Yosemite National Park - Halfdome
The next big hike with almost the same group with which we went to Sequoia, was to the Half Dome in Yosemite Park. Like its name it is a huge half dome with a very smooth surface. It was a really long hike, about 17 miles in total.
We went to Yosemite friday afternoon and met the other members of the group at the Yosemite Bug hostel in Midpines, a village at the beginning of the park. The next morning we got up at six and went to Curry Village, a starting point for many trails in the Yosemite park. The first part of the trail (Myst trail) was steep climbing using the rock stairs. Luckily I brought enough water, because the sun was burning and I was sweating like a horse.
Around 2:00 PM we arrived at the foot of the Half Dome and we discovered we were not the only group that had decide to go up the Half Dome along the steel cables. So we had to wait in line there. On top of the Half Dome however, there was lots of space, so it was not that crowded. I sat on the famous 'dive board', a rock that bends over a bit with nothing but a 2000 ft. depth beneeth it. That was scary indeed, but it was fun!
On our way back, I ran out of water, and after I had finished some filtered water I got from a stranger, I was still thirsty and decided to drink from the fast running Merced River. That water was so extremely fresh and tasty, but luckily I did not get sick of it. When we got back at the car it was already 7:45 PM. We had pizza at curry village where there were a lot of people.