this is a future dream of mine, and l was wondering if anyone knows what steps l have to take before this happens??? l plan on training in yosemite for a while beforehand, but l was wondering if there is anything special you have to do. (climbing permits/license, special permission, etc...)

Unlike skydiving, u do not need permits or licenses to climb rock. You do not even need wilderness permits for nights spent on the vertical walls of the valley, u just technically need to get back to the valley on the same day u reach the top (you can always say, ''but l barely got to the top early this morning!''). Half Dome has sloping sides & one truly vertical face, which is called the Northwest Face. There r several routes up this wall, all of them requiring some aid climbing for at least some portion of the climb. Here is a link of a description of such a climb up the Regular Route, it makes for fun reading, & l am sure u will get all pumped up & wanting to go yourself after reading it. However, because some parts of the climb is rated 5.11 (at least 5.10 anyways), you're going to need considerable experience & training before you're ready to go for it, & u will need experienced partners to take u up there. If u have not ever climbed rock, u have a long ways to go before you're ready to take on the Regular Route. Even if you're young & fit, figure at least a couple of years of hard training on Yosemite rock before u reach this stage. And oddly enough, finding a reliable partner that will spend time climbing with u is a challenge itself! Unless u can find an experienced partner willing to show u the ropes (pun fully intended), figure on taking some rock climbing classes, there r plenty available in Yosemite & almost anywhere in the USA.