood sugar very well on hikes.
Speaker 0:Now that brings me to my next point how I prepped the day before. Now, as I said, with this lottery system, I only had about a day to prep for this. So on the day before I ended up carb loading as much as I possibly could. I ate a bunch of little sausages. The day before, I ate spaghetti for that dinner, and even when I was full, I just kept going, maybe a little bit past my normal fullness level, and I just drank a ton of water all day long, just consistently water, water, water and honestly, this was really, really, really helpful.
Speaker 0:Now, another thing that I did not have here and I'll tell you why I don't have it here is gloves. Now this is recommended and that's stupid. I'm sorry that's stupid that they do not tell you on the permit that you need gloves and a harness. I don't understand this. I don't know how you could do that without completely destroying your hands. I mean, you are physically pulling yourself up and maybe you could do it up. Maybe you'd get some blisters, but maybe you could do it up but down. I was literally going backwards and I was holding and sliding my hands down these metal cables and if I didn't have gloves I don't know what I would have done. So I ended up getting these gloves because I did the Via Ferrata in Euray. These were perfect for this. But on the way down somebody asked to look at them and said, hey, how grippy are your gloves? And they showed me their gloves and they had. They were like winter slippery gloves and I was like this person is gonna get hurt. So I ended up giving my gloves to that person just because it wasn't worth their life and I just had a feeling. I was like they need these more than I do. So I do not have my gloves with me right now because that person used them. But it should not be recommended. It should be required.
Speaker 0:Also, another thing that I don't have here that I did bring on this trip is I brought my 360 camera. I actually attached it to the middle chest strap and that is what all of these epic videos are taken on. Not sure I can recommend doing that, although this footage is amazing. I think that it was a little reckless getting footage, but if you're solo, you want to get it. I think I would have. Probably, if I were to do it again, I would ask somebody to get the footage of me, just because trying to get it myself and balance without a harness on the cables was a little dangerous and I'm just not sure that was the smartest decision on my part. If you do have some extra weight, I got an emergency blanket. I have some super glue and extra flashlight. Now, I didn't actually end up taking any of these, just because I felt like it was too heavy. However, if you do have some extra weight, that might be good for you.
Speaker 0:Now let's talk about the thing that I wish I had, that I did not have, and that is a harness Repeat with me a via ferrata harness. That is what you want. A via ferrata harness. Basically, it's just a harness that goes on your body. You have two carabiners, basically. You have one carabiner that hooks to the cable and then you have another one and it's just you switching one. You have one carabiner that hooks to the cable and then you have another one and it's just you switching one carabiner after the other and this makes it so that if you were to fall, you would only fall like a maximum of six feet.
Speaker 0:I missed this a lot and I had read online that people are like oh no, most people do it without a harness and I thought, oh yeah, well, like I'm like most people, I'll do it without a harness and I'll be fine. Fast forward to me on the cables, absolutely losing my mind and realizing why this is one of the most dangerous hikes in the US. I want to honor all the people who have passed away during this hike. Unfortunately, I can see why is because I went on a day that there were no clouds, there was nothing and the sky was completely clear. There was no chance of thunderstorms and I was slipping and sliding everywhere. So if you're there when it's thundering or lightning, pay attention and do not go up if there's any chance of thunder or lightning it is so dangerous and if you don't have a harness on those cables.
Speaker 0:You make one wrong move and you fall, and the only thing that you have is your grip strength, and so maybe you say you do a really, really good grip strength. What about the person in front of you who falls down and hits you? I don't think I would ever recommend doing this hike without a harness. Just take care of yourself. And that is my number one regret of doing this hike without a Via Ferrata harness. Now, if you do want a Via Ferrata harness, I will link one in the description, just so you can see what I'm talking about. If you did do that pre-season, you might have more time to prepare in renting one.
Speaker 0:I did not have a harness, but there was a lot of people who didn't choose to go up because they saw it and went. I don't have a harness, I'm not doing that and they were probably smarter than I was. However, here we are. I did make it. I went very, very slow, but it was very strenuous and it was very nerve wracking to know that, if I fell, that was it.
