Hell, if you got the energy, keep going and you can wind up at the top of Half Dome ;-)I don't think so. I'm a chicken when it comes to heights. Nevada Fall was about my limit. My wife, son and I tried hiking to Upper Yosemite Fall from the valley floor one year. We got about halfway and came to a four-foot wide ledge with people walking both ways, and a 1,500 foot drop of the edge. Our sone sat down and refused to go further. My wife urged him to go on, but I told her we shouldn't force him to do something he didn't want to do. I didn't have to tell her there was no way I was walking on the outside of that ledge. Hell, I would have been crawling on the inside if I attempted it, then she'd have to hike back down and get the car to retrieve me in Tuolumne Meadow. :sick: I have to admit I spent an hour this morning reading the website you linked, then found yosemitehikes.com] and spent another hour reading that site. Made me realize how much I miss Yosemite.
I also have a telescope and I love how when using it, it brings into focus a ocean of stars. Damn that is the best.The Orion Nebula is still my favorite object to view, although the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies is pretty darn impressive through a large telescope under dark skies, such as the 82-inch telescope at the McDonald Observatory outside Ft. Davis, TX.
Hell, if you got the energy, keep going and you can wind up at the top of Half Dome ;-)I don't think so. I'm a chicken when it comes to heights. hmmm, 8-/ ahh %-P memory is a beautiful thing :-P It was 1974, I was nineteen and we were invincible :coolsmile:
I had quite enough excitement when one of my friends and I hiked to the Vernal Fall Bridge one winter. Snow started falling as we set up our cameras* and we were so intent on taking photos that we didn’t notice four inches had fallen in one hour, and we had to hike back down that trail. The photos on the website you linked show the easy, lower part of the trail. The steeper, higher part does not have a wall on the outside, and it was icy as we were making our way back to the valley floor. That was an interesting afternoon. I’d name the ranger who suggested we hike up there, but I may want to take a photo workshop with him in the future and don’t want to nuke that relationship.
I think I’d be capable of getting to the top of Halfdome. Getting down would be the problem. I could ignore the height on the way up. Of course, at our age getting in shape to try the hike would take a lot of work. 
That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.
*The worst part is all we got were photos of white streaks blocking the view of the fall. But it was beautiful. Too bad the photos didn’t work.
too bad about the photos Darron
Yea, when it starts snowing it can dump like no other place I’ve ever lived.
Steep and icy and windy, the spice of life.
Fish Tumor, if you can ever get a chance to get out that way, go for it. 
too bad about the photos Darron Yea, when it starts snowing it can dump like no other place I've ever lived. Steep and icy and windy, the spice of life.Yeah. One weekend two friends and I rented a tent cabin in the valley. We all took our cameras. NWS predicted four to eight inches of snow. We awoke on Saturday morning to two feet of snow and visibility of less than 50 yards. The storm dumped four feet of snow before it ended. We were stuck in Yosemite Valley for three days before the roads were cleared enough to get out. Good thing we took Scotch.
Darron, I would think that if you are in shape enough to get to the top, you mostly just need sure-footedness to get back down, because, then, gravity and increasing oxygen levels are your friend.
Darron, I would think that if you are in shape enough to get to the top, you mostly just need sure-footedness to get back down, because, then, gravity and increasing oxygen levels are your friend.Naw, it's looking down at that steep slope that bothers me. I got dizzy looking over the railing on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Of course, if I did manage to make it up to the top of Halfdome I wouldn't have much choice about coming back down. I doubt the rangers would have much sympathy if I called them on my cell phone and asked for a helicopter.
... Learning about how the cosmos work gives me a feeling inside that I can't express to others in a justified way.How about this: "engaging in the quest to discover where and how things began" (can make you feel) "as if knowing the beginning bestows upon you some form of fellowship with, or perhaps governance over, all that comes later". quoted portions by N.D. Tyson I love that! Thank you. I really love that and thank you for sharing.
I also have a telescope and I love how when using it, it brings into focus a ocean of stars. Damn that is the best.The Orion Nebula is still my favorite object to view, although the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies is pretty darn impressive through a large telescope under dark skies, such as the 82-inch telescope at the McDonald Observatory outside Ft. Davis, TX. I would love to has a large telescope to view the universe.
A different hike in Yosemite is to drive to Tuolome (sp) Meadows (7,000+ feet), park your car and backpack to the three Young’s Lakes. The upper one is about 10,500 feet high as I recall (not too certain because it was in 1974). Stay there an extra day to build platelets and red blood vessels. Then hike cross-country to the north end of the park. Finally, hike south along the western trails back to Tuolome Meadows. Should take about eight days, but seeing the animals, the stars, the unbelievable views can’t be forgotten.
Occam
A different hike in Yosemite is to drive to Tuolome (sp) Meadows (7,000+ feet), park your car and backpack to the three Young's Lakes. The upper one is about 10,500 feet high as I recall (not too certain because it was in 1974). Stay there an extra day to build platelets and red blood vessels. Then hike cross-country to the north end of the park. Finally, hike south along the western trails back to Tuolome Meadows. Should take about eight days, but seeing the animals, the stars, the unbelievable views can't be forgotten. OccamThat sounds like a fantastic hike, Occam. I need to spend some time in the Sierra Nevada next summer.
A different hike in Yosemite is to drive to Tuolome (sp) Meadows (7,000+ feet), park your car and backpack to the three Young's Lakes. The upper one is about 10,500 feet high as I recall (not too certain because it was in 1974). Stay there an extra day to build platelets and red blood vessels. Then hike cross-country to the north end of the park. Finally, hike south along the western trails back to Tuolome Meadows. Should take about eight days, but seeing the animals, the stars, the unbelievable views can't be forgotten. Occamthat my friend is a true adventure, well done.
And one of the best but stupidist things I did was to get pissed at the Unitarian minister who wanted to go the wrong way (didn’t know how to read a compass along with a geodesic map), so the other seven guys followed him (charism %-P ), so I went off by myself (wrong!!!), but seeing the doe and her fawn walking ten feet away while I had stopped for lunch, watching a duck and her six or eight tiny ducklings swimming hell-bent in a brook, figuring out how to cross a 30 foot across, 20 feet straight down then up, canyon, made it worth it. The final pleasure was to have the son of one of the guys tell me, that evening at the campground that they had ended up in a box canyon and had to double back and take the path I had recommended. 
Occam
And one of the best but stupidist things I did was to get pissed at the Unitarian minister who wanted to go the wrong way (didn't know how to read a compass along with a geodesic map), so the other seven guys followed him (charism %-P ), so I went off by myself (wrong!!!), but seeing the doe and her fawn walking ten feet away while I had stopped for lunch, watching a duck and her six or eight tiny ducklings swimming hell-bent in a brook, figuring out how to cross a 30 foot across, 20 feet straight down then up, canyon, made it worth it. The final pleasure was to have the son of one of the guys tell me, that evening at the campground that they had ended up in a box canyon and had to double back and take the path I had recommended. :) Occamha ha I love that you took the adventure solo. Awesome