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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 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…
