Acknowledgments

Half Dome Challenge has been a chronicle of my journey up a mountain and into better health, and of the many interesting things that happened along the way.  As with all journeys, there have been many people and organizations along the way who encouraged and supported me in this endeavor.  I would like to thank the following people and organizations:

• God, for creating such a stupendous natural wonder for all of us to enjoy.
• My parents, without whom I would not be here.
• My husband Duane, for beginning this journey with me and walking by my side almost all of the way.  If not for his support, none of this would have happened.
• Team in Training, for getting me started and giving me the information and education necessary to be successful.  This very worthy organization raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
• Deb Batton, the coach who encouraged me to keep trying, even when I didn't make the "cut".
• Chris Swartout, who also believed in me, who joined me on many conditioning hikes and who provided much backpacking wisdom and the opportunity to backpack in style with him and his family.
• REI, especially for taking back three pairs of boots until I finally found the right ones.  My feet thank you!  Their fantastic customer service and knowledge about gear puts them a gigantic step ahead of their competition.
• Rick Deutsch (aka Mr. Half Dome), who is always a font of information and wisdom about hiking the Half Dome trail.

Half Dome

Half Dome Trail

Today we hike Half Dome.  This is it.  This is the day I have been planning for, preparing for, and, yes, waiting for, for three long years.  Only God knew how long it would take me to summit, and that I would persevere until today.  (I suspect Duane knew this too.  Being my husband he knows full well how stubborn I am!)  

We woke up at 5:00 am, and took an hour to dress, wash, eat and get ready.  We were boots on trail by 6:00 am.  It's not that we're insane.  We are, by nature cautious and careful.  Thunder and lightning storms often show up in the summer, particularly in late July and August, sometime around 2-3:00 pm. 

Permit Reminder Sign and No Camping above
7600 ft. sign at the beginning of the Half Dome Trail

This means you need to summit Half Dome with enough time to get yourself down before any possibility of storms.  Since the approach to Half Dome is from the East, and the storms move in from the West, hikers often have little idea that a storm is approaching, at least until they get to the ridgeline and sometimes longer.  Once a hiker is on subdome, the hiker is fully exposed to the weather and there is no shelter from lightning strikes.  So getting to the top of Half Dome early in the day is the rule, not the exception.

The view of Half Dome is obliterated by clouds.

The weather today is overcast, almost like a foggy San Francisco morning.  Would it clear up?  Would Half Dome's granite be dry enough to allow an ascent by the cables?  The only way to find out would be to hike there.
The contents of today's day pack are a little different than an ordinary hike. I have with me full water (three liters) and one liter of electrolyte today, lunch, trail mix, electrolyte gels, as well as rubber gloves and a climbing harness, with two runners and weight-bearing carabiners. (Not the kind of cute, decorative little carabiners that are served attached to an "El Capitini" at the Ahwahnee, but I digress.)  There is a spring where we can pump water a few switchbacks past the junction to Clouds Rest.  There are also some other ephemeral rivulets, but this is July so they can't be counted on.  Alan was carrying our water pump. 
We passed the warning signs at the beginning of the Half Dome trail, and started the series of interminable switchbacks that rise all the way up to the ridgeline.  A few switchbacks into the hike, Tirina decided to return to camp.  She wasn't feeling well, so Alan returned with her, after giving us the water pump.  Today's attempt at Half Dome would belong to Chris and I.

Half Dome - Clouds Rest Junction

We reached the Cloud's Rest junction withe no further event.  Such a different experience than when I hiked this trail in 2009.  I am now more physically fit, and because of the permit system, there aren't hundreds of people passing us up.  In fact, we are so early, that there are very few people on the trail.
When we get a few switchbacks past the spring, I am now in uncharted territory.  The switchbacks begin to level off as we reach the ridgeline, and the hiking becomes much easier.  I was amazed at how close we had come the first time.  Another difference:  there isn't a meat bee in sight!  Yeah!  I am unlikely to be attacked every time I try to take a bite of my sandwich.

