How to pack for half dome hike
What to Pack??? Half Dome- Yosemite (1/2)
Timecodes:
hey thanks for joining me again I've had
some people ask me what I recommend that
they pack for their day hike to Half
Dome at Yosemite National Park so I'm
making this video to share that info
with whoever might be going there so the
first two things I'm going to show you
our items that I that I believer that I
strongly recommend bringing and that are
Half Dome specific items so the first
one is a pair of work gloves or
gardening gloves and these are for when
you're going up the cables on the
backside of the dome the top of the of
the hike you got to go up these two
metal cables and there the last time I
was there which was quite a long time
ago there certainly used to be a pile of
leg gloves at the base of it so that
still might be the case I don't know
whether it is or isn't but I wouldn't
rely on that so what I recommend is
bringing either a pair of work gloves or
a pair of gardening gloves just
something that you're not holding your
bare hands on to the wire
strongly recommended the next thing is I
say is another safety item which you can
you can buy these materials for under 15
bucks I believe and all you need is an
8-foot section of and I'll tell you what
this is for in a second all you need is
an 8-foot section of one inch tubular
webbing which you can pick up at REI or
any camping store like that and and it
doesn't have to be tubular webbing it
could be any length of rope that you
know that can bear your weight but about
eight feet eight to nine feet is ideal
and then two weight bearing carabiners
these are the oval style ones no locking
gates or anything like that just easy
clip on and clip off and I'll show you
what you're gonna be doing with all this
so basically what this is it's to make a
harness for going up the cables it's a
safety harness
so that if God forbid you accidentally
lose grip on those cables that this will
save your life if you implement it so
basically all you do is you take the
8-foot section of of wedding and you at
the each end you make these loops okay
and then you're gonna put we're gonna
clip one of these carabiners onto each
end of these these loops don't have to
be as big as I have them they could
actually be it would probably be better
if you just made the knot closer to the
end so that did you know won't slide
around as easily as this so and
basically what you're gonna do with this
is you're gonna take this and you're
gonna tie it around your waist now I
know you can't see this because it's out
of the camera frame but basically just
tie it in it you can tie it in a knot
it doesn't have to be super tight okay
let me I'm gonna actually get tilt this
down so you can see that okay so you tie
that in a knot around your waist loosely
you know I'm not super tight around your
waist waist and then you can tie it in a
second knot okay just so it's in place
now you have these two you know these
two leashes were these carabiner clips
at the ends okay I'm gonna pull this
back up crouch down okay so what you're
gonna do with this is as you're going up
the K so when you start you know the
climb up the cables you're gonna clip
both of these onto the wire okay onto
the cable on one side you're gonna so
these are going to be you're gonna let
go of those they're gonna sit on the
cable you're gonna shimmy your way up to
the first two posts okay when you get to
the post
you're gonna unclip only one of these
okay
clip it on to the other side of the post
and then take the and then once that
one's clipped in place you're gonna take
this other one that's still behind that
post and you're gonna unclip that and
clip it in front of the post as well now
both of these are in front of that post
then you continue shimmy up your the way
to the next one and then when you get to
the next post you're gonna just keep
doing the same thing and then
you know and basically what it is is
that at all times
you're at the very least you're clipped
with one of these between your body and
the cable so that if you lose grip
you're not going to fall very far and on
that on that section that is you know
that is a life or death you know
situation so be smart be safe and
implement that not expensive it's just
in it's easy to make okay
everything else I'm going to show you
now is gonna be stuff that I would take
on any other big hike like that and I'll
show you first like the things that I
think are you know absolutely necessary
and then I'll show you the things that I
think are optional
you know nice extras to do so first
thing I'm gonna be a camera here a
couple times first thing you need is a
good backpack or any backpack really the
main thing is capacity you like the one
I'm holding here is a little bit too big
this one is a 48 litre backpack but I
would say anywhere around like 35 litre
backpack at least 30 I want to go
smaller than a 30 liter backpack 35 I
think would be ideal 40 is great too but
you don't really need more than a 40
liter backpack for all the gear you're
gonna be taking on this hike unless
you're unless you're playing on like
also carrying like lots of camera stuff
which I don't know recommend okay and
then in no particular order inside the
backpack you're gonna want some kind of
I use a trash compactor bag just because
it's a tough plastic but you could use
it you know a dry bag if you want or you
could just use like plastic grocery
shopping bags and what this is for is
just to keep your just to keep your
items dry especially like if you're
going up the mist trail and which is
like beside one of the waterfalls and
the whole it's like basically being in
the rain so so you want to keep you know
certain certain things if not everything
that's inside your backpack dry okay
next
item is going to be a pair of sunglasses
you're going to be out in the Sun for
many hours you're gonna be on yeah you
know it's gonna be bright reflective of
granite rock around you and it'll save
you from a king-sized headache if you
have a pair of sunglasses polarized I
guess is probably best way to go and
then the weather can vary all depends on
you know what time of year you're going
I'm gonna kind of show you
most people go in like the summertime
springtime summertime fall time I'll
show you what I recommend for that I'm
not really gonna show you you know snow
kind of stuff snow condition equipment
next thing I bring is a neck warmer
sometimes it's you know even in the
summertime sometimes it can be cold up
there especially in the early part of
the day or the late part of the day so
yeah so I recommend the neck warmer and
a beanie personally would I use these
days is I use instead of a beanie I use
a neck warmer on my head and a neck
warmer on my neck and then if my head is
still cold I also have like one of these
like ear warmer things that I'll put on
top of the neck warmer that I have on my
head and they're you know then I can
regulate the temperature a little bit
better but perfectly finds I just have
like a beanie
you know the beanie is the main thing if
you want to get fancy you can also have
a neck warmer for your neck and if you
wanna get super fancy you can do it like
I do that's the next thing I recommend
is having like oh this is kind of an
optional thing because since you are
already going to be bringing your
gardening gloves or your work gloves you
don't really need a pair of like you
know fleece gloves but I would be
bringing them anyway just because
these are definitely warmer than these
and if you're bringing gardening gloves
like those you don't really have any
dexterity in those so these are a lot
better for that for me so I would be
putting those okay pair of like
boxer-brief kind of things
these ones are Under Armour ones they're
synthetic quick drying
the reason why I would say to bring
something like this is when you're
hiking for hours and hours and doing a
lot of sweating this will really really
help to mitigate chafing so I've found
them to be invaluable on extended hikes
like that or for any kind of backpacking
trips or anything like that I don't
typically wear these all the time when
I'm hiking but if I'm doing any big hike
or big Trek it's absolutely I'm wearing
these next thing is a okay so basically
if you're in coal if you're sweating if
you're hiking and sweating and cold
climb it you know in chilly weather I
don't recommend wearing cotton base
layers or cotton at all really but
especially cotton base layers so
anything that's against your skin I'd
recommend to be either synthetic or wool
because those will if you're sweating in
those you first of all they're quick
drying but also unlike cotton but also
if you're sweating in synthetic or wool
it'll actually you'll still be able to
maintain it'll it won't make you colder
like if cotton gets wet it makes you
colder than if you're actually not
wearing any cotton at all so whereas a
synthetic or wool will actually still
retain some of your heat if you're
sweating and if it's cold out so I
recommend some kind of synthetic t-shirt
you absolutely absolutely absolutely
want to bring a some kind of a fleece
jacket or sweatshirt or something like
that preferably one with a hood but if
not you still have your beanie
what not so that's okay you know just
expect it to be colder than what you
think it's going to be even if it's the
summertime so but definitely bring some
kind of a fleece jacket or at the very
least like a sweatshirt or something
like that
all right here is another major
essential item that you're going to want
on this hike this is it doesn't have to
specifically be this one but this is my
preferred one it's a water filter okay
so the one that I'm using here is the
katadyn be free it comes in like three
different sizes this is the point seven
liter because I got it before the 1
liter came out but if I were to get
another one now I would probably get the
1 liter they also make a 3 liter version
and basically it's just a real easy way
but you're gonna be coming across a
couple streams so to speak along the way
and instead of having to carry like
gallons of water for a full day hike you
know you can just carry a few liters of
water and then when you get to these
point water points you can filter out
water and then fill up your bottles or
your reservoir or whatever you're
carrying so but definitely definitely
bring some kind of a water filter with
you for this hike okay next item
here's another crucial crucial item Sun
Hat definitely definitely want to wear a
Sun Hat make sure that it you know
doesn't have to be any fancy materials
or anything you get a cheap one from
wherever but make sure it has some kind
of a leash you know it goes into your
chin so that if the wind blows it
doesn't blow your hat off the mountain
and then your end up spending the whole
day with the Sun beating on your head
that'll also save you from a king-sized
headache so yeah Sun Hat for sure see
here's another one that you wouldn't
think possibly but definitely bring a
headlamp absolutely bring bring a
headlamp one of the times that I've been
on Half Dome I think it was probably the
first time I was with a big group and we
actually came down by the time we were
coming down it was
well after dark and we started early
