Well, I was finally able to edit together some video from the Half Dome hike. My biggest regret is that I wasn't able to shoot more video, but what can you do when you're doing both still & video and are under time constraints. Not being able to switch off the video camera also meant that I have no video of myself.

For about a year now, I've joked around with my pastor about how we should do something for the church that parodies 24. One idea I had was a t-shirt with the 24 logo on the front, and a scripture reference on the back that's something with verse 24. I still haven't found a decent enough verse for that. Anyway, on the way up I told him that I finally figured out what we'd do, and this hike was it.

So here it is, 24: Half Dome. Enjoy.

Back in 2005 or so, I had lost close to 30 pounds but was looking for a serious motivator. Something that would kick my butt in gear, something to give me a reason to work like I've never worked before. I mean, sure, having a goal weight was good and all, but when you're looking at 60 more pounds to lose after already losing 30 it's just a number.

Then one day, a person named Diana on the Tivo Community Forum posted this thread:

Thread

She said, "I am home safe and sound after climbing Half Dome in Yosemite yesterday. It took 3 months of planning everything from the lodging to the practice hikes to the variety of trail mix, but it was well worth it to experience the trip with my friends."

I had never even heard of Half Dome before. So I did a little research. There were Diana's pictures, of course, but I found other things as well. I put it in the back of my mind and as I ate right, as I exercised, that was my goal.

Six months ago, I made the reservations for camping at Upper Pines, only a half-mile from the trailhead. To make sure the number of people would be less, I made sure to go mid-week. I planned to do the hike on a Tuesday, with the idea that I'd have an additional day to recover before having to drive home. My pastor agreed to come along; so did another friend from church.

The Good
June 11 was our first date of camping. Because my pastor didn't arrive until 9pm on Monday evening, we postponed the hike until Wednesday so he would have plenty of time to acclimate. We left the wives at the campsite, and at 6am on the dot, we headed out.


Words can hardly express how it felt after two years to finally be on my way. A mile in, we hit the Mist Trail. Steps. More steps. Even more steps. Did I mention there were steps? The guy in the white cap is Bob, the guy he's talking to is Rob, my pastor.


That Mist Trail was aptly named, there's no way you can get past Vernal Falls without getting soaked. Believe me, even though it's only a mile in, the mist is extremely helpful. Just past Vernal Falls is Nevada falls, a good opportunity for a photo. At this point, I was still able to muster a smile. Nah, smiles were all around, all the time.


The trail at this point was rock. On the way up, Rob mentioned to me that the trail designers had to have been in love with steps. They just kept going and going and...


The restroom was a good opportunity to rest. We stopped, reapplied sunscreen and bug spray, and we could see that the sun was now reaching the trail. I put on my hat and away we went. Little Yosemite Falls was next, and gave us a good stretch of flat trail, a wonderful, wonderful site. There was also water access, which we noted for later hydration purposes.

Past Little Yosemite Valley, the trail climbed even more. I ran into a guy named Daryl who was pretty heavy, and Daryl said the trail was much more difficult than he had expected. To me, it was perhaps easier than I expected. Thanks, Diana!

All along the trail, the conservation corps were doing trail maintenance, scooping dirt over the trail divider rocks to ensure water runoff wouldn't erode the trail. I love it: hike this far only to do yard work!

Then we saw it: Half Dome, along with the cables, along with what are called "switchbacks". As Diana described them, they're really giant rock steps that are perhaps as high as two regular steps. They kept going up, I had to stop looking at it because if I hadn't, I might not have even tried ascending the switchbacks. I could post a smaller image, but to truly appreciate it, you need a full 6 megapixel image. If you have the bandwidth, check it out.

Full Res Switchbacks

If you notice, when the switchbacks end, you're still not quite up to the shoulder. No, you have to climb steep granite anyway. No supports, nothing to hold, nothign to rest on. Keep moving! There was a 10-year-old boy at this point, climbing with his father. The kid was a monster, he was unstoppable!

The cables were just as tricky. Again, you have to see the full resolution image to fully appreciate it. This is also where my workouts really, really, really helped. It was still difficult, but not nearly as much as I expected.

The cables are always there, but the poles are removed every year for the winter. When they put the poles up, they also mount 2x4's across each one. They're mounted 15 to 20 feet apart, and barely bolted together with little metal braces. The poles aren't secured as much as just inserted into 2-inch-deep holes. In fact one of the poles got pulled out as we were on the way up, and some enterprising young man in front of me actually managed to pull it back up the cable and back into its hole. At one point, one of the boards came off and went sliding dowwwwwwwwn the rock. This brought home the seriousness of the ascent. Follow the next link to see the 6mp image of the cables.

