any recent Half Dome trip reports

[Brent N]

Has anyone been up to Half Dome in the last week or so, either by way of the Mist Trail or the JMT? Is there still snow on the trail/are crampons and ice axe necessary?

Brent N

[Wickett]

Last week: Went up to Nevada, no ice. Subdome looked like it still had a few spots from the recent storms and the top of Half Dome still had its cap.

[AlmostThere]

Saw a report that said snow past the spring (along the trail up the ridge), and all the way up the subdome. they had trekking poles and one of them had yaktrax.

Cables aren't up yet, either.

[Brent N]

I went up last weekend. There was snow for about a mile leading up to subdome. Subdome itself had up to 10 feet of snow in places. I wished that I had crampons and an ice axe. There are some slopes that you have cross in snow where slipping is not an option. The snow up there is shifting. While descending, we saw a several thousand foot avalanche off Cloud's Rest. There is very little snow on Half Dome itself. None of it was a problem. The cables are "down" but that just means that they aren't up on poles. They are still there anchored to the granite. You can find a trip report on http://www.whitneyzone.com at : http://www.whitneyzone.com/wz/ubbthreads.php/topics/14324/Half_Dome_with_Cables_Down#Post14324