July 12, 2014 - Sentinel Dome, Full Moon Hike

Title: July 12, 2014 - Sentinel Dome, Full Moon Hike

Trail head: Old Sentinel Dome Turnoff

Hike Info:

Type:  Hiking

Trail: Old Sentinel Dome Road

Destination: Sentinel Dome

Distance: 1.5 miles ¹

Start Time:  7:50pm ¹

End Time:    10:05pm  ¹

Elevation Rise: 300' ¹

Maximum Elevation: 8,122'

 ¹Distance, elevation gained and times are approximate. My GPS' batteries died after 10 minutes on this hike.

Description:
For such a short walk, tonight's walk packed a lot of punch. It was started last month when our meetup group did Taft Point and Sentinel Dome as a day hike. It was Kate's first time on top of Sentinel Dome and she was very impressed. So Sherri and I told her about doing this as a full moon hike. Excitement abounded, so we made arrangements to do it during the full moon in July.

Roger and Arida

In the meantime, we invited several others who we thought would be interested. So we had a group of 13 people, consistent of Sherri, Steven and I; Carol, Peter J, Roger and Arida-from house church; Kate, Jerry J, Shawn and Bill from our meetup group. Also Roger and Arida had relatives visiting from the Netherlands, so Gerrit and Krystal came along as well.

Our group gathered at our house at 4:30. By 5:30 we were at Todd's in Oakhurst. This may have been a mistake, not because the food wasn't great, but because it was. We still had an hour-plus to drive to our trail-head on roads which are curvey. Plus we dropped a couple of cars in Oakhurst and we had a bit of logistics on where to park-this caused a bit of delay. But we get to our trail-head about 7:45, ready to walk.

Our trail-head is not the normal Sentinel Dome trail-head, but about 3/4 of a mile further down the Glacier Point Road. Why here? There is an old road which lead up to Sentinel Dome-I remember Dad driving it when I was a child. Because it is an old road, walking it at night should be easier and shorter on our trip back. The parking area is pretty full, but we find places for all three vehicles.

Sunset beside Sentinel Dome

The path to the base of Sentinel Dome is pretty good. Our group has various levels of abilities, which is good. It is not fun being with only "expert" walkers. The altitude gives some of us issues since we come from essentially sea level at Fresno. But the views give us reason to stop. As we approach the base of the dome, the sun starts setting and we get a glorious view.

But the sun is not the only place giving us a good view. Half Dome and Clouds Rest bask in the sun's fading light which gives these landmarks a gentle rose color.

Half Dome and Clouds Rest glowing

 We do the climb up Sentinel Dome slow and steady-at least some of us did. We create our own switchbacks by zip-zagging up the Dome's northern slope. We see we are not alone as there are about 20-30 people up here besides ourselves. Once on top, we are immediately rewarded with the last glow of color to the west of us.

Final glow of sunset

Moonrise over the Clark Range

Then we see a faint glow coming up over the Clark Range. Then as the glow intensifies, we are treated to the moon breaking above the mountain tops. The pictures I took just do not show the greatness of the sight. Somebody mentions it is like ET appearing. In my mind, that is a drab comparison. We all are in awe of the beauty we see on top. We stay up on top of the dome for over an hour before we realize we need to get back to Fresno.

 

Moon Rise over Clark Range by Shawn S

We head back to the cars, making it down without incidence. This way up in the dark is a winner. I arrive at the cars at 10. We get off and stop in Oakhurst to retrieve cars. It is 12:15am by the time we get to my house, tired but in great contentment. Kate says this is the best of her life. While I have seen a lot of beauty this year, let alone of my life, I do agree that this is memorable.

Full Moon taken by Shawn S