Full Res Cables

Then it finally happened: I made it to the top!


Again, words can hardly describe my elation. Almost 2 years since Diana's visit (mine was in June, hers in August). 69 pounds lost. I changed my lifestyle from 98% sedentary to daily fitness. I developed my upper body strength to handle it, and after all the effort, the reward was here. I made it to the top.


The Bad: But wait! There's more...

What's interesting is because of the focus of my workouts, some portions were easier than others. I found that climbing the steps was much easier for me than just ascending the dirt trail. I also found the cables to be easier than I expected. On the way down, things were a bit different.

I really wasn't afraid on the way down, but a girl ahead of us was. She held up the line for probably 30 minutes; she was pretty far down but we could all hear her screaming. I took the opportunity to shoot Bob, just before we got to the steep part. Heh. It's all steep, but this wasn't nearly as bad as the later portion.


They describe the cables as a 45-degree angle, but we all agreed that the 45 degrees is probably an average. There have to be some spots that are 50, maybe 55 degrees. I found out REAL quick that the face first descent isn't about using your legs & feet or even arms. It's about hand strength. My hands were my brakes as I kept my feet sideways, inching my way down. Wherever there was a pole, I had to kneel about halfway, brace myself with one hand, and reach over the pole. Then I could continue on. Every so often, the rock would drop down so not only would I have to crouch, but I would have to step down as well. Parts of the cables were loose, due to being replaced and continued on. These parts we had to descend holding onto one rope.

At the bottom, my gloves were pretty ratty. I can't find them at the moment or I'd post a picture, but each one is worn almost completely through in a straight-line pattern of the ropes. At the bottom of the cables, of course, was a pile of gloves with a big sign that read, "Gloves are trash!"


Descending the ropes was probably twice as fast as going up. The same went for the switchbacks.

As anyone who's been hiking long knows, while hiking downhill is a relief for a short time after going uphill for a period of time, but you quickly realize that it takes a toll on another part of your body: the knees. That's when hiking poles come in handy; you can probably take 20 pounds of pressure off your knees by shifting the weight to the poles through your arms.

I've had the same hiking shoes for the past year, and haven't really had a problem with them until now. I wear size 6 1/2, they're size 7. Where you really tell the difference is in the toes, that portion is pretty loose. With this hike, that caused a problem. I had also completely forgotten to trim my toenails, so for 8 miles downhill they slammed against the inside of the shoes.

I was doing pretty well until the Mist Trail. All those extra steps made me fear for my knees, and fatigued me like nothing I've experienced. The last mile after Vernal Falls, I can only describe as a death march. I had to occupy myself by counting steps: 400 from the bottom of the Mist Trail to the first set of restrooms.

Back at camp, we all greeted the wives with huges & kisses. My kids ran up to me and were actually very understanding as I removed my gear. I got a chance to take off my shoes & socks, and found out exactly why my toes were hurting as much as they were.


So that's the sordid tale. Was it worth it? Abso-frakkin-lutely. Would I do it again? Yes, although I'll wait a while. A long while. Perhaps a few years.

When we were almost done, Bob asked me what we should do for next year's "extreme" hike, so jokingly I said, "Mt. Whitney". Bob took me seriously. I told him to ask me again in 6 months.

Thanks for your patience and reading to the end! If interested, here's the full gallery, including family pictures at Yosemite:

Gallery

I've been having trouble sleeping tonight. I always get this way right before leaving for a vacation, wondering what I've forgotten. I did get a reprieve, though, because my cell phone rang and someone from work needed help. Normally I'd shove it onto someone else, but this was a guy who's in the Phillipines on a family emergency. His problem, come to find out, was that he had changed the time on his computer but not the timezone. Yay! Greg saves the day!

Pastor Rob put a little bug in my ear about wanting a shakedown hike on Tuesday and hiking to Half Dome on Wednesday. I still want to go on Tuesday, but if Bob agrees with Rob, we'll go ahead and wait until Wednesday. Not that it would be the end of the world, but this has been a long time coming. I'm itching to go up!

Either way, I'm excited. Excited and nervous; I know I can make it to the top and back, but I'm still nervous about how my poor body will feel before it's over. I suppose that's normal.

