A great cup of coffee to jumpstart an early summit on Half Dome? Yes, please.
Yosemite’s Half Dome is a sacred summit. During the few months it opens to the public, thousands of people apply for only 300 permits a day to top this iconic peak in Yosemite National Park. There is roughly a 5-percent chance of securing a summit permit for most summer dates, as wilderness backpacking has a different process for securing Half Dome permits. Regardless, if you happen to be lucky enough to acquire a Half Dome permit, the next challenge is starting your hike early enough to avoid the prime time crowd on the cables. For this we recommend an alpine start to aid in an early summit.
Although traditionally a climbing term, “alpine start” refers to beginning a mountain ascent in the early morning hours, sometimes even before midnight. We use an alpine start on our Half Dome day hikes when we meet clients at 5:30am to begin this 16-mile round-trip hike. On most of our overnight backpacking trips, including Half Dome, we use an alpine start on the final morning by hitting the trail at 3:30am, and to celebrate with an award-winning, once-in-a-lifetime sunrise on the summit of this most famous National Park icon.
To aid in our traditional 3am early morning rise we also offer up the best backpacking coffee available for our clients, appropriately named “Alpine Start.” This instant coffee comes in single use pouches and as we have found through countless miles on the trail, this coffee lives up to its mottos of “fuel for the everyday adventure,” and “instant coffee that actually tastes good.” At Lasting Adventures we realize how important a good cup of joe can be in the morning. Nothing compares to a warm sip of a great tasting coffee while witnessing the rising sun reach out and light up the granite walls around you.
Here are five reasons why Alpine Start is the solution to Lasting Adventure’s demand for a great tasting, single-use, instant coffee pouch:
- It’s simple to use…just add water and use one pouch per mug of coffee. We always have hot water available or more we can easily bring to a boil. Long gone are the days of needing to brew pot after pot of coffee.
- It tastes great. We have tried many brands of both ground coffee and instant coffee’s over the past 20 years, and guides and clients alike unanimously report Alpine Start to be the best.
- There’s no mess. No potent grounds to carry around in your bear can. No moral question of whether you leave your grounds in the fire ashes or not. No coffee grounds to carry around.
- It’s served both hot and cold. Got snow? How-about an iced-coffee?
- It’s appreciated. Our clients have been nothing but appreciative to have such a great tasting, quality coffee, instantly.
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