Weekend in Yosemite National Park
my experience hiking Half Dome and exploring Yosemite National Park
It’s impossible to put into words the first time entering Yosemite’s Valley as El Cap comes into view. I have Yosemite National Park to thank for igniting my passion for conquering tough hikes, spending time outdoors and exploring the West Coast. We didn’t win the early-entry lottery for Half Dome permits but applied to the daily lottery before securing permits our second day.
3-day Itinerary
Day 1: Upper Yosemite Falls
We kicked off our first day in Yosemite with a tough trail hiking to Upper Yosemite Falls. It’s a 7-mile, 3,600+ ft elevation gain that passes Lower Yosemite Falls all the way to Upper Yosemite Falls where you’ll have a view overlooking the Valley across from Half Dome.
After Lower Falls you’ll enter a period of switchback hell on an exposed and rocky portion of the trail before hitting the top. It’s a tough switchback-heavy trail, especially when hiking during peak summer hours, but damn is it worth it! We spent a lot of time on the top swimming in the Yosemite Creek, which leads to the waterfall, and resting under shaded escapes. The view was breathtaking and worth the extended period at the top. We left in time to make it back to the Valley before sunset.
Day 2: Half Dome
Half Dome was a full day adventure, starting at 6am and making it back to our car by 6pm. A grueling hike but so epic you’ll barely notice how tired your feet are! We followed the Mist Trail on the way up and took the John Muir Trail on the way home. Although this added extra mileage, we wanted to avoid taking the Mist Trail stairs down since they were very slippery and we knew we’d be tired at this point in the day. We ended up clocking close to 18 miles and 5,500+ ft elevation doing this route but checked off multiple bucket-list views by combining the trails into one loop!
The hike from the Mist Trail takes you over the Merced River, right up to Vernal Falls and the iconic Mist Trail stairs. From there you’ll pop off at a viewpoint looking down on Silver Apron and Vernal Falls. The next major milestone will be Nevada Falls where you can pop-off the mist trail quickly to view from the bottom or wait until your way home to see from the top. After Nevada Falls, the Mist Trail will merge with the John Muir Trail which will eventually split off into the Half Dome Trail.
The journey from the John Muir Trail to the Half Dome Trail will feel long, monotonous and involve a lot of switchbacks. Make sure to take a lot of breaks while in the shade to fuel up!
Your next major milestone will be the permit check. Ensure you’ve taken screenshots or printed your permits in advance since you will not have service at this elevation and won’t be able to proceed further without one. From here, you’ll reach the switchbacks at the Base of Sub Dome. These are a bit of a scramble and the path isn’t entirely clear but there’s no way to get lost. Once you get here you’re very close to the base of the Half Dome cables! Once you’ve cleared these switchbacks and Half Dome is in sight, take a second to rest and prep for the cable climb.
I’m not going to lie, the cables were more intimidating than I was expecting. The angle looks much steeper when you’re at the bottom, there was no crowd control going up/down the cables and there were a lot of unexperienced hikers in the mix. Climbing the cables involved way more arm strength than expected and because there can be congestion on the cables, you can be waiting for periods of time while halfway up. The best advice I saw was to bring gloves, I bought cushioned gardening gloves specifically, to protect your hands from the wires and improve grip strength.
Once at the top, you feel like you’re on top of the world! You can see for miles in all directions, are hovering over the Valley and beyond and can’t believe your legs were capable of getting you there! We got to the top of the cables by 11am and stayed at the top for over an hour napping, snacking and taking it all in!
On the way home we stopped for a dip in Merced River (pack a bathing suit!), spent time at the top of Nevada Falls and took the John Muir Trail home. We drove straight to Happy Burget Diner to celebrate our journey and carb-load after the long day adventure!
Day 3: Relaxing in the Valley
At this point in our trip we clocked 25 miles in two days and were quite exhausted. We didn’t have another hike in us so we spent our day lounging in the Valley and swimming in Tenaya Creek, off of the Mirror Lake Loop trail.
Trail Recommendations
Resources
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During peak summer season (April-October), entrance permits are required to enter the park within certain hours. Click here to view 2025 entrance requirements. With a lodging or activity reservation within the park, you are able to get around the permit entrance requirement.
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Permits to hike to the top of Half Dome are required seven days per week when the cables are up (May-October). You can apply for the preseason lottery 3/1-3/31/25 and results will be announced 4/11/25. More info can be found here.
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Additional permits are available each day by lottery during the hiking season. The daily lotteries have an application period two days prior to the hiking date with a notification late that night. The application period is from midnight to 4 pm Pacific time.
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The following items aren’t mandatory to hike but they improved my overall experience:
Gardening gloves for protection/grip on the cables
Sun protection (sunscreen, hats) since the trail is exposed
Electrolytes (Nuun tablets) and enough food for a 12-hour day
Bathing suit and quick-dry towel if you plan to swim
Printed permit
