20150525 Half Dome via Snake Dike
Posted: Thu May 28, 2015 9:05 am
My buddy Gabe wanted to climb Half Dome and figured the best way up isn't the crowded cables, but a (hopefully not crowded) Snake Dike. Let me first link you to his trip report, which is very swag: http://foreveroutsideco.com/blog/2015/5/27/half-dome
We left the lot near Curry Village at 4:10am or so, and got back at 6:10pm for a 14hr day. I think we did 17 miles or something, as we went up and down the JMT instead of the Mist Trail, and I got us slightly lost just below the base of the route.
I went up a lieback crack on the right side of P1, but the 'roof' people talk about was dripping water onto already slippery slab. I hadn't climbed slab in Yosemite in a while, so I backed off from under the roof (would be traversing left), went back to the dirt, and went up the left side by the tiny tree. Much easier. Easy moves over the bulge called the 'roof', so don't let it intimidate you if you're on the fence about this route. Easy climbing up the crack above to the belay.
Second pitch was a cool place to chill. There's a real easy fun traverse right on a rail (like a railing), then up and slightly right to the next belay, not far away.
I remember being uneasy on the third pitch the first time I climbed this route. It's a slab traverse up and left to gain the dike the route is known for. It turned out to be very easy this time, so much so that I wondered why it felt hard before.
The rest of the 8 or so pitches runs up this dike:
The slabs get lower and lower angle as you crawl up the side of this massive dome of granite. Not a lotta people on top! Easy, if slippery, descent down the cables. I left my climbing shoes on for this as my running shoes are slippery everywhere. Hung out with some kids from Colorado and made some Brits and a Belgian or something laugh. Dunno 'bout them Belgians.
It was a pretty easy hike back to the car. Jogged a couple little bits to dance around people. Went climbing at Swan Slab the next day. Fun times.
Cheers homies
We left the lot near Curry Village at 4:10am or so, and got back at 6:10pm for a 14hr day. I think we did 17 miles or something, as we went up and down the JMT instead of the Mist Trail, and I got us slightly lost just below the base of the route.
I went up a lieback crack on the right side of P1, but the 'roof' people talk about was dripping water onto already slippery slab. I hadn't climbed slab in Yosemite in a while, so I backed off from under the roof (would be traversing left), went back to the dirt, and went up the left side by the tiny tree. Much easier. Easy moves over the bulge called the 'roof', so don't let it intimidate you if you're on the fence about this route. Easy climbing up the crack above to the belay.
Second pitch was a cool place to chill. There's a real easy fun traverse right on a rail (like a railing), then up and slightly right to the next belay, not far away.
I remember being uneasy on the third pitch the first time I climbed this route. It's a slab traverse up and left to gain the dike the route is known for. It turned out to be very easy this time, so much so that I wondered why it felt hard before.
The rest of the 8 or so pitches runs up this dike:
The slabs get lower and lower angle as you crawl up the side of this massive dome of granite. Not a lotta people on top! Easy, if slippery, descent down the cables. I left my climbing shoes on for this as my running shoes are slippery everywhere. Hung out with some kids from Colorado and made some Brits and a Belgian or something laugh. Dunno 'bout them Belgians.
It was a pretty easy hike back to the car. Jogged a couple little bits to dance around people. Went climbing at Swan Slab the next day. Fun times.
Cheers homies
