I began running from Camp 4 around 3:30 in the afternoon, after a mellow bike ride around the Valley paralleling my girlfriend as she ran the full ~20 mile valley loop trail. I had run the Boston Marathon on Monday and basically done nothing since, so I wasn't sure how my legs would feel on the way up the Yosemite Falls Trail. I quickly found my answer, which was not great! But onwards I went, passing by lots of hikers on their way down for the day. I bucketed them in 3 categories – the 'cheerers', the 'indifferent', and the 'angry'. The 'cheerers' are folks who say something along the lines of "Holy *$&!" or "you go man!". The 'indifferent' are the majority, who just keep walking down as you pass by going up, or move to the side and have no reaction. The 'angry' are the folks who get upset with you for not stopping or moving over for them or giving them enough space.
I reached the metal signs at the top of the Yosemite Falls Trail. Afterwards I thought the trail was going to be fairly mellow, but it seemed to just keep going up and up, which my sore legs were not appreciate of. I reached the top of El Capitan in 1:33. I stopped for a couple minutes at the summit (with beautiful sunset views), and had stopped for another minute or two about a mile from the top for a #2 pit stop. There were more steep uphill bits on the way back than I had remembered on the way out, and each one demoralized me just a little bit more. Fortunately the Yosemite Falls Trail was much less crowded at this point in the evening on the way down, and Half Dome was lit up a fantastic bright red!
This route can definitely go a lot faster. Can't wait to see who gets after it next!!