Neither Lisa nor I had climbed Half Dome before. It's shape is unique and it stands a high watch over the valley floor. The thought of hiking 8 miles to get to it, had somewhat deterred us, but we found out about a shorter more direct approach to the base. The approach was still terrible and loose, but it wasn't 8 miles long.

Many of the popular big walls these days are being done in under a days time. We tried this approach on Half Dome. Go light and fast. This approach works great if you can get up the route in time. If you get benighted or something else goes wrong, well, you're in for some suffering.

We spent one day getting to the base, one day doing the climb, and the following morning hiking out.