Half Dome | bryn.ashley

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if you know me, you know I’m not a huge hiking fan. So you might be wondering what this post is all about.

A friend at work organized a full moon, midnight hike of half dome – you leave at midnight and make it to the top in time to see the sunrise. I immediately said I wasn’t interested.

Then Lisa and Nick both showed some interest…..and then Lisa jumped on board….and then Nick. And I hate being left out, so I grudgingly agreed. I was close to backing out a number of times – 3-4 I’d say. I’m glad I did it, but I will probably not do it again. It’s one of those “once in a lifetime” kind of things. I’m sitting at my computer, pretty much hurting from the neck down. However, the bragging rights will last a lifetime.

I’ll attempt to recount the interesting parts and awesome pictures of our 12 hr journey.

We arrived at the trailhead parking at 11:48 PM. At this point, I hadn’t slept in almost 24 hours because I was so nervous for the hike. I was planning on surviving on sugar, caffeine and adrenaline (not something a parent ever wants to hear).

We had some obligatory parking lot photos – headlamps and all – and we were off to the start of the trail. Sidenote – I was labeled the little ninja for the trip – all black. Although Lisa looked kind of Ninja-y as well.

Here we are at the start of the trail. I tried to circle the half dome trail – 8.2 miles (16.4 round trip). They don’t tell you that it’s also a ~4800 ft gain in elevation (but don’t worry, I knew this ahead of time).

The first 2-3 miles is pretty tough. It’s like a weed out class in college (chem 142 for you med school kids). It’s steep and never ending. A number of us commented that “I hope it isn’t like this the whole way or I’m not gonna make it.” There was huffing and puffing and not as much talking as we would have liked. But it got us warm 🙂

Just as I thought I was gonna die (A common theme on this hike) – we turned a corner for an AWESOME view of half dome lit by the moon. We all tried to take pictures, but none of them turned out – too dark. I guess it’s just one of those things you’ll have to see to believe – absolutely beautiful.

Here we are resting, snacking and taking pictures. Perspective was also a common theme. The hard, uneven rock was so comfortable.

There was a lot of walking that went on between that initial sitting and the pictures to follow.

I got scared I’d get eaten by a bear.

More uphill hiking and sore legs.

Huffing a puffing.

Some crazy steep granite stairs cut into the side of a rock – no hand rail – nothin. I made a mental note that these would be scary in the daylight.

And then we made it.

Here’s a picture of half dome, at night, with the full moon.

The sun is on its way up and we are on our way to ascend half dome. (thought I was gonna die during the ascent).

We made it!

The car crew – Lisa, Nick, me and Stephen. We all drove up (and hiked up) together.

We had some pretty good cell phone reception. Here you can see Dave, drinking a mountain dew and talking on the phone. I sent a text.

Group shot – minus a few hikers still coming up the cables.

The shadow of half dome and the full moon.

Nick and Mike playing around.

The real reason for hiking during the middle of the night was to see the sunrise. And it was absolutely beautiful. We were all standing around waiting and then someone yells “there it is” and everyone started to cheer. Sounds cheesy, but after 6+ hours of hiking, it sounded pretty cool – and it was.

The sun also made for some pretty pictures.

So then it was time to go down the cables. What I haven’t mentioned is that I almost didn’t climb the cables. I was scared shitless. As an engineer, I was analyzing the situation and the cables and wood planks did not look very safe (although thousands of people use them every year). I was almost ready to send Nick up alone. But then I thought I’d try it. And I’m glad I did.

They recommend you wear gloves. We had brought some of our own, but in case you forget yours, there is a huge pile of them at the base.

Here is a picture of the cables. The steepness isn’t really all that exaggerated.

Here we are on our way back down.

Finished!

I was overjoyed at this point.

One more shot of half dome with the full moon in the distance.

And the cables. Ha, I still can’t believe I did it. Very un-bryn-like.

These were the granite steps of death.

A pause on the way back down. The best part about climbing at midnight is that you see almost no one on your way up. Which is nice – because it would suck to see all these people that already made it. Which was awesome on the way back down. You could look at all the people coming up, thinking “I’m so glad I’m done hiking up.” The elevation killed me and I was definitely having a hard time towards the end.

Then we made an awful decision to see the falls. The falls were pretty, but it about 2000 vertical feet of stairs. My right knee failed me and I was forced to walk down the entire way like a 4 year old learning to walk down stairs. step down, bring the other foot down. repeat….about 4 million times.

But the falls were pretty and there was a rainbow.

We continued on our way and made it back by noon. So the entire trip took 12 hours. Not bad at all. It was a great experience and one that I will probably not ever repeat. However, it showed me that I was capable of a lot more than I thought. Until Saturday night/Sunday morning I had only ever completed 3 previous hikes – all 3 miles or less. So it made logical sense to have my 4th hike be 16.2+ miles and 4800+ vertical feet. I’m done hiking for now – nothing will ever be as cool (probably). It’s back to some ibuprofen and relaxation. I think I need a massage.

Oooh, I almost forgot. A huge shoutout to new balance trail runners. I bought the shoes last Wednesday, wore them at work on Friday and then logged 17+ miles of hiking on Sunday. Kind of a hiking, no-no, but my feet are awesome and blister free (unlike poor nick’s).

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