Customer Reviews

One Best Hike: Yosemite's Half Dome

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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.

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.

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.

My friends, if you plan on hiking Half Dome, this is your bible! It goes into every single little detail you can think of regarding this hike. It's well-written, well organized and extremely informative/helpful.

Half Dome is a hike that needs to be taken seriously and this book will walk through it with you. Be sure to read this well before your trip so you can prepare mentally and physically (especially if you have never been). Following Rick Deutsch's advice will make your hike a wonderful and pleasant experience! Going to Half Dome unprepared will most likely lead to misery.

I'm in decent shape, but am barely worthy of being called a novice hiker- Rick Deutsch's guide did a great job preparing me to hike Half Dome (just did it two days ago).

Extremely helpful:
- Take Deutsch's advice and do the Mist Trail up and John Muir down. We did and I'm so glad, considering the Mist Trail's steps are so slippery and steep.
- The list of "points of interests" was extremely helpful for keeping track of where you were and how far you had to go. Providing the mileage and elevation was also nice.
- Deutsch discusses everything you need to bring and be careful of- pay attention to the section on shoes!
- Deutsch writes in encouraging, knowledgeable way that instills confidence in his reader.
- The book is organized logically and provides many pictures.

I would have liked to see a more detailed map with his points of interest labeled, but I understand you can only do so much in a small guide. I do think that Deutsch maybe downplays the cables a little- I'm not afraid of heights at all, but I found going down pretty frightening. I didn't use carabiners, which may have been nice, since it was my first time. Take some time to pump some iron before going- my arms and shoulders are extremely sore from supporting my weight going up and down.

All in all, a really great, invaluable guide that I recommend!

Rick's book is an easy to follow guide for a successful Dome hike.
I've taken the hike a few times in the last 20 years, but after reading this book
my perspective and physical readiness made the trip way more enjoyable.
I'm over 50yrs old now, so being prepared is more of an issue for a 20 mile venture.
Thanks for putting your experience on this trail into a book!

Marty

I just wanted to thank Rick for a WONDERFUL guide. A couple of high school buddies and I (we graduated 30 years ago!) completed our hike on September 28th, 2007. The book prepared me for the arduous task of completing the most exhilarating hike of my life! He included references to many things that we would not have known about had I not read the book. FANTASTIC!!

This book is required reading for anyone attempting to hike Half Dome. The key to this hike is preparation - practical, mental and physical, and Mr. Deutsch does an excellent job of addressing all 3 of these parameters. By breaking the hike down he also allows one to "visualize" the hike before setting out, and provides useful benchmarks by which to pace onesself on hike day. His advice is circumspect and focused on safety at all times - there are many potential dangers up there, and without being alarmist, he shares his accumulated wisdom as well as regulations put forth by the NPS to educate hikers about what awaits them. An added bonus is that this book becomes a "keepsake" of sorts - his exquisite detailing of the hike itself allowed me to "relive" this wonderful day and recall details that would otherwise be forgotten. I purchased copies for everyone in my hiking group - and look forward to taking this book to the summit many many more times.

This guide really helped me prepare and enjoy the hike. Successfully completed journey with Leukemia Society Hike for Discovery group this past weekend. If you are already looking at this book you get a high adventure IQ score, necessary for completing this hike (should be required reading before accessing the Dome).

We had a very successful hike of Half Dome because we followed everything that Rick Deutsch suggests in the 2nd edition of his Hiking Half Dome book. We felt so well prepared, both in our conditioning and our gear, thanks to the concise information in the book. Rick's presentation and photos are clear and well understood by the novice hikers (us). Rick speaks from experience, as he has made it to the summit 19 times.