Mission Accomplished

Yippee! Another goal accomplished for 2009. I swear, I really was hiking Half Dome. I have pictures to prove it. Besides, I don't know who I'd be having an affair on anyway if I was using it as a cover. And unlike our last president, I can really say "mission accomplished" and it's actually true.

As of today the goals accomplished meter click to 2 (or #3 or #4, depending on how you look at some of them...). Actually, getting this one done makes me a heck of a lot more cool with turning 29 and it proves that I've gotten out more on the weekends (summer time in constant weekend for us teachers, right?). So, I think I've done 4 of 6 goals. What's left? 12 Books (I've done 3 for the year...as long as you let me count the audio book I listened to on the drive) and 1000 miles run (I've got 700 so far). Looking good!

Okay, here comes a trip report. It'll probably be long, but if you don't read it and just skim the pictures, I won't mind. Really. My room is a mess, I have a million emails and blog posts (and deaths!) to catch up on, but it'll have to wait until I get this stuff online.

Thursday:

I was on the road by 6:45 in the morning. The ride was no different than usual, except for the traffic at the gate. I don't know if I've ever experienced that. I spent my drive getting started on Sarah Vowell's "The Wordy Shipmates." I went in and out of listening throughout the round trip. As a result, I don't think I got as much out of the book as I'd hoped...or else, the book isn't as good as I'd hoped.

I arrived at Curry Village at 10:45. I found a parking spot IMMEDIATELY (that never happens in the summer) and went to check in. Apparently, it was too early, so I decided to take my bike for a ride to check out the trailhead and anything else that my bike wanted to see.

I got to the trailhead, realized I'd hiked the first 1+ miles before, and saw the bike rack. I'm feeling ready.

Then I kept on going to Mirror Lake. Lots of families out here in the cool, clear water.

Mirror Lake.

I followed the road around as it paralleled the Merced River. The Merced is amazing. The water is so clear and refreshing.

Here are my tootsies getting a quick bath. It was glorious.

Yay! My bike takes me to cool places!

The view of Half Dome from Yosemite Valley. I'm getting itchy to get up there. It's still Thursday afternoon when I saw this view.

I continued biking around the Valley. I wish my camera could capture the movement of this long, green grass. First of all, most of the grass in California is yellowy-brown right now, but since Yosemite is fertile soil with late spring rain and summer thunderstorms, they have green grass. If I wasn't afraid of ticks (and not being able to find them on my body), I would have run amok in this field.

I regrettably bought a burger, went to check in, and promptly fell asleep in my canvas tent. For about four hours. It was fabulous. I woke up, wandered around the valley some more, ate a sandwich, and started packing. I bought the book "One Best Hike" by Rick Deutsch and it proved to be invaluable. It has great advice for the hike as well as points of interest with mileage and approximate cumulative time for each.

I was ready to go, read my book, and tried to go to sleep. Well, it was as if the kids in the tent behind me were in my tent, so I couldn't sleep. So, I turned on the head lamp and finished my book. Lemonade!

Friday morning, I woke up around 4:30am, got dressed, and had a bite to eat. I loaded up the car (you can't keep anything with a scent in your car overnight because of the bears) and turned in my key.

This is Half Dome from the parking lot right before I started my hike.

I rode my bike to the trailhead. I love saving time! Do I get a prize for being the first one to the rack?

Here is my sleepy-eyed self, ready to start hiking. It's about 5:15 am and it is pleasantly cool. Off I go!

The hike up was pretty straight forward. Have I mentioned to you how much I love my new hiking poles? Back in December, my mom and John got me some stuff from EMS. I happened to already own one of the items, so I took it back and exchanged it (plus some of my cash) for Komperdell TI-7 Ridge Lite Women's Hiking Poles. I have only heard good things about using hiking poles, so I figured I should give them a whirl. These poles made everything about my day easier. I kept my pace steady...making sure I was working hard the whole time, but not so hard that I had to stop and catch my breath. I was at the base of the cables after about 3 hours and 30 minutes.

Woo hoo! Poles! You might be able to make out the cable line behind me...it's the light colored curve going up near my left hand. I don't think there was a point all day when this smile wasn't on my face.

I'm heading up. I thought you could use a glimpse of what we were dealing with...cables on each side laced through 3 foot posts, each about 10 feet apart, with a 2 by 4 on the rock to give you something to stand on every so often. I had a rhythm to this...four or five steps to the next board, and then pause to regroup...four or five steps...pause. As I was going up, three guys were coming down, one on his butt. The last guy in the crew said to me, "Get ready for the happiest day of your life!" How did he know I am not married and don't have kids?

It took about 10 minutes to get up the 425 feet of cables. Four hours from trailhead to summit (7.1 miles via the Mist Trail). That's more than one hour faster than the book estimated. Awesome!