So those are my thoughts at 11:30 the night before heading to Yosemite. When I get back, I should have a picture like this of myself... see that little cave below where the person's standing? People actually hang out there. I won't be that daring. Cheers.

The countdown has begun... Rob Christian (my pastor), Bob Copp, and myself are climbing Half Dome in Yosemite in 6 days. What is Half Dome? Here, look at one of the most famous pictures in the world, taken by Ansel Adams.





A bit of background: back when I started my weight loss and becoming healthy, I was trying to find a goal to achieve. Sure, a certain amount of weight by a certain date was a good goal, but I wanted something concrete.

Then on the Tivo Community Forum, a woman posted about this same hike. It was at just the right time, so that became my goal.

Half Dome isn't for the faint at heart. It's 8 miles one way (16 miles round trip). It's uphill the whole way up, and if you know anything about hiking, you know that means your knees will be feeling it the whole way down. The last portion of the hike is up a 45% grade that you literally pull yourself up cables to reach the top of. You spend a good 12 hours up there, and much of the hike is exposed to the sun. You need plenty of water, which means plenty of weight.

I made camping reservations back in January for the Upper Pines campground, across the street from the Happy Isles trailhead. We're all extremely excited about going up.

This is why I've been working out every day, making sure I have squats & lunges in every workout I do. When I started I didn't have much upper body strength, which I'll need for the ascent up the cables. I feel pretty confident now that while it's going to be difficult, I can make it.

So again: 6 days left!

Another Memorial Day vacation has come and gone. I was hoping to post some video from the trip, but it's taking too long to upload. I'll edit this post later this evening when it completes.

In the meantime, I'll share a few photos. The kids had an awesome time, so did my wife and I. Dani, our 13-year-old niece, came with us, but was too busy being 13 to really enjoy herself. Eventually she did, though.

How happy were the kids? Check out Jenny.


For some reason Gregory kept wanting to hammer a particular redwood tree. I think it's because there was a rusty nail in the tree.


It's always great fun seeing the kids enjoying themselves.


On Sunday, my plan was to hike up to Grasshopper Peak via the Johnson Camp Trail. This would have been part of my training both for Half Dome and for the Tahoe Rim Trail, but a half-mile in, I ran into a State Park sign that said the trail was closed. Back at Albee Creek Campground, they didn't have any idea why it would be closed. The person at the gate said that there had been a bear sighted a few days ago, but didn't think it would still be closed. Back at the Visitor Center, they had no clue but were going to ask the ranger. The next morning I happened to see the ranger come in, and he said it was a mistake. The trail had been open all along, but someone forgot to take the sign down!

In the end, though, it was for the best. Rather than driving up north on Monday, we did it on Sunday, leaving more time on Monday to drive home. We were able to get home early instead of in the middle of the night, which is always nice.

So northward, we went up to Klamath to see Paul Bunyon & Babe at the Trees of Mystery. Yes, that's Gregory & Jenny on his foot.


Gregory kept punching Babe's manhood. Gotta love a 5-year-old.


On the way back, after much rejoicing on the part of the kids, we went to the beach. Clam Beach is just north of Eureka.


Jenny loved walking in the sand, and kept saying, "Warrrrrm!"


Gregory was pretty happy about it as well.


Even Dani got in on the situation; she wanted to find some good seashells. Unfortunately, because this is a pretty popular beach, all she found were broken ones.


I don't know if you remember me posting about this back a few years ago, but I had taken a cute shot of Gregory on the beach back in 2003. It was unintentional, but I got a similar shot this time.


He was a little bit too excited, which brings us to the fun part of the story. Back when I was 6 or 7, my parents took my sister and I to the coast, to the beach. I doubt it was this same beach, but my mom kept telling me to be careful, that I might fall. Being the age I was, I was more interested in fun than paying attention, and made the mistake of turning my back on the water. You know what happened next. Well, guess what happened to Gregory?

Here he is just prior to the event. Notice, he's facing me.


When it happened, he was caught by one wave that made him land on his butt. He got up and tried to steady himself, only to be hit by a second wave that put him flat on his face. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of him falling. I do, however, have one of the aftermath.


That put an end to the fun. Jenny threw a giant fit, but there was no way we could have kept Gregory out in the cold. Dani was unhappy as well.

After Gregory was cleaned up and we were getting ready to leave, we got to watch the sunset. I like this one. I have no idea who the person is.


We ended with the obligatory "look how we've grown" picture. We have a whole set of these now.


We had plenty of fun. Video to come!