Half Dome Hike (Aug 2025)

There was a long snaking queue at the check in counter for Hertz in LAX, presumably because it was Friday evening. I quickly took out my Gold Club membership card and made enquiry. The lady told me I could go to another office dedicated to Gold Club members across the road. The queue there was manageable and I got my car within 10 minutes. The drive to hostel was smooth and i managed to buy some food before checking in. The room has no air conditioning but the rooms were clean and decent. I managed to find a car park at the road side. Driving out in the morning on I-5 was ok, except that I used my map navigation too early, before 6am. The map still think that I-5 was closed for construction and directed me to drive out at Ventura and drove through national forests before heading back to I-5. I probably didnt need to do that as I-5 construction was only from 8pm to 6am. Nonetheless the drive was quite scenic, just that it was way longer than usual. I reached Fresno to get food and a...