Life gives you obstacles that you can rarely foresee however it also provides opportunities that lie just beyond the grasp of every day endeavors. Opening the doors need only require a change of heart, a willingness to dare, or a walk through the looking glass. Sometimes it is a journey through the mystical, the mundane, or the corridors of times past, present or future that reveals the path ahead. What started as a road to health and fitness has become a journey into new landscapes and vistas of unexpected beauty that challenge both physically and spiritually.
Veda and I began our wanderings on the trails of Malibu, CA. We were determined to hike as many different trails as the rugged landscape of our home city offered, ever reaching higher into the majestic Santa Monica Mountains. We built endurance by conditioning our bodies to the sometimes grueling terrain, exploring the offered trails but often forging our way up rocky crags and through overgrown brush that obstructed the paths that seemed better suited to four legged creatures than two (dare I say it) middle-aged mothers. Surprises awaited around every bend in the road as we wound our way from the coastal fog drenched trailheads where tendrils of mist fingered our faces to sunbathed panoramas that seemed to materialize out of nowhere revealing rugged wilderness, the habitat of all things wild.
Our end goal would culminate in a yearly challenge that would push our endurance and reward us with an accomplishment of survival. Last year we determined not to wander too far from home and following the path of John Muir and Ansel Adams we made Half Dome Yosemite our holy grail.
The climb was taxing, 14.2 miles round trip with an elevation gain of 4,800 feet to the 8,842 foot granite summit called Half Dome. The climb would test every ounce of our determination. We slept at Curry Camp in a rented tent with two military style beds, however sleep eluded us due to our nervous anticipation of the hike and the brown bears we could hear scouring about the campsite. As dawn glazed the horizon in thin veils of pink and gold we began our ½ mile trek from Curry to the trailhead at Happy Isles following the river to the vexing steps of the “mist trail” up Vernal Falls. The narrow uneven wet rock stairs ascended upward in direct contrast to the rushing cascade of water that plunged 371 feet down converging once more into the Merced River. It was dreamlike as we proceeded up what seemed a stairway to heaven with one eye glued to the treacherous footing and the other to the unimaginable beauty of the falls. The climb was punishing and nearly impossible to train for. After scaling Vernal Falls a couple of miles later we encountered Nevada Falls and its celebrated visage, 594 feet of curving majesty and the longest waterfall in the United States. Following the waterfalls’ source the Merced River as it wound through a fairly flat terrain (thank heavens) because by this time the full heat of the day with its blistering sun beating down was upon us. For the duration of the hike the temperature would hover somewhere above 90 degrees. Our bodies quickly depleted of nourishment but we bore forward living on energy bars and rehydrating with the water that we carried in our camel packs. At times we were passed by the ultra-fit and seasoned expert hikers but we prodded on keeping to a calculated timetable of mile markers that would place us at the sub-dome in a better than average time. When we reached the sub-dome we could see the line of hikers scaling the granite rock face of Half Dome as they slowly snaked their way up the cables. Just seeing this man/woman against mountain struggle will quicken your pulse and fray your nerves. The cables are loose poles that fit in drilled holes in the granite. Strung with wire cords they allow hikers to grasp and pull themselves up to the top. The poles actually can be lifted out of their fittings if one should try, which is a scary thought. Every year they are removed sometime in October to discourage anyone from climbing the Dome until May when they are returned and the final ascent to the Dome is reopened.
Unfortunately, for Veda and I the last 400 foot ascent of the dome was not to be. We were kept from accomplishing the full climb as half way up the sub-dome we heard distant thunder. Nearly everyone on the trail froze. I turned toward the sound and could see lightning across the valley many miles away. The one absolute rule of Half Dome is that you must not climb the granite face when there is any risk of lightning as hikers have been electrocuted. Storms move quickly through this area and what seems fairly distant can be upon you within an instant. Lightning strikes can travel more than twenty miles and the Dome is one gigantic conductor. Nope the risk was too great. Let the daredevils carry on and many did, but Veda and I are mothers and must answer for more than just ourselves. We headed back.
Yosemite more than any other place I have ever seen offers 360 degree postcard views everywhere your eyes alight. The Half Dome hike is nature at its grandest “Far from the Madding Crowd”. Wherever you look it is like seeing through the lens of a view finder on a camera. The views have a faded quality like old photographs much due to the fact that as far as the eye can see there is only wilderness in every direction. Nothing has really changed here since 1871 when John Muir discovered the Yosemite Valley and one cannot help but recall Ansel Adam’s photos documenting its grandeur.
Veda and I did not feel cheated though we were denied the last few hundred feet to the summit. We accomplished most of what we came to do. We returned by way of the Muir Trail which is somewhat longer but allowed us to avoid the return down the “mist trail” of Vernal Falls which would have been slippery and treacherous. We rejuvenated, dangling our tired feet in the soothing water of the icy Merced River. We returned safely to Curry Camp and civilization. It was an amazing journey and who knows, perhaps we will return in the future to conquer the Dome.
