One Best Hike: Yosemite's Half Dome [Paperback]

Rick Deutsch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 7, 2007

The most popular route to Half Dome’s summit is a grueling 16-mile round-trip trek with 10,800 feet in elevation gain and loss. Although the hike is non-technical, with hikers climbing fixed cables up the granite, many would-be hikers are hesitant about this potentially risky trip. How fit should you be? What preparations do you need to make? What should you bring? How should you pace yourself during the day? Author and seasoned Half Dome hiker Rick Deutsch provides the authoritative step-by-step guide to planning and completing this superb one-day hike with safety advice, insider information, detail, and reassurance found nowhere else.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Rick Deutsch has lived the Carpe Diem lifestyle, enjoying adventure travel worldwide. He's hiked in many rewarding places including the Galapagos, Machu Picchu, the Great Wall of China, Mt. Fuji and the Pyramids.  Some of  Rick's other "personal bests" include summiting California's Mount Whitney, hiking Mount Shasta, rafting through the Grand Canyon, bicycling the 500-mile Iowa cross-state bike tour, mountain biking in Utah, dog sledding in Alaska, and over 250 scuba dives in such exotic locales as the Caribbean, Papua New Guinea, Palau and Truk Lagoon.

His proudest achievement is his 30 hikes up to the top Half Dome, the granite monolith symbol of Yosemite National Park. He's written the best selling book, 1st edition of One Best Hike: Yosemite’s Half Dome.   

Rick gives motivational speeches and lectures on hiking at museums, libraries, colleges, outfitters, cruise ships and to civic groups.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 118 pages
• Publisher: Wilderness Press; 1 edition (May 7, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0899974430
• ISBN-13: 978-0899974439
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #339,267 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Pilgrim's Guide to the Hiker's Mecca, May 20, 2007

By 

Fritz R. Ward "dayhiker" (Crestline, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: One Best Hike: Yosemite's Half Dome (Paperback)

When I first saw this book advertised on Amazon, I was a bit surprised. An entire hiking guide devoted to a single trail? But Half Dome is more than just a trail. It is for many people the hike of their lifetimes and probably the single most popular adventure in Yosemite. A trip to the top of Half Dome is more of a pigrimage for those who relish hiking and this book is the guide to get if you want to prepare for this journey.

The author, Rick Deutsch, has climbed Half Dome 17 times by his own account and certainly knows the route. I found most of his advice pretty sound. You should leave early, drink lots of water (filtering on the way is an excellent suggestion) and try to get to the cables before noon. I strongly agree with his suggestion that, as you ascend the cables, you breathe deeply and focus on the rock 10 feet in front of you rather than take in the "scenery" on the 45 degree ascent. Speaking as someone who does not enjoy vertical relief, I can attest that I would not have made it to the summit had a ranger not given me similar advice. The trail description was also well written.

On the whole this is a great little book. Obviously its narrow focus will mean that the book is not for everyone, but even casual readers will find the first portion of the book useful for trip planning. Deutsch includes a lot of helpful information on how to get reservations on the valley floor and some general history of Yosemite. In all, this book does what it sets out to do very well and the author should be commended. So should Wilderness Press for taking a chance on a book that is focused on a very specific audience. I hope they will consider expanding the "Best One Hike" series to include the Mt. Whitney Trail, the summit of San Gorgonio, and similar trails worthy of a guide like this one.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "must read" if considering Half Dome., June 25, 2007

By 

M. Bylicki "OU Bobcat" (North Canton, OH) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: One Best Hike: Yosemite's Half Dome (Paperback)

This book is an education for anyone considering the Half Dome hike. This hike is NOT a "stroll in the park' or something to do "spur of the moment". It requires physical training/endurance, proper gear & attitude (the cables are not the place to fool around, they require your full attention). If you are physically fit, properly outfitted & ready to give it the attention it demands, almost anyone COULD do it & do it safely. If you want to experience the hike of a lifetime, enjoy every step of the way, then read then re-read Rick's book, follow his advice & he'll get you there safely! We followed his advice & found our recent hike easier than anticipated (we trained wearing our packs loaded w/ more weight than we knew we'd actually carry). We (Mom age 56, Dad age 58, son age 27) have 3 suggestions in addition to all of Rick's. #1. Full finger, tacky (good gripping) gloves would make pulling yourself up the very smooth cables easier & more secure. #2. Do some upper body strength training, simulate the action of pulling your weight up a 45 degree incline. #3. Check the weather. The day we did Half Dome was prefect! Next day began cloudy, we had hiked the 1.1 mile to Sentinle Dome (a spectacluar 360 degree view!)& were waiting for clouds to move to get a clear picture of Half Dome, instead, around noon, low dark clouds moved in very quickly, became very windy & chilly & it started to sprinkle. We felt bad for all those who were doing the dome that day. We just got back to the trailhead/parking lot & in the car when it started to rain. It rained off & on all day.

His brief history of Yosemite & the hike (trail, cables & first hikers)makes for an interesting, quick read. The information on accomodations, preparations & the pictuires are right on!

Our thanks to Rick for putting together such a valuable 'tool' & makiing our hike so successful. Our thanks also to Wilderness Press for publishing his book. Kudos to the Mountaineerign Store, in the park, run by Delaware North for putting his book on the shelf! We certainly hope the Yosemite Assoc. will approve his book & promote it. Eduaction is key for safety & there is a great need for it on this very popular & very strenuous hike.

Take the book on your hike (it's small enough for your pack), you may want to check exactly where you can pump water & where the field toilets are & how much farther you have to go.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars for the inexperienced hiker, July 23, 2010

By 

W. Smith (Palo Alto) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: One Best Hike: Yosemite's Half Dome (Paperback)

Just did the half dome hike with my 14 yr old daughter. If you're an experienced day hiker and in reasonable shape, this book is overkill but informative.

Disagreements with this book:
- running shoes with good tread worked great, grippier the better, I saw people slipping in hiking boots so its tread that counts
- we had no problem on mist trail up and down, we heard muir trail was not scenic
- 3-4 liters of water worked fine for the faster moving hikers
- I think a mountaineering harness and carabiners make sense, there's a random mix of people up there, anyone could fall on you
- do not filter water at little springs, a ranger mentioned extensive human waste in the area makes the water unsafe, filter water at the Merced

Best advice: leave early to beat crowds, bring rubber coated garden gloves for cables, bring a water filter, do not attempt the cables unless weather is perfect.

There's a couple very informative websites. Search for yosemitehikes and nps yosemite half dome.

I saw the author speak at REI - he's very entertaining but he said there was essential information in the book to get you to buy it. He offers the free talk but he really wants you to purchase his book and the same info is presented in the above websites.