Yosemite

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Mon 9/4 - Fri 9/8: Yosemite
When I drove into Yosemite, I was awestruck. I was now on the floor of the canyon I had read so much about. My jaw hit the floor when I came around the bend to see El Capitan, the world’s largest exposed chunk of granite. I learned later that rock climbers usually take 3 to 4 days to climb this thing, though lately there is a speed climbing movement where climbers have ascended in just hours. I knew there were climbers up there, but I couldn’t see them without binoculars. I took a few pictures of El Cap, failing to capture its grandeur. I looked at the rock, imagining what lines I would take if I were climbing it, and what it would be like to sleep up there, tied to the rock.

Glacier Point
The next day, Tuesday, I woke up anticipating a “warm-up hike” for half dome. The hike to Glacier Point via Four Mile Trail provided amazing views and breathtaking (literally) switchbacks. The trail climbed 3200 ft (975 m) in 4.6 miles (7.4 km). The thing basically goes straight up, and I am starting a petition to change the name from Four Mile Trail to 4.6 Mile Stairway. I could go on about how great the views were, but I will let the pictures do that. I will never forget emerging from the solitude of the forest and reaching the road-fed peak swarming with people who drove or rode the bus, walking around eating ice cream. An argument could be and probably was made that both groups, hikers and drivers, were suckers. The hike down was much faster. At many points it was easier to run down the trail than resist gravity by walking. Running down the trail with trekking poles felt a bit like downhill skiing for crazy people. That night I passed on the Coleman stove and went straight for the all you can eat buffet.

Rest
Wednesday I chose to rest while reading, playing guitar, and catching up on laundry. My body needed to recuperate from Glacier Point and prepare for the biggest hike of the trip (and my life so far)…

Half Dome
It is a little unnerving camping for 3 nights in the shadow of Half Dome when you know you are going to hike it. Each time you look at it, you feel a little smaller, and you cannot help looking at it. I hit the trail at 7:30 am, winding my way up the John Muir Trail to Nevada Falls. In total, the hike from my tent was an 18 mile (29 km) round trip. Like a marathon, this hike was a mental test as much as it was physical. Normally on a hike, I am constantly thinking about how far I have hiked, and how far I have to go, but if you do this on a hike like Half Dome, you are just psyching yourself out. I just focused on a landmark along the trail within sight, usually a tree or boulder a stone’s throw away, and celebrated when I got there. This way I was constantly happy instead of the dread I felt whenever I thought of the total climb ahead. At one point, about half way up the mountain, a couple asked me how much farther I thought it was. “A lot less farther than when we started” was all I could say, and I meant it. You could see the despair in their eyes as they tried to calculate, “how much farther.” This hike was definitely a lesson in focus.

It was also pretty easy to stay happy just by stopping every once in a while and looking around you. With the elevation gain, the trail went through all kinds of forest, along rivers, waterfalls and meadows. Most of the time, I had the trail to myself, until I reached the shoulder of the peak. Here, it gets much steeper, the switchback “stairs” bunching causing congestion just as a bend in the freeway will during rush hour.

After climbing the shoulder, you come upon a long flat section that gives you space to stare into the ear of half dome and ponder your sanity. At the base of the dome, there starts two cables, about waist high, that run straight up the dome. Every 10 feet or so, there are posts holding the cables in the air, and wood 2x4s between the posts that provide extra footing. I can’t imagine climbing half dome without the cables to serve as handrails. It gets pretty interesting watching the game of twister that ensues as ascenders pass descenders. I cannot describe the feeling of standing at the bottom of those cables looking up, but I did take pictures. Forgive me for not taking any pictures while on the cable portion, my hands where occupied elsewhere.

The top of Half Dome provided great views and an even greater sense of satisfaction. The first thing I did was sit down and drink a beer that I had brought, and I have to thank Tim and Anthony from Zion for their influence. I used to be a purest about wilderness, but they were right, if a beer or a smoke tastes good at the bottom of the mountain, it tastes even better at the top. So why did I drink a beer on the top of half dome? Because I can!

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Comments

[Jenny]

I like the way you think my friend!