Half Dome

Everyone was up on time, and unlike some of our fellow campers, we quietly got ourselves ready to start the hike up to half dome. Some campers had gone back and forth to the bear cage all night and were either fumbling around in the dark or else they were just incapable of being quiet.

After a quick breakfast and trip to the wonderful composting toilets, we set off. We left between 0500 and 0530 and we could the lights of head torches bobbing along on Half Dome, so some folk must have set off hours before us. I found it much easier with Chris' backpack, plus of course all I was carrying was water, which was just as well as the next few hours would be all uphill, quite steeply uphill in fact. It was hard going. It just seemed to go on forever and the joy of hiking began to be replaced with the sense of slogging on, just keeping going.

We eventually reached a plateau and the views were spectacular. The ranger hadn't yet arrived at the bottom of sub-dome but our permits were all in order. You cannot ascend to Half-Dome without a permit, I'm not sure if you can be prosecuted for it but there are certainly punitive fines.

We started to ascend sub-dome, and it was more than a little bit scary. It is a very steep ascent, with not very wide but uneven steps of all shapes and sizes cut into the granite. As you are ascending there are people descending. If you are afraid of heights it is a definite no-go, at various points there is a sheer drop of 1-2000 feet just inches from where you're standing. At one point there are no steps, just a slab of granite to walk up. Meg had told me I needed to get shoes that would give good grip on smooth granite and so I went to TISO Outdoor experience in Glasgow and chatted with one of the shoe guys who recommended a pair of LA Sportiva shoes. They were immensely comfortable, but crucially, as I was finding out on Half Dome, they also provided amazing grip, and so despite the conditions, I did feel quite firmly attached to the stone. I made a mental note to take them a box of chocolates when I got back.

I was almost at the top when I encountered a problem - vertigo. I had had a very bad episode when I was in Berlin, (see another Findpenguins trip) and then another one about 2 months after I got back home from that trip. However, in Berlin and Scotland I wasn't 8500 feet above sea level with a very big drop just inches from where I was standing. And I was standing, doing my best not to move as I started to get quite dizzy. I thought if I fall off here and die, it's going to be a real hassle for a lot of people to recover my body, if the bears and mountain lions don't get it first. I don't know how long I stood perfectly still leaning on my walking pole but the dizziness eased off a bit. I then had a decision to make, to carry on or go back. It was actually easy to make, if I continued and got dizzy again and fell off it would probably have ruined the rest of the day for Meg and the others. So, I slowly turned around and began my descent.

I hadn't gone far when I came across another hiker, an American guy in his late 20's - early 30's who was sitting down, too terrified to move. I spoke quietly to him and told him I would go in front of him and lead him down every step, I gave him my pole and got him to his feet. I talked to him at every step, every turn and it seemed in no time at all we were at the base of sub dome. The ranger was there and asked for our permits so I gave her Meg's name as instructed by Meg.

I stayed to chat to the ranger whilst waiting for the others, and she said that I had done the right thing coming down, apparently there have been 20 recorded deaths on Half Dome and another 40 on the ascent to it. I was glad not to have added to that number.

I wandered around taking some photos, the views were amazing, but I didn't have to wait long before Meg arrived and we headed down the mountain together. The walk down was quite a bit easier, and faster than the walk up, but I was still glad to see the campsite come into view.

Evan and Hannah arrived having had a super time on the mountain and then Laura, who had gone off on her own to chill out for a while in the mountain air.

It was another sunny day, and the Merced River was just a few moments walk away from the campsite so we made our own way in our own time to a nice quiet spot in the river. It was an opportunity to wash our clothes and ourselves. It was a lovely afternoon spent sitting in the sun and chatting. I even went in the river, half dressed to wash my trousers. The river was deep and flowing fast, it was mostly snow melt and it was without doubt the coldest water I have ever been in, and I have been in the North sea off the coast of Shetland!

It was nice to sit and relax and chat. Evan and Hannah are a very lovely couple, smart, very funny, and kind, it has been a blessing to have them on this trip, they are the kind of young people who give me hope for the future of humanity. In a strange way it feels like this has been another camino gift, if I hadn't met Meg on the Via de la Plata I wouldn't be here to have these experiences and meet these wonderful people, and who knows what will become of these new friendships and where they will take us.

We had a lot of fun chatting around the camp stoves, the conversation was free and easy and once again the food was good, much better than I had expected. The only thing that was terrible about the food was the toffee coffee, which was an abomination, but everything else was great.

It had been a long but glorious and amazing day, and everyone was quite glad to retire to our tents and our sleeping bags.Read more