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Conquering Half Dome
“Taking on one serious monster of a hike!” Friday, July 17th, 2015 This trip was a long time coming. Going all the way back to March 2015 when my friend Sandy and I decided to apply for the Yosemite Lottery to attain a permit to hike the cables up to Half Dome. The lottery system was implemented in 2012 to limit the amount of foot traffic on the cables. A maximum of 300 hikers are allowed (about 225 day hikers and 75 backpackers) each day on the Half Dome Trail beyond the base of the Sub Dome. Two separate fees are collected. The first fee, which is charged at the…
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Relaxing Weekend Before Half Dome
Waddell Beach, CA Sunday, July 12th, 2015 This weekend I decided to take a break from all the training hikes that I had been enduring over the last few months in preparation of Half Dome. Saturday morning, my personal trainer invited me to join him on a morning run at the local high school track, something I had not done in over 20 years. I was a bit shocked that I was able to keep a steady 8 minute mile pace for 2.5 miles, but my calves were starting to cramp after that so I just walked for a bit. Afterward, my trainer and I hit the Gym to do…
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Half Dome Training at Big Basin
Big Basin, CA Sunday, July 5th, 2015 After experiencing a rather filling Saturday, I wanted to follow up with more training for my Half Dome hike coming up in two weeks, so I felt that the 11 mile Berry Creek Falls loop trail at Big Basin was a pretty good challenge. I had done this big hike four times in the past and even twice from the trailhead at Waddell Beach. Today’s challenge would be the increased weight of my payload. Yesterday’s Hike at the Stevens Creek Trail was very tough as I overloaded my bag with 37+ pounds of water, snacks, camera gear, and other essentials that I would…
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"Happy 239th Birthday America!"
San Jose, CA Saturday, July 4th, 2015 Today marks America’s 239th birthday and since I have not treated myself to a good fireworks display since the one I experienced with the beautiful Miss Starr at Bridgeport, CA two years ago, I managed to get out and snap a few pics for once. A few friends invited me out to see the fireworks display to be held at Almaden Lake Regional Park. These are just some of the great shots I managed to snap with my Canon 5D MKII and my favorite lens, the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM =D “Moments before the Grand Finale” “The Grand Finale!” Overall, this…
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Half Dome Training at Stevens Creek
San Jose, CA Wednesday, July 1st, 2015 Back in March a coworker invited me to join her in an effort to qualify for the Yosemite National Park “Half Dome Lottery”. During the preseason lottery, 225 permits are available for each day. The application period for this lottery is hosted from March 1st through March 31st. Suffice it to say that we both qualified!, since then I have been training and today marks the 4th month of intense training for my hike to the top of Half Dome. This is will be a monumental hike for me personally as it will challenge me physically and mentally. As one who’s suffered from…