Warning Sign at the foot of Subdome

A short while later, we reached the base of Subdome and its hundred - perhaps thousands - of granite steps, blasted with dynamite by federal workers in the 1930s.  The weather is still foggy, but it's not ominous or looking like it will rain.  No thunderheads that we can see or dark bottomed clouds.
Subdome is legendary for being the most physically demanding part of the Half Dome hike.  Most hikers are doing it in full sun, with no cover, and after having already hiked 7 miles with an elevation gain of nearly 4000 feet.  By contrast, we had hiked only 3 miles with an elevation gain of about 1000 feet.  We still had plenty of energy and, benefited by the cloud cover, reached the top of Subdome very quickly. 

Half Dome Cables, July 15, 2011

At the very top of Subdome, the granite steps have worn out and disappeared.  Making your way up the very steep granite, with nothing to hold onto, is very disconcerting.  Chris kept telling me to trust my boots, and as is my usual way, I just carried on.  When we reached the top of Subdome and started down the saddle that separates Subdome from Half Dome, we couldn't even see the cables or the top of Half Dome.  They disappeared into the clouds.  The big question of the day was whether the granite was dry enough to ascend the cables.  It turned out that it was, so Chris and I decided to make a go of it.
I stopped to rest and eat a little trail mix at the base of the cables.  Then I packed my hiking poles, and donned my climbing harness.  Everything on the outside of my pack was attached by carabiners.  I had heard too many stories and seen too many videos of people losing their hats, poles, water bottles and other paraphernalia while ascending the cables.  I not only didn't want to lose any equipment, I didn't want to be the cause of misfortune to anyone coming up behind and below me.  This is a great video from Mr. Half Dome (aka Rick Deutsch) of what it is like to go up the cables:

Rick literally wrote the book on the Half Dome hike and, although I wouldn't ever advise someone to hike outside of the cables, Rick has done this hike over 30 times and he knows both what he is doing and the risks he is taking.  I made my way up the cables carefully, slower than some and faster than others.  I had one carabiner clipped on to the cable, and as I reached a pole, I would clip the other carabiner to the cable above the pole, and then unclip the bottom carabiner.  It was slower to do it this way, but I was not going to take any unnecessary risks with a seven year old son at home.  Several of my fellow Half Dome hikers saw what I was doing and commented what a good idea it was and how they wished they had thought of that.  Even so, I met only one other person with a climbing harness that day.

Half Dome Summit

I found the cable section of the hike more physically demanding than Subdome, perhaps because I don't have as much upper body strength as younger or male hikers.  By the time I got 2/3rds of the way up the cables my arms were shaking, but except for that I didn't find it particularly difficult.  As I went up the cables, I saw water bottles slide down the face and a hat that had blown about 30 feet away from the cables and would have blown off the Dome had it not caught on something.  It might as well have blown Outer Mongolia, because it was nevertheless beyond anyone's reach.

Half Dome Summit, Above the Clouds

Just as we got to the top of the cables, the clouds began to clear, revealing a glorious day with 360 degree panoramic views of Yosemite.  It was lovely!  But was I really here?  I felt I need to pinch myself to make sure.  I borrowed Chris' cell phone and called Duane from the top of Half Dome. He was surprised to hear from me and so early.  I had no idea what time it was.  It turned out to be about 10:45 am.  We had made very good time, giving us plenty of opportunity to explore!

Marmot atop Half Dome

We sat down to rest and eat our lunch before exploring the top, and encountered marmots who, if given the chance, would happily steal your lunch!  We ate ours before they had a chance.

After lunch, we walked around the top of Half Dome for a while.  There is a dip in the middle, and this is where you want to go should you ever get caught in a lightning storm.  In 1985, 5 hikers foolishly hiked to the top of Half Dome in a lightning storm and were hit by lightning while they were hiding in the cave at Eagle's Beak.  Two of them died.  This incident was the subject of the book, Shattered Air by Bob Madgic.  It's well worth reading, not only for an understanding of what can go wrong, but as a chronicle of hubris.

Eagle's Beak,
4800 feet down to the Yosemite Valley

We gave our cameras to a fellow hiker, asking him to take a photo of us, and then walked out to Eagle's Beak for an iconic victory photo!  (You can see the cave in between us.)  Still, I could hardly believe I'd made it to the top!

