Tagging this post onto the end of an old thread...
A friend wanted to do Half Dome, and he also wants to try doing the JMT next summer. So, introducing him to overnight backpacking AND a Half Dome summit:
The Half Dome cables are down, camping pressure on Little Yosemite Valley is light. We walked into the Wilderness Office at 9:30 AM on a Thursday, and were able to pick up permits. There were already 20 of the 30 available taken.
Weather was fantastic--sunny, and low of about 40F overnight! With no snow or rain yet in October, it is starting out a dry fall.
Anyway, we camped in LYV, got up about 4:45 AM, were hiking in less than an hour -- skipped breakfast until we reached the spring, 10 minutes above the Y where the trail splits from the JMT. We were at the base of the cables at 8:50. There were 3 hikers descending. They had started at 1 AM from the Valley floor, watched the sunrise from Half Dome, and were heading down.
We took our time, almost half an hour to go up the cables. On the way down, there were 8-10 going up. Most were using a harness on the cables. We were good just using gloves. My old leather gloves were a bit slippery since they were so old. I used water to wet them, and that helped with the grip.
The crazy part was the descent below the dome. My friend is a triple-crown cyclist: completed 3 200-mile one-day rides this summer. We took the shortcut route, pretty much dropping straight down from the saddle below the sub-dome, through the forest. His legs almost gave out getting down the steepness. Getting his overnight gear down the JMT took several hours longer than usual, with me carrying both packs the last part. My quads and calves are extremely sore today!
But the good news is that my arthritic ankle did just fine wrapped in two ankle braces, and my TKR knee (replaced 9 months ago) gave me NO issues at all!
Here's a pic of my friend Leo on the cables:
