Early on in our Yosemite trip planning, we had asked the kids if they wanted to do a day hike to the top of Half Dome, and the answer was an overwhelming yes. So, we submitted a permit application into the annual lottery, fully expecting to not be selected since our group size would be the maximum of six people – surprisingly, we got the permit for July 6th, our first choice day. Chris had done Half Dome twice back in the late 70s, but both times were part of extended backpack trips that included six-mile round trip hikes to the summit from campsites in Little Yosemite Valley – this adventure would start on the Valley floor, and none of us had ever attempted a day hike that would be 14-16 miles in length, depending on the chosen route, and involve some 5,200′ of elevation gain and subsequent loss. We briefly considered doing the hike as an overnight but decided the logistics of additional gear and permitting would be impractical if not altogether prohibitive, so the intervening time has been filled with ensuring everyone is equipped with lightweight but sturdy boots, hydration packs, and other requisite items. We figured we’d need to get as early a start as possible, especially so as the day approached given the heat, and we left Wawona at 4:30am, parking at the trailhead area about a half mile west of the John Muir Trail’s origin at Happy Isles. We were all a little sleep-deprived, but none more so than Chris who was literally up all night – he would do poorly the whole day, as did our GPS, which would not establish a satellite connection and was left behind in the van. Already our group was slightly diminished – originally we were seven, Chris never intending to summit but instead planning to wait below the subdome, but Pedro had pulled out the night before, concerned about his bad back, so we were now six as we headed out. We had expected headlamps would be required at this hour, but the area, though shaded for several more hours, was light enough to walk without hazard, and we reached the official trailhead by 5:45am. The shortest but steepest route follows the JMT eastward up past the footbridge below Vernal Fall, proceeding then steeply up the Mist Trail past Vernal and Nevada Falls – alternatively, one can stay on the JMT and avoid both the crowds and the steep stair steps of the Mist Trail but also add two round-trip miles in the process. Once past that first bridge, we chose to try the Mist Trail, and right away found ourselves getting soaked to the skin from the abundant sprays cast off by Vernal Fall – Chris had hiked down this trail on both of his previous Half Dome trips but remembered nothing like this, with the season’s record snow pack creating massive water flows in the Merced this summer. In the cool morning air and without direct sunlight to warm us, we reached the top of Vernal Fall quite chilled, most of us pulling out jackets to be comfortable. The steepness of the wet section (as well as the dry section above it) prompted us to use the Clark Point connector trail above the fall, one that would take us higher but westward to the JMT, by which we’d complete the ascent to Nevada Fall but skip the steps of the upper Mist Trail. Those jackets quickly came off by the time we reached the JMT a short while later, and we were treated to sunrise from the south wall of the canyon as we completed the gradual climb to the bridge over Nevada Fall – at one point, we traversed under an overhang that was dripping from seasonal spring seepage above, requiring about 30 feet of cold showers to push through. The warm sun was welcome as we took a break on the slabs above the river, most of us choosing to eat our lunch here, even though it was just 8:30am. We were well behind our expected pace, and cloud cover had moved in over Little Yosemite Valley as we walked eastward through it. We stayed on the JMT, reaching its northward turn up the Cloud’s Rest ridge about 9:30 – here, we encountered the initial permit checkpoint, at which the ranger reconciled our emailed permit on Chris’ phone with the list of approved hikers on his iPad (funny to consider such a technological exchange in the backcountry – what would Muir and Clarence King think of that?), advising us that, should the sky still look as threatening when we got to the subdome, we should not continue. Thanking him, we proceeded up the trail, the steepness of which stood in stark contrast to the flats of Little Yosemite Valley and slowed Chris up considerably – we hadn’t gone too far before deciding that he would hang back and let the others go on without him at a quicker pace, and that he would wait for them at the JMT/Half Dome trail junction about a mile short of the subdome. Chris made Jane promise that, although the clouds appeared to be moving out to the east, should she hear thunder at any point thereafter, she’d turn around and shepherd the group back off the mountain. And so we continued up the hill, Cassie and Chris H sometimes maintaining visual contact but the rest of the group being out of Chris’ sight until much later in the day (as planned, he stopped at the aforementioned junction, set up his Alite chair, and got a much-needed three-hour rest alongside the trail). Meanwhile, the group got strung out on the trail section above – the route finishes its ascent to the ridgeline, then turns west and south up a hump to another flat area east of the subdome, a granite satellite dome that extends northeastward from Half Dome’s nose. Cassie and Chris H got to a point on the hump, deciding they’d stop there, while Jane pressed on and met Carter and Dani at the subdome base. After another permit check there, the trio proceeded up the exposed granite switchbacks, gaining about 100′ before Dani, realizing the exposure, was compelled to stop and turn around, Carter accompanying her back down to the flats. Jane continued on her own, gradually making it to the top of the subdome and to the base of the cables. Having gotten this far on pure adrenaline, she thought it unwise to continue climbing alone, not only concerned about her fading stamina but also the clouds that had started building again to the south and now developing dark undersides. Another mom with kids higher on the mountain shot Jane’s video message to the gang, and, after taking some great pictures documenting her high-water mark, Jane hiked back down the subdome as thunder started reverberating off the rock. She collected the group in pieces as she retraced her steps, reaching Chris at the JMT junction about 1:30pm as rain was starting to fall. Within moments, the clouds opened up in a typical Sierra storm, raining marble-sized drops for about 30 minutes before petering out – we’re not sure the brief storm ever reached the Half Dome structure itself, but we all thought it fortunate none of our group was on the high points when it hit, just in case. We made our way back down to Nevada Fall at a sporadic pace – Jane stayed a while at the Merced soaking her feet while Chris forged ahead to catch the others. We had planned on returning down the JMT with its gentler grade, but we were all overheated and tired by this time – we decided to accept tedium and cool mist over longer and potentially hotter distance by returning via the Mist Trail, which was, in the end, probably not the best decision. The Mist trail was crowded, very slow, and not very cool – the afternoon beat down on the upper reaches of the trail, and, although pretty, the mists from Nevada Fall blew straight down the river and not over our location alongside to the north. Our fatigue was evident as we picked our way through the showers of spray below thundering Vernal Fall, and we refilled water reservoirs at the footbridge (it came to light here that Jane had finished her water hours earlier, so it was no wonder she felt so weak her whole way back from the cables). The paved path down to the valley from the footbridge was really not enjoyable at all, our joints and muscles aching, although the shade and relative coolness of the Happy Isles area was so welcome as we pushed through it back to the cars. Without a GPS, it’s a little tough to figure how far everyone walked – we think the range falls somewhere between Chris’ 12 miles and Jane’s 16+, although her phone logged over 47,000 steps for an estimated 22 miles based on stride length. Even though no one reached the summit, we all thought the hike successful – we each did things we had never done before, and all the kids got to see something of Yosemite’s backcountry that had previously been invisible to them. Perhaps at some point, we’ll return and do Half Dome as an overnight, but, for now, we’re all content to nurse our sore muscles and proudly reminisce about today’s excellent adventure.