Christina Sand & Chris Swartout, on Eagle's Beak

Hiking to the Northwest side of Half Dome Summit

I needed to walk around a bit more to convince myself that I was really, truly here!  So we walked over to the Northwest side for a gorgeous view of Yosemite Valley.  It's amazing how small Yosemite Falls looks from Half Dome.  The Ahwhahnee on the valley floor looks about the size of an ant.  In all, we spent about a half an hour at the top, enjoying the tremendous views and panoramic vistas.  It was truly wonderful!

Christina Sand & Chris Swartout,
Base of the Half Dome Cables

We started down the cables again, this time in full sun.  Still it wasn't hot, only warm, and that was fine with us.  The question was whether to go down face first or butt first, i.e., backwards.  I chose to go down backwards for a couple of reasons.  I didn't want to see the drop, and I also wanted the most control possible as I descended.  I wanted to be able to focus on what I was doing without the distraction of looking down and worrying.  I descended very quickly, so quickly I got to the bottom almost without realizing it.

Half Dome Cables

Finally, we could see what we had just climbed, and the view was yet another different slice of Half Dome.  Since it was still early in the day, there were very few people at the cables, even less so now with the permit system in place. We took one long, last look before continuing on down Subdome.

Top of Subdome, looking at Tenaya Canyon

Subdome proved to be harder on the knees on the way down, as I knew it would. The most disconcerting part was descending at the very top of Subdome, where the granite is nearly as steep as the cable section of Half Dome, but there are no cables or steps.  I walked down very carefully, making sure not to put my foot on sand over granite, following Chris and remembering to "trust my boots"!

The Base of Subdome

It was hotter than when we had come up and there was less cloud cover, but we still had plenty of water, electrolyte and trail mix, and our daypacks were now lighter for having consumed some of our supplies.  As we neared the base of Subdome, we began to see more and more trees.  We met park rangers on the way down who asked for our permits.  We hadn't seen them this morning because we got to Subdome ahead of them.

Edge on view of Subdome,
in front of Half Dome

We continued down the ridgeline, stopping to take one last spectacular photo of both Subdome and Half Dome.  We met hikers on their way up and gave them encouragement.  Amazingly, we found a rivulet that was still running, undoubtedly due to the heavy and late rainfall, and stopped to pump some water, rest and readjust our boots and socks.  This portion of the trail is lush and verdant and is probably my favorite portion of the Half Dome trail.

Chris Swartout pumping water at the rivulet

The weather continued to be in our favor.  The cloud cover had provided a respite from the sun for long enough that it never really got very hot.  It turned out to be perfect hiking weather Half Dome!   We were very blessed.  This time lapse video of July 15, 2011 shows the cloud cover.  When you see it break, that's the time that we had made it to the top.

When we got back to camp it was about 2:00 pm.  The day was barely half over!   Tirina was feeling better. I took off my boots, slipped on my camp sandals, crawled into my sleeping bag and took a nap, with a smile on my face.

Not a Walk in the Park

We were appalled to hear that Bay Area hiker Manoj Kumar fell to his death on Saturday June 13, on the steepest cable section of Half Dome. He was descending at 3:40 p.m. in rain and hail. He fell when about halfway (200ft) to the bottom of the cables.

Besides being very steep, more than 45 degrees in places, the granite here is worn smooth from many decades of hikers using the one path. The smoothened granite is treacherously slick when wet. Some people climb outside of the pair of cable handholds rather than in between them, for better traction or to skip around slower people. It is not yet reported whether the fallen hiker was inside or outside, or whether he was using hiking boots appropriate for granite or just rubber-soled shoes. It is not yet known whether he was alone or in some group.

Six rangers went up via helicopter and took many hours to safely bring down 41 other scared, trapped, cold hikers from the summit and cables.

Ascending this final part of Half Dome is very dangerous when raining, from both traction and lightning strikes. Some reports say that the sky overhead was still cloud-free when these people ascended in mid-afternoon; the arriving clouds were hidden from view by the mountain itself. We don't yet know whether Kumar and others were suckered in, or just chose badly.

