Half Dome

I was skimming the headlines on SFGate tonight, and my jaw dropped when I got to this one: "Hiker falls to his death from Yosemite's Half Dome." It was short on details, but it seems that weather conditions may have been a factor, since it was cold and cloudy and there had been some hail, which made the slippery granite rock even slicker. The story mentioned that "The last death at Half Dome was Japanese hiker Hirofumi Nohara, 37, who slipped off of cables on June 16, 2007 as other hikers watched in horror."

I was there that day, June 16, two years ago, and I was one of those people who watched in horror.

I remember that after a long, hot, wait -- it gets so, so crowded up there at the cables -- it was finally my turn to head up the steep granite part of the trail leading to the top of the Dome (it's not scary once you get to the top - they could put a football field up there). Just as I put on my gloves and was reaching down to pick up the cables, I heard a clatter coming from the sheer drop just up and to the left of me. In the space of one second, my mind processed what my eyes were seeing: "Oh no, some hiker near the top lost his Nalgene bottle and it's tumbling down the hill. Oh no, there's a backpack tumbling after it. Oh shit, that's not just a backpack, that's a man tumbling down the side!''

It was AWFUL, truly one of the most AWFUL things I have ever seen. Other hikers started yelling at him to grab on to something, but there was nothing to stop his fall - just smooth, steep granite. He was much too far out of reach - a good 20 feet away from the nearest person on the cables, and getting further away the further he fell. There was nothing anyone could do. Most people stared, but I had to turn away - I couldn't look. But not before taking a step further to the right, so that if he abruptly changed trajectory and headed our way he wouldn't take us down with him. Amazing, how that instinct for self-preservation kicks in.

Afterwards, people were shell-shocked - some were crying, some were just quietly stunned. I was in the latter category. Since my group was splintered - some were already at the top, the rest of us were still down below - I sat and waited there for the others to come down. I remember thinking "What am I doing out here? This is so dangerous, always traipsing off into the wilderness like this where anything can happen." I was ready to hang up my hiking boots for good.

I got over that feeling. But another feeling remains: anger. Anger that such a dangerous, difficult hike has grown so popular that on a summer weekend you'll see hundreds (thousands?) of unprepared people swarming the trails so they can "do" Half Dome. Anger at all the people who don't take it seriously enough - they arrive with inappropriate footwear (tennis shoes do not cut it), inadequate water, clothing that's not right for conditions that can turn on a dime. Anger at all those frat boys who drag their skimpily clad, terrified girlfriends along - because they're often the ones who are crying halfway up the cables, frozen in fear, so that no one behind them can move and it turns into a dangerous situation for all. Anger at all the parents who do that to their kids; my first time up Half Dome, I was behind a petrified 12 year-old who held up the line. Her mother didn't take her fear seriously, even though she whined all the way up, and then when they were stuck she had to be helped down by a stranger. Anger that all these things happen every weekend and yet nothing is done to regulate it. I say do a lottery - limit the number of people who can go up the cables every day, and make sure the ones who do are prepared. It might alleviate a lot of this.

I don't think I'll hike Half Dome again, even on a day when it's less crowded. I did it once, and I have too many bad memories of my second attempt. No loss - there are tons more trails I have yet to do.

I did go back to Yosemite two months later. I hiked to Cloud's Rest from Tuolomne. It's a long hike - 14 miles, with a section at Cloud's Rest that, while not as frightful as the final part of the Half Dome climb, nonetheless scares me a little (you're walking on big boulders with long drops on either side). I was hoping it would be cathartic, and it was. At Cloud's Rest you're actually a little higher than Half Dome, and it feels like you're looking down on it. I borrowed binoculars and watched the line of people making their way up the cables, slow as ants. I was glad I wasn't there with them.

Anyway, I suppose the surprising thing is that stuff like this doesn't happen more often at Half Dome. You'd think it would. I'm glad it doesn't. But I was dismayed to read that it happened again. My thoughts go out to that guy, his family, and especially to any friends who might have been there that day to witness it. It's something that I wish no one would have to see.