Conquering Half Dome

I was lucky enough to return to Yosemite National Park this past weekend.  I was scheduled to go out to Sports Marketing 2.0 in San Francisco so I figured I would try and fit in one last weekend in one of the most beautiful places on Earth. 

While Kristie and I were there back in July, the one hike I didn't get to try out was Half Dome.  Half Dome is one of the most recognized peaks in Yosemite because it looks like a dome that literally got split down the middle.  It rises 4,800 feet from the valley floor and the hike is about 17 miles round trip. The last 400 feet of the hike include a 45 degree slope up a granite wall with steel cables to help pull yourself up. 

I am not a huge fan of heights, so I knew it would be a challenge.  I did some research before hand and I decided the best thing to do would be to buy a climbing harness and some sewn runners and clip onto the cables with a carrabiner clip.  That way, if I fell, the worst that could happen would be a few bruises and scrapes.  

Keith, my old college roommate tagged along on the trip.  We stayed in Curry Village and ended up waking up at 4:00 a.m.  We checked out at the front desk and we were on the trailhead by 5:30 a.m.  It was still very dark outside so we used a flash light for the first hour.

People were very friendly on the trail.  Especially on the cables.  I think with the traffic jam and it taking about 45 minutes to get up, it really made people band together even more than usual.

It took me about 11 hours and 30 minutes round trip and it was so worth doing.  I thought I would be nervous and have a hard time, but once I got on the cables, it was really easy.  Below is a video that chronicles the whole journey.  P.S. - My creepy whispering in the beginning is because we were in canvas tents and at 4:00 a.m., I didn't want to wake up my neighbors.  You could hear someone drop a pin 50 yards away which made sleeping pretty difficult!