The Half Dome cables usually go up the Friday before Memorial Day (conditions permitting) and come down the second Monday in October, so this narrows down the window if you want to reach the summit.
As history shows, the greatest number of permit requests are for mid-June to mid-September. So if you want your best chance of getting a permit, you should go in late-May through mid-June or between mid-September and when the cables are removed in October.
Some people climb Half Dome outside of when the cables are up (and permits are not required), but that’s highly unadvised.
We got our permit for August and during this time, the park seemed less crowded than our previous visits in May and July. The weather was pleasant for hiking and thankfully there were no wildfires nearby affecting air quality.
Depending on whether you choose to do the John Muir Trail or the Mist Trail or a combination of both, the hiking time may vary. On average, it takes 10 – 14 hours to hike Half Dome with lots of breaks in between.
Since we were not staying at the park, our day started early around 4:30 am and we reached the parking lot around 5:45 am. There were ample parking spots at the Yosemite Valley trailhead parking so we parked our car and started the hike around 6:00 am.
Our pace was pretty good and we were able to finish the hike in 12.5 hrs around 6:30 pm, with plenty of time to enjoy the summit.
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