LA Weekend Excursion: Yosemite

I am originally from the colder regions of Canada, so I am definitely one of those Angelenos who tries not take for granted our sunny lifestyle here in LA.

One of my favorite aspects of Los Angeles living, is the weekend excursion! There are so many great places to get away to — all within a day’s drive.

Yosemite Half Dome is probably one of the best hikes I’ve ever experienced.  For me it was on the level with Mt. Fuji in Japan and Mt. Whitney in Southern California. The good thing about Half Dome is that the drive is only 4 hours from the Los Angeles area (although Mt. Fuji might be only slightly farther with traffic) and the hike can be very challenging – a climber’s dream!

So if you decide to take this on, be aware that the elevation will increase approximately 4,800 from the floor of the Yosemite Valley to reach a height of 8,842 feet.  The hike is approximately 17 miles round trip, so you should plan on taking at least 10-12 hours.  After a few too many holiday parties, with the shape I’m in now, it might take a bit longer!  So be aware of your limits!

In terms of preparation, good hiking shoes are an obvious requirement.  Toenails do take over six months to grow back and are pretty disgusting to look at in the meantime.  Make sure you bring plenty of water – well over a gallon is ideal.  Despite all our dearest wishes, beer does not function well for hydration and may make the climb a bit more difficult, although maybe it will feel shorter.  You are going to need plenty of energy, so be sure to bring along nutritious but light weight food and high-energy snacks.  And there is one item I would definitively add: make sure you bring a pair of leather or rawhide gloves.  Once you get to the bottom of the rock, which took us about 3.5 hours (I was counting each minute precisely), you will need to climb with the cables to get to the top of Half Dome – it can be fairly painful without the gloves!

Overall, the hike was awesome – some strenuous climbing and best of all, the incredible views!  Although I’m not vouching for my hiking partner’s view – all he saw on the way up was probably my backside!

One more tip – when you reserve your tent at the campground, make sure you ask to be far away from those bear-proof metal garbage cans!  It would be nice if they were human-proof as well, especially at 4am.  For a replay of the torture we experienced the night we were supposed to rest well for the hike, watch the video: