Snake Dike 5.7 R

We camped at Lower Pines - which is a beautiful site if you ever want to reserve and not hope for Camp 4 to open up.


This site give you a majestic view of the North Face of Half Dome. A great preview of what you're about to summit. We took the Mist Trail to Nevada Falls and followed the JMT to the approach line, which is just to the left when you hit this clearing. If you get to the backpacker's camp, you've gone too far. It's a little trail that is decently routed in. When you get to the base scramble, it's a little more difficult to find, but rock stacks are the best way to find it. Use your approach shoes. If you have none, it's okay. I used Brooks Cascadia 9s and they were fine, just a little scarier. Go early. We took our time with the approach, as it took us 5 hours to get to the start of Snake Dike. But, it took some climbers behind us only two hours or so from Camp 4. So, it depends on your trail finding / hiking abilities.



The climb itself is beautiful. It's not a super steep slab, but keep in mind it's pretty slabby the first few pitches.



It doesn't get knobby until pitch 5 or so, if I remember correctly. Wear really comfortable flat shoes. I had a brand new pair of Defy Laces, so my heels hurt around pitch 4. You are on your toes for two hours or so, so keep that in mind. Go early so you don't have to wait. We had to wait an hour and a half for a previous group to get far enough to start. Don't be scared. It's worth the pain.

The approach hike is also really f*#king beautiful. One of the most beautiful trails I've hiked. Also, one of the toughest to Nevada Falls. But after that initial 2.5mi steep hike, it's a breeze the rest of the way.

The final approach after the 8th pitch is just walking up this steep slab. Don't look down. Just kidding. It wasn't that scary. It takes about 40 minutes to get up to the actual summit of Half Dome. Take a bunch of pictures and go down the cables!