Continuing the ascent up a seemingly endless forest, our spirits are buffeted by a trail sign that indicates there's two miles to go.
Yes, that's the trail sign - "Half Dome 2.0" - in the bottom right corner.
Some time between this picture and the next one, I had my first encounter with a PowerBar. Yes, I was obviously desperate enough to consume such a nauseating substance and I wasn't sure if I even brought enough water to wash it down. The upside of the ordeal is that PowerBars really work! About 30 minutes later, I felt greatly energized. I don't know if it was the PowerBar or the sight of our goal, however, that caused that effect.
Here, we can see the tip of Half Dome sticking out from behind a big rock in the foreground. No, despite what we thought, that rock is not part of Half Dome, it's that bump to the left of it in the bottom photo on this page. To get to the base of the Dome, we have to hike over this rock. This is where all the switchbacks in the trail map come in...