Ok so here we go, I figured this would a fitting first post. I took a trip to Yosemite for one reason: To hike the mist trail and see all of the waterfalls from the unbelievable winter we had in 22-23. Once I got there I decided I wanted to hike Clouds Rest, well turns out that Tioga Road was still being cleared of snow and was closed. This meant I couldn’t start from the Tenaya lake trail head (which would have been 12 miles round trip).

So this meant that the only way to hike Clouds Rest was from the valley floor, taking the Mist Trail up. I thought: “Perfect! I’ll get to see the waterfalls and Clouds Rest in one go!” Except this hike was now 20 miles. But I decided to do it anyway.

The Mist Trail was unbelievable, as I approached I saw everyone putting on parkas and rain jackets. I had no such thing but I continued onward, and sure enough I was completely drenched head to toe by the time I reached the top of Vernal Falls. However, falls were totally unbelievable. I’ve never seen anything like it.

So, I continued my hike until I reached Nevada Falls which was also unbelievable, I’ve never seen so much water. After Vernal Falls, and especially after Nevada, the amount of people on the trail dwindled to almost none. Now this is also the same trail that takes you to Halfdome as well, so there were a few people I ran into on their way to Halfdome.

After the Halfdome turnoff, I made continued onward to Clouds Rest. Now everyone REALLY disappeared. I spent a good hour or two hiking without seeing another soul. And there was a lot of elevation gain, this hike kicked my butt. I finally did run into someone about 2/3 of the way to the top, so we started hiking and chatting together. Clouds Rest turned out to be her favorite hike and she had done it the weekend prior, hardcore I know.

We reached the top of Clouds Rest together and it was unbelievable, the views were as good if not better than Halfdome. With a full view of Halfdome and the valley in the distance. This was one of those views that really takes your breath away and you just sit there and admire it. Nature’s beauty really is astounding sometimes.

Well, now we get to the juicy part, my hiking partner and I met another hiker at the top and we got to chatting and he was talking about hiking down the Muir Trail or down to Tenaya lake and back up. But there were lots of fire scars and it didn’t look like a particularly pleasurable experience. So! I had been toying with this idea that I suggested to him: “What if we hiked Halfdome on the way back?”

Clouds Rest, Halfdome: Same Day…

How many can say they’ve done that?

Well! He said: “I like the sounds of that!”

So, on the way back down instead of heading back to the valley, we took the turnoff to Halfdome (it’s only a 4 mile detour round trip). Since this was a spur of the moment decision, we had no permits of course, but I had known from my previous summit that the Ranger checking permits at the bottom of Quarter Dome leaves in the afternoon. Then anyone can hike the cables because no one is checking.

Well we reach the base of Quarter Dome by 2:30 PM and sure enough, no ranger, so we start making the trip up. This was the perfect time of day to hike Halfdome, because there was no one on the cables! The cables really aren’t that difficult, but what makes them hard is when there are lots of people and they freeze up and panic. We practically ran our way up the cables, made it up in about 10 minutes.

Then we spent some time at the top enjoying the view, I got my traditional picture standing on the ledge, which also happens to be the background for this website!

So here’s a fun thing to note: We could feel the mist from the waterfalls while sitting on the top! And there was also still snow on the top of Halfdome! IN JULY!

So anyway, after hanging out at the top for an hour, we made our way back down together and then all the way back to the valley for some pizza and chair time. Ended up being almost a 24 mile day, over 8,000 ft of elevation gain, and 5,000 calories burned. Would do again, an incredible experience I will never forget.

So here’s my score for Clouds Rest, Halfdome: Same Day: 10/10.