Half Dome

This hike was something I have been wanting to do since I moved here in 2000. Finally, May of this year the topic was brought up in casual conversation and a few friends and I decided to train for this adventure. The group grew to about 12+ then trickled down to the final 6 who took their first steps towards a 12 hour adventure.



The plan was to start the hike at 5am so we can casually hike up, take breaks and make it down by 4 or 5pm. My cabin was CB and W.H , we woke up at 5am, oops. That's ok, we'll still be okay.

We picked up the other group of 3, BY, my cousin J and her friend Yadi. We had our backpacks ready with plenty of GU shots, Jelly belly sports, energy bars, fruits and water and filter to fill up at the Merced River.

We were well prepared and started up the trail by 6am. Life was good, I was so pumped with my iPOD in my ear, the weather couldn't have been better and the view is beautiful as always. The trails were clear and I was happy knowing we'd beat the tourist crowd to the cables. By 7:30 we were at the Nevada Falls and Glacier point fork. We took the right trail to wards Glacier Point. The signs didn't mention Half Dome, but I knew we weren't going to Nevada Falls, so it must be the Glacier Point trail. That decision became the death of us. After about an hour, rougly 2.5 miles the trail began to descend. We were dropping elevation very quickly. That just means there's steeper hills ahead to recover the elevation lost. But W.H stopped me "we're dropping too fast". Those words came like daggers, I didn't want to admit it, not after happily running down the slopes to pick up time, but I knew he was right. I shouted at the 4 ahead and they came walking back. The news didn't take long to break, everyone started dashing back. I wasn't sure if it's because they felt pressed for time or just pissed off at me. I was surely pissed off at myself.

We hiked furiously back another 2.5 miles.

Of all the times to screw up on a directions I HAD to do it on a 17 mile hike. We returned to Nevada Falls by 10am. By that time everyone and their grandma was on the trail. Our intentions of beating everyone to the cable was a lost cause. We had already covered about 7 miles and had another 4.6 miles to go with the worst yet to come. We took our first real break at the falls to fill up our bottles from the Merced River, as planned. The increased weight of my backpack immediately took it's toll on me. Fortuntely the next mile was flat. I turned on my iPod and life was good once again, but only for that one mile. The trail began to incline again and it only got steeper. With the increased crowd the trail became dusty and I coughed along the way. Finally we came out of the forested area and the dirt path became granite slabs.

Ahead of us were two large groups of tourits. How did they ever manage getting up here with those shoes that they got on? One by one, like ants, we walked up the stone carved steps along the edge of the mountain. We were probably above 7,000ft at this point. The fatigue and thin air made every step painful. I was really out of shape. We gradually made our ascent 5 steps at a time. The trail was filled with hikers needing to rest on the side. When one sits up, the spot is immediately filled with another breathless hiker. I cursed my foolish mistake with every step. had we not deviated 5 miles, 2 hours!!! I would have had more energy for this shit.

We finally reached the base of the cable. People were scattered all over, resting, some napping, some fueling up. The cable was packed and it took about 30min to reach the top of the cable. It probably would have been faster if people wore appropriate shoes, but better safe than sorry. One slip at the top could possible take the rest of us down to our death. The view at the top was magnificant, but not as pleasing as I expected. I needed to pee, I was tired, the wind was blowing hard and I was cold. After 10min we began our descent.

The descent was painful. I was miserable. We passed by Yadi who was limping with a random branch she improvised as a stick. I couldn't even care to help her. We were on our own. All I wanted was to get back, shower, grab a beer, pop a few pills, eat pizza and sleep.

And I did.