Speaker 0:Now let's just talk about some tips for hiking. Number one start early, and when I say early, I mean three or four in the morning. Trust me on this. It gets hot here and doing that hike when it's hot, like me coming down, it was hot and I couldn't even imagine going up during that time. I know most people start around like five and I just it's just too much. And plus that means that you get to the cables faster and the less people you have on those cables when you're ascending and descending, the better. I ended up starting about 3.30, ended up summiting around 9.30., I stayed a while up there and I am really glad that I did, because when I was coming back down there was more people there. It was 11 o'clock. People who had started at the recommended time were already there and there was just so many people up there.
Speaker 0:Now, number two go slow. I know that you want to get up to the cables. I did too. I was really anson for it. I was like, oh, I just want to get up there before everybody else does. However, your body needs rest, but this is eight miles uphill and you are gaining a lot of elevation here. You need to take time to rest. You need to take time to eat and drink and just take care of yourself. This is not a sprint. It is truly a marathon.
Speaker 0:Number three, do not feel any shame in turning around. I say this because, as I said, we've talked about, unfortunately, the people who have given their lives to half dome. When I was talking to the rangers, they said that the majority of the accidents that happen here are because people are too stubborn to know and listen to their body when they need to turn around. This is mostly for the cables and sub-dome. First of all, as I said, they warn you about this up the wazoo, but if there's any chance of it being slippery, that granite that you are walking on is so slick. The lightning is also really, really dangerous. And also you could be tired. I mean, hiking for over eight miles uphill is enough to make anybody tired, let alone push yourself even further to get up to the cables. And I'm going to be honest, I saw this a lot when I was up there.
Speaker 0:There was a lot of fighting going on because you did the sub dome and most people did make it up sub dome. It's a little sketchy but it's doable. And then you get up to sub dome and you look at the cables. It's just this universal panic. When you see the cables, I thought to myself. I said, ah, surely universal panic when you see the cables. I thought to myself I said, ah, surely these cables are worse than pictures. Like you know, they use photo tricks to make it seem like it's steeper than it is. No, it is way worse than in the photos.
Speaker 0:And this was basically the collective opinion over everybody, because half of the group said absolutely not, I don't feel comfortable doing that. And then the other half said we just hiked eight miles, climbed for six hours up here, and you're not even going to do it, and we got the permit, and it's statistically impossible to get the permit and you're going to quit right here. And people were like, no, I don't want to do it. So I think that there is a lot of courage in doing the cables and there's a lot of courage in actually summiting and going to the top of Half Dome, but there's also a tremendous amount of courage in looking in that and knowing your physical and mental limitations and knowing that it's not safe for you. So I think that there is courage in doing both of those and I think it's okay to know your limitations and to stay safe.
Speaker 0:And then let's just talk a little bit of what to do afterwards. I am on day two. My body is still a little sore, but it is definitely not as sore as it was. I would recommend putting your feet up, maybe icing some joints For me. My hips really hurt on this one Not really my knees or my ankle, but yeah, my hips were struggling a little bit and just relax.
Speaker 0:I know that you want to go do everything, but this is a massive hike and it's a massive physical achievement. So I would just make sure that you are really, really taking care of and nourishing your body afterwards. Maybe eat a little bit more calories than you are normally, just to replenish all the ones that you've burned, and just give yourself some self-love and also some sense of accomplishment and just be kind to yourself and your body. You only get one. You might as well be kind to it. At least I'm trying that philosophy.
Speaker 0:Send a picture of the cables to everybody you know and say I did this. They'll be like what? That is it for my half dome prep as a solo female hiker. Let me know in the comments if you think that I forgot anything or if you have anything to add. If you have climbed half dome, please, please comment because I want to know and I want to acknowledge your achievement, because this is truly an achievement. Thank you so much for watching. If you did enjoy this video or this video was helpful to you, don't forget to hit that subscribe button so that I can keep bringing you free, adventurous content. Thank you, guys, so much for watching and keep adventuring.