Lessons Learned

Lessons Learned, in no particular order:

1. I need to be in much better physical condition to ever try this again. I'm in better shape than when I first started our Half Dome Challenge, but that's still not good enough. I need to develop both more stamina and muscle.

2. I still need to take off some of the weight I gained during my brain tumor year. I've lost ten pounds of that, but I need to take off at least another twenty. Thirty would be even better.

3. The Stairmaster needs to become my friend. My best friend.

4. Never again will I attempt Half Dome on a weekend, if ever at all. Hiking on such a crowded day makes the Half Dome hike more dangerous than it has to be. The throngs of hikers that we encountered from Nevada Fall onwards were quite a shock after the serenely quiet Panorama Trail.

5. I'm not the fastest hiker on the planet, but I'm pretty steady. It's mentally distressing to be passed by so many people. This is another reason why hiking on a weekday would be a better idea.

6. I will never again forget to check that the hiking pants I pack are actually mine.

7. I need to learn to pack lighter. I don't need two hydration packs. I never needed or used the smaller one liter pack.

8. A brighter headlamp would be good, if I ever do this as a one day hike again.

9. Doing the hike as one of my friends does, overnighting in Little Yosemite Valley, is not a bad idea. But my day pack may not be large enough, and I'm sure I don't have the right kind of sleeping bag and mat.

10. I need to better understand how to manage my energy level on the trail and how to control the appetite suppression that happens as a result of exercise.

11. When packing a ham radio into the wilderness, have the Wilderness Protocol frequencies pre-programmed into the right radio.

12. Anemia makes a difference at high altitudes, as I expected it would. As it is, women already have a lower red blood cell count than men generally. We need to keep every red blood cell we can hang on to - and those need to be replete with iron!