Rick Deutsch: Mr. Half Dome

Tonight instead of our usual Tuesday evening workout at Foothill College, we met at Trailsloggers in Campbell for a talk by "Mr. Half Dome" otherwise known as Rick Deutsch.

Rick has climbed Half Dome 23 times and is planning to do it again this summer - 3 more times. He is probably the world's expert on hiking Half Dome and has written THE definitive guide to the hike: One Best Hike: Yosemite’s Half Dome, published by Wilderness Press and available from Amazon.com.

Of course, we were really interested in hearing about the various parts of the trail, as well as his tips and hints about hiking Half Dome, so we were all ears! Rick talked about the different parts of the trail, including where to find water. While it is possible to carry all of the water you will need, it's too heavy. Rick is definitely a minimalist. He prefers to carry only a fanny pack with two one-liter bottles of water and a filter pump, so that he can get the rest of his water along the way. For food, he carries about 8 energy bars. I can definitely see the advantage of only having a fanny pack. It forces you to pare down to the bare essentials and carry less weight. He doesn't bother with a jacket, since you'll only need it in the morning and will only have to carry it the rest of the way. I had already figured that I was going to ditch my jacket. I'll be cold for the first 15 minutes, but I'll heat up once I get moving. When I get to the wet spots on the Mist Trail, I'll have my rain poncho. That should be good enough.

Most of us wanted to hear about the final, cable section of the hike and that was certainly interesting. More interesting, however, was learning about "subdome," the series of switchbacks comprised of granite steps, not unlike those earlier on the Mist trail up to Nevada Falls. Nearly everyone who has hiked Half Dome thinks subdome is the most difficult portion of the hike. The granite steps seem to go on forever and you are above the tree line which means that you are exposed to the heat of the sun. If you leave early in the morning and hike fast, you will get there around 11:00 am to 12:00 pm. If you don't follow this advice, you'll arrive during the heat of the day and you'll be wiped out by the time you get to the cables - and have to deal with a "caterpillar" line of people going up. Best to arrive early!

The presentation was great and packed with lots of interesting information and, of course, great photos of Half Dome. It was really great to meet Rick, who is so enthusiastic. I bought his book, which he autographed for us. We picked up a few more items while at Trailsloggers. I looked for a replacement hat, but didn't find one that was suitable.