that morning so it was like a very very
slow moving day definitely bring a
headlamp is pitch it can be especially
if the moon's not out it can be
pitch-black coming down and it's and and
it's not like you know the ground is
very very uneven and very rocky so you
definitely don't want to miss step
because you can't see the way speaking
of miss stepping let's talk about
Footwear so the main thing with your
Footwear is doesn't have to be any kind
of fancy hiking boot or whatever it's
you know it's what you're comfortable
with do not try to go up in flip-flops
you I mean it's not that it's not
possible it's just not wise so you know
I spent years hiking in sport sandals
it's definitely possible to do this hike
in sport sandals I you know these days
I'm not doing that this is what I'm
using these days for virtually all of my
hiking especially technical hiking these
are a pair of Salomon X Ultra threes you
don't have to do these ok but what's
great about these is that unlike most X
like unlike most fancy hiking boots I
that take they have kind of a big
breaking period where you will
definitely get horrible blisters in the
process the main thing with with shoot
ok let me finish that from thought first
so these right out of the box you can
put them on and hiking them and they're
not going to give you blisters almost
certainly unless you have some severely
misshapen feet I'm just kidding so
that's one of the reasons I like these
also they're waterproof so when you're
going on the mist trail and on this hike
for example you know their gore-tex so
your feet will stay I don't about dry
cuz you're gonna be sweating but they
won't get soaked from water same thing
if you got to end up with your feet in
the in the river at all at any point we
she shouldn't have to especially on this
hike but you know there the main thing
about Footwear is you not want to take a
brand new pair of boots on this hike you
know unless it's something like this if
you have if you get blisters on this
hike you're gonna be miserable so like
in my opinion way better to do this hike
with a pair of comfortable support
sandals that you know don't give you
blisters or a pair of like any kind of
you know trainers slash tennis shoes or
whatever you want to call him you know
as long as they're comfortable another
thing that's really important to
consider for the shoes that you're gonna
wear on this hike is you know if you're
used to buying shoes where your toes are
like touching the end you're not gonna
be happy on this hike like make sure
that whatever shoes you're wearing that
you have like you know half an inch or
an inch even of space from your toes to
the ends of the shoe the inside of the
shoe because when you're coming down
when you're walking downhill for hour
after hour after hour your toes are just
gonna get smashed up if it's unless you
have that extra space your toes gonna
get smashed up against the front of your
boots and your toenails are gonna be
screaming at you and you're not gonna
have a good time so you know the more
things you can do to like feel good
during the hike and to not into like
avoid unnecessary pain physical pain the
better off you're going to be in the
more you're gonna enjoy this hike so you
know and Footwear is one of the most
important things because every step you
take you're gonna feel it
so definitely wear some comfortable
shoes for that okay
still on Footwear I recommend also to
have some socks and even an extra pair
of socks you'll get to the top and you
might find that you want that you're
ready to switch out so any kind of like
synthetic or wool socks I recommend I do
not recommend wearing cotton socks for
this it's not that it's not possible
it's just not optimal so you know if
that's all you have been fine you know
but at least bring us an extra pair of
socks ideally you know two pairs of like
wool socks and you'll be golden another
thing that's a good idea that's that's
optional but it's something that I would
be bringing is a pair of sock liners
sometime most of the time I just wear
sock liners as socks but they can also
be used to help mitigate if you start
feeling hotspots or blisters or maybe
even before you start feeling hot spot
spots or blisters if you want just
another layer of sock between your foot
and your boot a lot of people will put
these on and then they'll put their
regular socks on and then they'll put
their boots on over that if you are you
know shopping for a new pair of like
boots or whatnot or Footwear just make
sure that they're not like super tight
fitting your feet are gonna swell on
this hike or any hike that you're gonna
do you know up for multiple hours
so consider that and also consider how
many layers of succs and whatnot you're
planning wear on it
next thing is mountain money toilet
paper you can do toilet paper roll you
can do you know tissues you know
whatever it is you can do rocks or you
can do an Eastern style with the water
bottle as well basically you know what
I'm talking about to clean yourself you
know when you use the restroom so to
speak all right just make sure you bury
it you know deep enough or actually you
know what I'm not really sure what the
current regulations are around there so
make sure but the main thing is if you
are still allowed to do it you know to
like do that they're some they might
even make you carry like they have these
like bags they have like kitty litter in
them that you can buy at REI and some
places like Mount Whitney make you carry
those and use those but I don't know
whether or not that's the case these
days in Yosemite and on the Half Dome
hike it might be just look into before