Our 'Mr. Half Dome', local author and Half Dome expert Rick Deutsch, was atop Half Dome earlier that day on his 24th trip there. As he came down, he told some arriving hikers about the clouds he saw and advised them to turn back. There are plenty of warning signs posted here and at the beginning of the trail, but there is nothing to stop those who disregard warnings. It is too remote from camps and too expensive, to have a ranger permanently posted there to watch for problems and turn people back.

Duane's office mate safely ascended Half Dome with her husband a couple of weekends ago. But she has a friend whose husband was among the 41 hikers stuck on the summit this fatal evening. Small world.

A few weeks earlier, a woman hiker fell somewhere on the Half Dome trail and had serious but nonfatal injuries.

Two days after Kumar's fall, a worker at Yosemite fell to his death off of a different high cliff elsewhere in Yosemite. This was apparently a recreational hike on his time off.

Team In Training aims to keep its Half Dome event as safe as possible. Each group of twelve participant hikers is accompanied by two experienced professional guides. The ascent is planned before midday, when weather is usually best and the cables are uncongested. Everyone will have good gloves, good boots with sticky soles, and stay inside the cables. If there is any chance of rain, all will turn back and not do the summit. For the regular trails, we are advised to always stop walking when looking up and around.

Christina and I originally planned to do the cables while tethered to them with D-rings. This would stop any fall within 10 feet or so. At his lecture, Mr. Deutsch recommended against this for most people. Messing with it distracts from keeping two good hands on at all times. Now I'm not so sure. It would be useful to have this with and ready, in case of worsened conditions.

We now expect to be assigned to the Panorama Trail instead of Half Dome for our June 20th event day. So we don't have to face these dangers and fears now. It will matter, if and when we return to hike Half Dome someday on our own.

Rick Deutsch: Mr. Half Dome

Tonight instead of our usual Tuesday evening workout at Foothill College, we met at Trailsloggers in Campbell for a talk by "Mr. Half Dome" otherwise known as Rick Deutsch.

Rick has climbed Half Dome 23 times and is planning to do it again this summer - 3 more times. He is probably the world's expert on hiking Half Dome and has written THE definitive guide to the hike: One Best Hike: Yosemite’s Half Dome, published by Wilderness Press and available from Amazon.com.

Of course, we were really interested in hearing about the various parts of the trail, as well as his tips and hints about hiking Half Dome, so we were all ears! Rick talked about the different parts of the trail, including where to find water. While it is possible to carry all of the water you will need, it's too heavy. Rick is definitely a minimalist. He prefers to carry only a fanny pack with two one-liter bottles of water and a filter pump, so that he can get the rest of his water along the way. For food, he carries about 8 energy bars. I can definitely see the advantage of only having a fanny pack. It forces you to pare down to the bare essentials and carry less weight. He doesn't bother with a jacket, since you'll only need it in the morning and will only have to carry it the rest of the way. I had already figured that I was going to ditch my jacket. I'll be cold for the first 15 minutes, but I'll heat up once I get moving. When I get to the wet spots on the Mist Trail, I'll have my rain poncho. That should be good enough.

Most of us wanted to hear about the final, cable section of the hike and that was certainly interesting. More interesting, however, was learning about "subdome," the series of switchbacks comprised of granite steps, not unlike those earlier on the Mist trail up to Nevada Falls. Nearly everyone who has hiked Half Dome thinks subdome is the most difficult portion of the hike. The granite steps seem to go on forever and you are above the tree line which means that you are exposed to the heat of the sun. If you leave early in the morning and hike fast, you will get there around 11:00 am to 12:00 pm. If you don't follow this advice, you'll arrive during the heat of the day and you'll be wiped out by the time you get to the cables - and have to deal with a "caterpillar" line of people going up. Best to arrive early!

The presentation was great and packed with lots of interesting information and, of course, great photos of Half Dome. It was really great to meet Rick, who is so enthusiastic. I bought his book, which he autographed for us. We picked up a few more items while at Trailsloggers. I looked for a replacement hat, but didn't find one that was suitable.