I sat down to journal and eat a bit and here comes this guy. I didn't zoom at all for this picture. This marmot was just all up in my business. I told him he better find someone else to hang out with...I'm a solo act today!

One of the leaders of the boy scout group I saw at the base of the cables came up (the boys were not going to summit). He took this nice picture for me. Oh, I forgot to mention the gloves. The book told me to bring gloves for the cables, specifically bike gloves. This is the only mistake in that book. My hands are currently ravaged...the skin rubbed/burned off in three places on each hand...all where the gloves weren't. Next time...full-coverage gloves! This was as close as I got to the edge. A guy died while hiking (I think he slipped when doing the cabling) recently and I had no interest in following in his footsteps. There were about 10 people at the summit, but as I went down, about 20 or 30 people were coming up, with at least 50 close behind.

When I reached the bottom of the cables, I saw a woman who I hadn't seen since the first mile when we talked about my arm warmers (they don't actually make me stronger, but I like to think they do). At this point, her two friends had gone up the cables but she was too nervous to go with them. We talked a bit about the climb and I tried to assuage her fears. She was incredibly nice and friendly (she actually seemed Southern, but was from Visalia, CA...so that probably explains it). What struck me is that she asked, "What's it like to hike alone?" I didn't know how to answer her. She asked further...if I ever felt scared or nervous. I don't. When I hike, I just feel strong and confident. I never really think about the fact that I'm alone...unless I think of my parents, who are probably thinking about the fact that I'm alone out there. It helps that there are usually a bunch of other people out there by themselves. Not tons, but enough that it seems normal.

My hike back down to the valley was fun. I ran whenever possible, prompting many people to comment. It was fun, and much more safe because of my poles. I was mostly on my own for the day (and spent nearly the entire first four hours by myself), but I caught two guys who were backpacking. They hung with me and it was nice to have people to chat with. They came from Arizona and wanted to climb the face of Half Dome, but the queue was too long. They were heading back to Camp 4 (where the climbers hang) to regroup for a climb somewhere else tomorrow. When they stopped for water, I kept going, skipping and running some more (my Camelbak makes hydrating so easy). While many people commented on my quick descent, more people asked me about the damage to my legs (the road rash on both knees). I think they were relieved to find out that it had nothing to do with hiking.

You see all kinds on these hikes. There are people who are totally legit...either super-fast day hikers or those who look so at ease with a 50 pound pack on their back. You also see people in sneakers (not too bad) or slip-on Vans (not the best for Half Dome), people in jeans, and people who are carrying nothing. The book I had said "no tennis shoes." I was worried the whole time about my trail running shoes...thinking they might not be as grippy as my hiking shoes (which are older and not as comfy anymore). My shoes did just fine.

I was down to the Falls in no time (less than 3 miles to go).

This is a view of Nevada Fall. Wow.

Here's the only survey marker I saw all day. This is below Nevada Fall on the John Muir trail, but still at 5,246 feet. I took the Mist Trail up, but the John Muir trail down for a bit, to get a better view of Nevada.

I had the opportunity to rejoin the Mist Trail. It's called this because of the mist that comes off the falls. Here's a view looking at Vernal Fall. Look at that rainbow! At this point, I have about a mile left but the trail is chock full o' people. Getting to the top of Vernal Fall is a quick hike, so lots of people do it.

Note: A "Fall" is a waterfall that falls straight down with no obstructions. "Falls" is a word for a waterfall that does hit rocks as it makes its way down to the pool below, e.g. Yosemite Falls.

Seven and a half hours after I first passed this sign, I was done. A nice couple from Spain, who spoke no English except "I don't speak English" took thie picture for me. I did about 15 miles (I mixed and matched the trails). From here, I walked the short way to my bike and rode to the car. It felt so good to ride after this hike. My knees (especially the right one...which is way more banged up from the bike crash) were toast and the ibuprofen didn't seem to be working.

At the car, I investigated my 100 oz. Camelbak. Yay for drinking almost all my water! From here, I biked to the market for some root beer and chips (yay salt and sugar). I brought them to the banks of the river and I stood in the calm, cool water for 10 minutes as my ice bath. I wish I lived close to a river to do this all the time.

So, what's next? Well, I got a book of hikes in the bay area. I'd like to do a few from that book this summer. I'd also like to head back to Yosemite and float down the river in a raft (not near any of the falls or rapids, but the calm part). I'd also like to see if I can get my feet wet as a backpacker. This might be a pipe dream right now, but it's something I've wanted to do for years. I've never been backpacking (unless you count Mt. Manadnock when I was five) but I think I'd really like it. Carrying all my gear, walking slow and steady from campsite to campsite, having a trail name... We'll see. Otherwise, that might have to be a goal for 2010.

Hope you enjoyed the report. I have some video I shot. As soon as I can figure out how to edit it together on my PC, I'll post it here.