going
but if you are allowed to use you know
to do your business out there in the
woods still on that trail just make sure
that you're you know like look up what
the guidelines are on it and make sure
that you're far enough away from any
kind of source of water because you
don't want to be filtering water
downstream from somebody else who's you
know using the bathroom too close to
that stream and neither does anybody
else so just make sure that you've been
responsible with that another thing
that's really important to take is what
I highly recommend is a hard case for
your sunglasses of some kind this is so
that when it gets you know either when
it's early in the day or when it's later
in the day and if you don't want your
sunglasses falling off your hat or
however when it basically when you're
not wearing them you don't want to smash
them so like so basically make sure you
have some kind of hardcase I used to
smash through sunglasses and still I
started until I started implementing
these and I haven't broken a pair since
next so this is like you know it's not
crucial but it's I would recommend it
always a good idea to keep a pen and you
know with some kind of notepad or some
kind of scrap paper that you can write
on in case there's emergency or you know
for whatever or if you need to make
notes or if you want a journal or
whatever it is it's always a good idea
to have it so especially for kind of
like emergency stuff so yeah that's a
good idea
another good idea something to bring is
some kind of a external battery so that
if your phone is you know running low on
battery first of all I'm pretty sure
nobody is going to have phone reception
in Yosemite Valley so just keep that in
mind switch your phone to airplane mode
and charge your batteries up you know
before you hit the trail make sure it's
full and then it's also a good idea to
carry something like this
so that you know you
able to take whatever pictures and on
the trail or whatever videos that you
want to take with your phone does that
be a bummer if you make it all the way
up there and you are into like recording
stuff and documenting stuff and then
you're not able to cuz your phone's day
so just something to keep in mind I
mentioned it earlier but here's like you
know plastic shopping bags whatnot those
are those will help keep your items dry
and that's okay so now I got like this
little wake kit this is kind of like
it's sort of like medical kit slash
repair kit like gear repair kit so
sometimes things do break on the trail
when you're hiking I've had to happen on
like treks and you know in various odd
places so you know this isn't like
almost nobody is gonna be carrying one
of these but it's something that I do
carry when I'm on hikes like this and
what it is it's like a leather all like
a leather punch basically and what it
enables you to do is it it's like has
this like heavy duty cord that you can
repair boots or backpack straps or
anything like that that might break
along the way here's something this role
is vert is just about empty but if you
do so this is like medical tape it's
like very sticky medical tape and mainly
the main thing that I use this for is if
I if I do start to get any kind of like
hot spa or blister or anything on my
foot like very important like
immediately immediately soon the first
you know sign the first feeling that you
have any discomfort on your feet
especially stop you know don't worry
about like delaying the group or the
hike like much better that you like
handle you're forming blisters and that
you're able to hike comfortably and that
you spend the next eight or so hours
miserable and making everybody else
around you miserable
- so as soon as you start feeling a
hotspot
some people use mole skins like I'm
gonna kind of a sweaty guy and have
especially like my feet super sweaty so
I just find that they didn't they don't
really stick properly to me this I find
is quite a bit more sticky to my feet
but either way whether using mole skins
or whether you're using something like
this you definitely have to like clean
off the the affected area from sweat and
you know even if it's just you don't
have to use soap or whatever just take
some water put a little water on it at
the very least put some water on it you
know wipe the area off of any sweat make
sure you thoroughly dry it with you know
part of your t-shirt or whatever a
napkin anything make sure it's totally
dry and then stick this on it otherwise
it'll just if it's you know if you're
trying to stick this directly over set
your sweaty feet it's just gonna fall
right off and it'll do nothing for you
so here's something so here's something
else now I used to I used to carry a
roll like a mini roll of duct tape with
me because it's great for fixing kind of
anything and I still do I just got this
like role of it's called tenacious or
tenacious tape like your aid and it's
kind of kind of similar I haven't really
used this particular one in replacements
of this yet I've used this to like fix
you know tents and various thing and
like patch sleeping bags and stuff like
that and sleeping pads but those aren't
really relevant for this hike at the
very least it's a good idea to have mini
roll of duct tape or if you actually if
you have like a full roll of this
athletic tape then that'll also serve
the purpose of whatever the roll of duct
tape will be and then you know if you
got a fall a good roll of this that's
all you really need for this hike next
this is a really really really important
item in my opinion wax alene it could
all
so be vaseline or anything like that
this is just the natural version of it
