Weekly Update #3 - Hiking Half Dome in Yosemite

Last weekend I did a trip to Yosemite with one of my friends named Connor. We packed up and drove out at around 5am on Friday morning, dreary eyed and ready to make the long drive to Yosemite. We hit the road and ran into a little bit of traffic, but the overall drive was pretty smooth. We hit every kind of weather on this initial trip, we went from darkness and fog to sunrise and clear skies. I knew the trip was off to a favorable start when I checked my phone to see that we had won the daily lottery to climb up the cables at Half Dome, which I've always wanted to do, its pretty rad.

We drove straight through the morning until we finally started to hit the mountains and caught glimpses of the Sierra's. We started to drink up the crisp mountain air and take in all the vast landscapes. We kept on driving right into the Yosemite gates, got our weekly pass and made our way into the valley floor and started to wander, hike and poke around the valley.

Mirror Lake - THE best swimming hole I have ever been to, hands down. A crisp mountain lake sandwiched between Half Dome and another large wall of pure granite.

After a long day of hiking around the valley floor, we made our way back to our AirBnb campsite located about an hour outside of the park. We drove into camp and was greeted by an elderly man, missing a few screws and teeth (presumably from meth), but very nice none the less. We got settled, had a very large meal and prepared for the grueling hike the next day.

Saturday morning creeps up very sharply at 5 am for the start of our day. We eat a hearty breakfast and get ready for our day ahead. We are getting ready to do the Half Dome Trail which is about 17 miles round trip, gaining 4,800 feet of elevation and were carrying around a 30-40 pound pack. 

The best coffee on the planet.

Mount Tam Hike above San Francisco

My cousin Tyler and I went up to Mount Tam the other weekend, one of the highest points in the Bay Area. From the top, you can see San Francisco in its entirety, Oakland and Berkley. In addition to seeing the Golden Gate Bridge, Pacific Ocean and the Bay. The views are unbelievably gorgeous, especially on a clear day, so we set out to go to the top. 

               We made our way up to Mount Tam by driving across the Golden Gate Bridge, which never gets old. Every single time I look at it or drive across it feels like the first time. Just seeing the immense gates being tethered by the thick crimson strings makes me truly love being in San Francisco and California.

Mount Tam overlooking San Francisco.

If you look outside, you’ll see they crisp blue bay being sprinkled with stark white sail boats. Once you pass over the bridge you must go through Robin Williams Tunnel, which is a tunnel through a mountain marked by a rainbow on the front, then your eyes are opened to the wonders of Sausalito and Marin marked by all the marina’s and million dollar homes on cliff sides.

               We take the exit for Muir Woods and make our ascension up through the groves of eucalyptus and redwood trees to Mount Tam. It is a very windy road were the tall, gangly trees tower over the roadway. Once you get out of the groves, you see the scenery open like book showing you all the grand ocean, hills and forests. We round the curve to start our windy road to the base of Mount Tam and continue up the unbelievably windy roads, if you look at the roads from the sky they must look like a river delta on the side of a mountain. We wind our way to the very top and finally park our car, take our all our camera gear and start hiking. It was an unnaturally clear day, we were standing on the cliffs edge breathing in all the fresh ocean and mountain air. 

Karl The Fog rolling in as the sun sets over Mount Tam.