C2C vs. Half Dome

[James]

Sorry, a bit off the Skyline topic but...

I felt great after C2C this year but after Half Dome, I felt like I was hit by a bus. Must be those unending blocks going up (and down) the falls and up to the cables. No more blocks and weekends (lots of people!). Next time, the JMT up and down, preferably mid-week.

Makes me even more ready to do C2C again!

[NormaR]

i agree. those big steps up and down are tough on the quads and calfs.

[zippetydude]

Hi James.

Just a thought: You might try coming down from Tenaya Lake instead, then take a bus back up. It's fun to go from the upper area by way of Clouds Rest down past Half Dome and then on down to the valley.

I did it that way a couple of years ago, and saw only one person on the trail until I got to the base of Half Dome. Even then, there were perhaps 10 or 12 at the bottom of the cables (there was no line, people were just a little nervous about starting up there!) and 20 or so people on top. It was mid-week, like you mentioned, and I left Tenaya at first light, so it was only about 8:45 in the morning when I got there.

That's one of the benefits of coming downhill - most people are coming up from the valley, so you get there before them, enjoy the amazing adventure, and are already on your way to the valley before most people even get to the base.

That being said, I absolutely agree with you that the downhill takes its toll. Even though I try to go smoothly, with as little impact as possible, it still beats me up on those granite stairs. Imagine how much work it was to build them! One step at a time . . .

z

[FIGHT ON]

Imagine how much work it was to build them! One step at a time . . .

z

I bet it wouldn't seem like work at all. Building them in that setting I would not notice it. I mean it still is a lot of effort but work? No way. Fun!

[Hikin_Jim]

I don't know, bro. That trail was all done by hand and by dynamite. Them's some pretty big blocks of granite, and dynamite isn't all that fun to work with when you're drilling the holes by hand and crimping the blasting caps by hand as was done back in the day. It was actually, from what I've read, considered "more manly" to crimp the blasting caps with one's teeth. If by hand one might be maimed for life, but if done with the teeth, a mishap would typically result in the loss of life, resulting in a death benefit payout (rather than leaving a family with a maimed breadwinner).

Hmm, perhaps "modernity" isn't all that bad.

[FIGHT ON]

think I would have invented the long long handle crimping pliers. Like 50 feet long!
And still. between them blasts. like on a break even. Lookin better than any place I take breaks. Except maybe when the avalanche happens and the whole valley fills with smoke.

[James]

Zip - Thanks for the Tenaya Lake suggestion. Definitely want to try that sometime (and go to Cloud's Rest too).

Those steps are amazing and the stories behind them even more so I'll bet. The views from both the steps and the JMT above the falls are incredible.