essentially and what I do okay so the
obvious use for this is if you're
getting chapped lips you know or what
not however even more useful than that
in my opinion is the same thing as those
those boxer briefs the synthetic boxer
briefs that I was talking about to
mitigate chafing
if you start feeling any chafing you
know even if you're wearing those boxer
briefs add a little bit of this into the
mix and that'll really really help
that'll save you from misery so I highly
recommend that or something like it
another thing that you can use is it is
like this is like neosporin or
polysporin it's just like in antibiotic
ointment that'll do the same thing for
for chafing it won't do anything I mean
it's not as I don't recommend putting it
on your lips if you have like chapped
lips but you know this will help with
the chafing also or if you just want
like some kind of medical kit this is
one of the basic things that I would put
in a medical kit you know some people
are into like carrying band-aids and
stuff with gauze pads and stuff
you know in my opinion if you have likes
you know your toilet paper or your
tissues and you have some duct tape or
some medical tape even better like that
will do anything a band-aids gonna do on
the trail and better so that's you know
all I think you need for that I do carry
some needles and thread with me just
because I have had the repair gear
sometimes on the trail you know this
isn't the most crucial item but what's I
guess in theory what's good about it too
is that it can be used for suturing you
know if you get like a bad wound or
something in a pinch you could use this
to like suit yourself up but then again
you could also just duct tape the heck
out of your
- and that'll work at the time being
this is also it's not a hundred percent
necessary but it's something I do carry
extra shoelace if you're bootlace brakes
well you know on the trail you could
just tie the broken spot in a knot and
keep going and that might be fine not a
bad idea to have a bootlace with you as
well and then here are two items that I
that are absolutely crucial
so some spare batteries for your
headlamp so that head lamp before you go
on this hike make sure it has fresh
batteries to begin with don't you know
it's not going to do you any good if the
batteries are low or dead but then also
just make sure you take an extra pair of
fresh batteries with you otherwise it's
just you know a waste to carry it and
it's not gonna help you I also bring a
lighter and these two things I keep in
like a plastic ziplock bag so that so
that they stay good they don't get wet
and then the last item that I think is
important in this in this pot the last
item total but the last item in this
little bag is a like a little pocket
knife kind of thing multi-tool it could
be anyone
you know the main the main thing that
you want to have in it is a pair of
scissors cool if you have a little
wrench
let me know pair of pliers in it -
that's fine a knife is cool too but you
know maybe not absolutely necessary the
thing that I find is the most useful is
a little pair of scissors there's that
now so I mentioned before that you're
gonna be going up the mist trail or
possibly going up the mist trail in
which case if you do you're gonna get
pretty wet from all the mist of course
so if you are a media taking that way
and even if you're not going to be going
that way I'd still recommend bringing
this I always bring on a big truck like
that
like this is a rain jacket so highly
recommend at the very least arrange a
key
I also bring rain pants however if you
want to save some cash and you don't
already have these you can just get like
a poncho they sell these like five
dollar ponchos at any sporting goods
store and if it's if you just need it
for that section of trail then that'll
that'll be fine or if it's an extremely
hot day and you don't mind getting
pretty wet then don't worry about it but
I always like to bring rain gear with me
on the big hikes
another thing you can do if the weather
is kind of on the colder side and you
think it might be cold at the top you're
probably gonna want to hang out at the
top of Half Dome for like an hour maybe
at thirty minutes an hour maybe longer
who knows everybody's different in that
sense depending on when you're there and
what the temperatures like it could be
quite windy as well I like to bring an
insulated jacket it could be down it
could be synthetic whatever you prefer
just something like that's lightweight
and compresses small again if you have
the fleece jacket and you have like a
rain shell on top and if it's you know
one of the warmest times of the year and
if you've checked the weather and you
know what's gonna be a warmer day then
maybe you can leave that one at home but
you know it's and maybe I would leave it
at home too in that case but if the
weather is anything cooler than that I'd
probably bring it
here's another item that I recommend so
first of all you're gonna need to carry
quite a bit of water and so what I
recommend is either bringing several
water bottles probably like probably at
least three of these so they each one of
these are one liter it doesn't have to
be this brand specifically but I like
these like these like narrow tall
plastic bottles they're super
lightweight and and they fit easily into
your backpack so I do like using those
and I would recommend bringing at least
one of those so that like you know I'll
say even if you use a reservoir or
something like this
then you can you know it's still kind of
nice sometimes to bring some
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