We hiked Half-Dome! :) It was Erin, TJ, their friend Mike, Erin's brother Brian, and me.
We walked around 17 miles. It took almost 11 hours, although I think if we had been less leisurely, we could have done it in under 10. There were millions and millions of steps to climb. In fact, a climber we passed, who was going up as we came down, said, "Man! This is just like an evil stairmaster," which struck me as very amusing for some reason. Three people made it to the very tippy top via the near-vertical cables and two chickened out at the end. I'll let you guess who actually summited and who just came close :) I was definitely not the slowest and kept up the whole way. In fact, on the way down, Brian and TJ were whining ("our knees hurt!") that Erin and I were taking it too fast and claimed that we were doing so because "women are so dainty that going down is easier for them." Yeah, like Erin and I are really dainty. Neither was I the klutziest one. 0 (yes, zero) falls in 17 miles is a pretty non-klutzy record, I'd have to say. BVB (and yes, that is the Van Brussel sibling-- remember that Erin is no longer "VB"), on the other hand, basically slid down the mountain and there was much swearing to be heard. Everything in my body hurts right now. I have some bruises on my shoulders (not sure how those got there...) and chafing marks from my backpack straps. I can barely walk because my quads, calves, and hip abductors are sore as heck. The down was really rough on the knees. I also really, really, really want to go to sleep right now. But my overnight call starts in about an hour and a half and it's just not worth lying down. It is surprising what you can push your body to do, as evidenced by that massive hike. I think much of it is mental. So here I go. I promise more photos soon... when I'm more rested! But, regardless how tiring it was, the trip was TOTALLY worth it!
Half Dome from Tioga Road
6 comments:
Awesome!
I think that I would love to vacation with you and EVB...you like to do all the same things that I do! Yosemite is high on my list of "places to see".
Congrats for making it up Half Dome! And thanks for taking the time to post even though if I were you I would have slept instead. :) I've been checking all day for a hiking update. :) David says thinking about taking call after hiking around all day makes him sleepy. :) Good luck on call tonight! :)
Wow. I'm not sure I could do anything for 11 hours.
And being as you didn't bungee, I'll take it you stood back.
Congrats! Glad you made it. Tony and I can sympathize with your pain.. we rode a total of 64 miles this weekend. Can't wait to see the rest of your pictures. :)
Wow...congratulations on the hike! I would have been exhausted!
You guys should all come out and go to Yosemite with us! I think we want to go in the spring too and hike more.
To set the record straight: I DID go all the way to the top. Brian and I went together, Mike followed later, and the Augustines just chilled out... Who would have thought?! :)
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