Some people do things they shouldn’t just because they can…and others that can do things, sometimes still shouldn’t. Which is where we landed with the well-known Half Dome hike in Yosemite National Park. This was part of our Mt. Whitney trip planned all the way back in late winter (February/March) of 2025. Once receiving that beautiful email that stated we had won the Mt. Whitney lottery, we knew that we’d have to start planning and training asap. After initially scheduling our trip just based around the mountain herself, we realized that acclimatation was a real thing to be concerned, therefore scheduling extra days around our trip so that we had more time to prepare…which is how we got thinking about Half Dome.  When it came to our Half Dome hike preparation, we quickly realized we were way less organized than we thought.

Things We Didn’t Love About Half Dome

If you know anything already about this hike, you’ll know that alone, it’s a beast. (Not to mention the whole adding Mt. Whitney to the mix). 🤦‍♀️ But, here we are, reflecting on how it was an absolute shit show, conquering it nonetheless. It was frustrating, incredible, annoying at times and ridiculously harder at certain points than previously expected. There was MUCH more uphill than anticipated due to detours like, literally everywhere, leaving us a little short on drinking water and patience.

Sure, looking back, we probably could have stopped at one of the three water sources to pickup some more since we were carrying a filter, but as we neared the end of the trail and yet another detour, we decided that pushing on was the best thing since we were ready to check out from this hike. I’ll talk more about the water sources available in the next post, so be sure to keep reading. Woop woop!

PS – We’ll get into the campground options in a later post, too, as well as what’s nearby and the village options for food etc. so make sure you come back to get a feel for what’s worth stopping at and what we’d pass on in the future. There’s a lot to cover for the mighty Yosemite, so bear with me as we get through all of its incredible details!

So, enough beating around the bush, let me get into the deets from the beginning. 👇

Half Dome Preparation

It all started on Sunday afternoon…the anxiety, I mean. (But if you read the last post, you’ll already know that). 😌 Since we applied for Half Dome on the plane before leaving our airport, we were officially in the daily lottery system. (Although it’s more like 2 days since you have to apply two days out from when you’d like to hike. It only took about 24 hours though to get our results). We found out the next day that we would win the daily lottery for Monday. But as we got this email, we realized that perhaps Tuesday might be a better fit, since we were still jet-lagged from travel, and were about to spend almost a whole day driving to our next location. (Check out what I mean by reading my last few posts!) 🤓

And if you want to see where to apply for your very own permit, click here to learn more about doing so!

So, we applied for Tuesday and hoped for the best. But, as the next day approached, we received the email that unfortunately Tuesday wouldn’t be an option, therefore making Sunday afternoon a “holy crap we have to figure out tonight and tomorrow morning” instead of the previous, “omg let’s just get to the campground and chill today bc we’re so exhausted” plan.

After an already full day of decision making and recalibrating what we were doing, we had approximately 3 more hours to drive into Yosemite. During these three hours, we talked about how we would setup camp when we got there (at nearly dark around 7:30pm), and how we would break camp down in the morning so that we could get a semi-early start. (around 5-6am was the plan)

Half Dome Preparation Need to Know Tips

If you’re wondering what a last minute setup and break down looks like, here are a few tips we learned throughout this process:

• It’s easier if you prep ahead of time. Keeping things organized and cleaned up along the trip makes it easier to know where everything is if it’s dark when you need it or if you need to grab things in a hurry.
• Use the car time to plan. We talked about who would do what when we got there and this made the process more streamlined and easy.
• I *wish* I would have done what I mentioned and packed the backpacks in the backseat while the hubs was driving. This would have saved a step with headlamps in the dark when arriving.
• Have dehydrated meals on hand just in case you need something in a pinch like this that is a decently healthy and a satisfying option. (We already had snacks purchased too, which we grabbed from the REI in Fresno, CA, or had purchased in bulk online at home and brought with us on the plane). This part helped a TON, since we passed anything leading into Yosemite to get there sooner, and by the time we were in the park nearly everything was closed.
• Be okay with things not being “perfect.” I think this goes for hiking/camping/backpacking in general, but especially for “winging it” situations, it’s a must. (For example, since we didn’t plan on leaving the first campsite so soon, we decided to just deflate the air pad and leave everything inside laid out, which in turn, helped us set up quickly and know what to do to re-pack quickly in the dark morning hours before heading on the HD hike).

And here’s a few things that came in handy in the quick, dark situation:

• Headlamps – (specifically with red lights as mentioned in a previous post, don’t be the guy shining a bright white light on everyone around you just because you had poor planning and showed up late) 🙂
• Dehydrated meals – we like a plethora of brands, but my favorite is by Peak Refuel. Unfortunately they were running low on these, but we did get to try a new brand, “Heather’s Choice,” which I absolutely loved not only because of taste and clean ingredients, but also because it reminded me of my great grandmothers spaghetti! 💜
• My new favorite camp light (by Luminade) – which also has a red setting! It includes a handle and pops up with just air, meaning it’s quick to setup, easy to store and keep handy, and easy to move around when trying to setup in the dark (or take with me to the bathroom a million times a night)😁

We decided to skip evening tea/hot cocoa and reading that night, since by the time we setup and ate it was nearly 9pm. Knowing we had to get an early start to beat the heat and the crowds, we turned in and got some much needed rest.

In the posts to come, we’ll cover the hike itself, how we failed to pack lightly like we promised we would, LOL, and how awesome Yosemite as a whole is. There’s a bunch to go over so I appreciate you tagging along for the fun stuff. Talk to you soon! ☺️🥾

A Big Ol’ Thank You

Thanks for reading along and not judging my chaos, poor planning, or questionable decision-making skills. If nothing else, I hope my experience helps you avoid bad choices of your own when it comes to Half Dome hike preparation. Cheers to learning the hard way together! 😅