Hiking Post #5: Half Dome!

Yosemite Part II

On my second full day on vacation, five of us headed out to tackle Yosemite's most challenging day hike: Half Dome. You can read more about the hike here. It is long, hard, and we started at 5 in the morning to beat the heat and get down at a reasonable hour.

Here we can see the sun coming up on the lovely mountains surrounding us.

The beginning of the hike boasts some beautiful waterfalls and some intense stairs. Then it flattens out for a while as you hike on part of the John Muir Trail. As you continue to climb through the forest, the trees thin and eventually you end up above the tree line. To get to the top of the dome, you have to pull yourself almost straight up over bear rock on a series of cables bolted into the granite. Here they are from far away:

You can see a few people making their way up in between two thin lines. And here Ronika is, celebrating the danger we are about to undertake:

After a brutal climb, we all made it to the top. Here I am excited about my triumph. You can see the rest of the valley, far below me in the background.

The day ended up lasting about 20 hours, but we all made it back in one piece. Eventually. Half Dome the second time was just as beautiful. And, for me, significantly easier than the first time a year ago. I will credit the marathon training for that.