Ken wrote:
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...there is nothing stopping people from doing an alpine start on HD right now, or ten years ago.
We all moan about the crowding problem on the cables, and yet, people don't do the alpine starts.Yes they do! I have have hiked HD at night, to see the sunrise. And there were at least a dozen others up there at the same time. In Sheldon Neill's
Yosemite HD timelapse, see all the people stream up the cables at dawn. It is not reasonable for Yosemite to lump those people into the same group they are trying to limit from clustering on the cables at mid day.
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on Whitney, people do the starts not because a gov't agency has mandated a rule,... Their permit does not require it.Anyone uncomfortable with hiking in the dark could opt to try for those mid-day or anytime permits.
I am not sure how hiking in the dark is a worse liability than allowing hiking on a wet, slippery path along a waterfall gorge where there is no guard rail.
CaT wrote:
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Given the fact that this is only the second (third?) year that the HD permit system is in place, additional time is probably still needed to iron out the bugs. Even the Whitney permit system (which has been in place far longer) changes from time to time to accomodate the changing circumstances. It will likely be the same for HD.I don't believe there are any examples of any trail quota being expanded or rules relaxed. That is what has me so frustrated -- I am afraid they are cutting off access for thousands of people, and that access will NEVER be returned.
I just don't understand why so many here continue to swat this idea down. ...why so many are so sure all the Half Dome hikers are flipflop tourists who need to be "protected" from all risks.
It would be so easy to encourage the park service to just try it -- for just one week ...even for a day. What could that hurt? I am baffled.
