September 20, 2006
I read on someone else's website that hiking Half Dome isn't something you can do at the last minute. However true that may be, it's exactly what I did.
On Wednesday, September 13, 2006, Emilio emailed me. In two days, he and his co-worker Mark were planning on going to Yosemite to hike Half Dome. I was welcome to come along.
The idea was to leave L.A. on Friday by 9 pm, get to Yosemite Valley by 3 am, start hiking at 5 am, and get back to the campsite before sundown.
The roundtrip is about 17 miles, with a vertical climb of nearly a mile. It takes about 12 hours, depending on your fitness level. On a scale from 0-10, my fitness level was about -100. To make matters worse, the starting elevation was already almost a mile above sea level. I *live* at sea level.
Against all rational thought, I decided to go -- in my worst physical shape of the past 6 years, with no physical preparation whatsoever. I brought a gallon of bottled water and 4000 calories' worth of (what turned out to be nasty) homemade brownies.
We made great time in spite of my excruciatingly belabored pace. Though the vertical cables in the final stretch were jammed with slow, timid people, it was the funnest part for me. Once atop the dome, we spent over two hours relishing the fruits of our agony. It was a privileged position.
That night we slept in our own unchanged, unwashed filth at 0 degrees C. The next day we drove around the park for a little sightseeing and pictures, then headed home.
Upon entering Southern California on the 5 freeway, we saw smoke from an ongoing wildfire that turned the sky orange and the sun blood-red.
This was one of the greatest experiences of my life.
- Amy