08-15-2017, 02:16 PM
(This post was last modified: 08-15-2017, 03:21 PM by Drunk Monk.)
Half Dome. I climbed it with my dad some 40 years ago. We made it from the valley to the summit and back again in one day. 16 miles, 8 up and 8 down. This would be easier. It's only 3.5 miles from Little Yose. Yeah, right.
Stacy went ahead at daybreak to make it to the subdome base before the sun started beating down. She once made it up in full pack and spent the night up there on a full moon. Can't do that anymore. Need permits. On the way up, she ran into a woman who tried to hike it solo at night with a headlamp, hoping to catch sunrise from summit. She ran into a mountain lion, screamed and fled, luckily encountering some backpackers camped nearby. Stacy has been atop half dome 4 times and didn't feel the need to try it again. She is wise, far wiser than me. I went up with the HS grads later.
As we approached subdome, the sheer verticality started to nag at Tara and me. Tara started to have serious doubts. She started to get the fear. I did too, plus it was so damn steep that I was getting really fatigued. Subdome was crazy steep and it seemed that you could just roll off to oblivion, never mind that vertical cable part. The boys were really supportive. They are young without much fear, but were ready to bail if Tara wanted to do so. But she didn't. She wouldn't let herself. I didn't have gloves so I taped my hands, but then got a pair from another hiker coming downwards.
The cables were insane. Freaking insane. Who makes a trail like that? There's a point where it's straight up and you're hanging off these cables, standing on a janky wood slat, and all that's around you is sheer granite wall, no where to go but down. There was a point where my hands were giving into neuropathy and fatigue and I thought 'Hmm, I could die here. My hands could cramp and I will just fall to my death.' But Tara kept me going, kept asking 'you okay, dad?' I think her concern over me panting helped focus her past her own fears.
And we made it. All four of us. And it was ecstatic.
I kissed the granite when I finished the cables. We were all euphoric. My dad was with me. Greg's dad too, in a weird way, as that was still so fresh. The whole father/son and now father/daughter thing was so moving. High atop Half Dome, the heart stone of one of the most beautiful places on earth. It was profound and sublime. I savored every moment, knowing full well that I won't ever be back. I can't do Half Dome again in this lifetime. I'm so happy that I got to do it once more with Tara. It was the apex of my summer, perhaps my whole year.
Noticing the stone pagodas, Alex commented 'Is that all there is for entertainment up here? Stacking piles of rocks?' We all laughed. Then some climbers came up the face and put us in our place. They had started at like 3AM. We were all 'where did they come from?' Akio helped them take some photos of themselves. Akio was also amazed that Paul the squirrel had stalked him all the way up there. I had lost the cap to Tara's water bottle unknowingly. Akio said he saw it fall to a nearby ledge and thought for a moment he'd reach out to retrieve it, and then thought better of it. Notably, I didn't spill a drop.
It's a very special place up there. The view - my god - that view. And the camaraderie as there are only a few dozen hikers up there at any given time, all blissed and endorphined out.
On the way down, someone dropped a water bottle while replacing one of the cable poles that had become loose. The shout was 'rock!' and I looked up and saw it tumbling right at me. I thought about trying to block it, but then I'd have to let go of a cable so I ducked in a took the hit. It struck me on the thigh, but it was empty so it wasn't so bad. Nevertheless, I yelled 'OW!' as loud as I could.
Stacy went ahead at daybreak to make it to the subdome base before the sun started beating down. She once made it up in full pack and spent the night up there on a full moon. Can't do that anymore. Need permits. On the way up, she ran into a woman who tried to hike it solo at night with a headlamp, hoping to catch sunrise from summit. She ran into a mountain lion, screamed and fled, luckily encountering some backpackers camped nearby. Stacy has been atop half dome 4 times and didn't feel the need to try it again. She is wise, far wiser than me. I went up with the HS grads later.
As we approached subdome, the sheer verticality started to nag at Tara and me. Tara started to have serious doubts. She started to get the fear. I did too, plus it was so damn steep that I was getting really fatigued. Subdome was crazy steep and it seemed that you could just roll off to oblivion, never mind that vertical cable part. The boys were really supportive. They are young without much fear, but were ready to bail if Tara wanted to do so. But she didn't. She wouldn't let herself. I didn't have gloves so I taped my hands, but then got a pair from another hiker coming downwards.
The cables were insane. Freaking insane. Who makes a trail like that? There's a point where it's straight up and you're hanging off these cables, standing on a janky wood slat, and all that's around you is sheer granite wall, no where to go but down. There was a point where my hands were giving into neuropathy and fatigue and I thought 'Hmm, I could die here. My hands could cramp and I will just fall to my death.' But Tara kept me going, kept asking 'you okay, dad?' I think her concern over me panting helped focus her past her own fears.
And we made it. All four of us. And it was ecstatic.
I kissed the granite when I finished the cables. We were all euphoric. My dad was with me. Greg's dad too, in a weird way, as that was still so fresh. The whole father/son and now father/daughter thing was so moving. High atop Half Dome, the heart stone of one of the most beautiful places on earth. It was profound and sublime. I savored every moment, knowing full well that I won't ever be back. I can't do Half Dome again in this lifetime. I'm so happy that I got to do it once more with Tara. It was the apex of my summer, perhaps my whole year.
Noticing the stone pagodas, Alex commented 'Is that all there is for entertainment up here? Stacking piles of rocks?' We all laughed. Then some climbers came up the face and put us in our place. They had started at like 3AM. We were all 'where did they come from?' Akio helped them take some photos of themselves. Akio was also amazed that Paul the squirrel had stalked him all the way up there. I had lost the cap to Tara's water bottle unknowingly. Akio said he saw it fall to a nearby ledge and thought for a moment he'd reach out to retrieve it, and then thought better of it. Notably, I didn't spill a drop.
It's a very special place up there. The view - my god - that view. And the camaraderie as there are only a few dozen hikers up there at any given time, all blissed and endorphined out.
On the way down, someone dropped a water bottle while replacing one of the cable poles that had become loose. The shout was 'rock!' and I looked up and saw it tumbling right at me. I thought about trying to block it, but then I'd have to let go of a cable so I ducked in a took the hit. It struck me on the thigh, but it was empty so it wasn't so bad. Nevertheless, I yelled 'OW!' as loud as I could.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse