Iam back from the Yosemite Half-Dome adventure. Pictures will be forethcoming from my hiking buddy Sarah

Otherwise, tomorrow or Wednesday, I will post links to the pictures.

Now, before I get into the REALLY long portion of this diary entry about my fabulous scenic trip to visit Sarah, let me say something. When I said to Sarah "I am coming to visit you, let's go to Yosemite, I've always wanted to go there." I was thinking sleep a night or two in a tent, take a walk in the woods, not climb a 9000 foot mountain. Though, when she said, "Let's go up Half Dome", I knew it would be my next adventure.

One of the most painful experiences of my life

8 miles, pretty much constantly uphill. The total elevation gain was 4900 feet (we started at about 4000 feet above sea level, and ascended to 8500+ feet) - however with some of the downhill portions, and then to have to go back uphill it was probably more than that. I made it to the base of the cables that went to the last 400 feet to the top. I didn't actually get to go up the cables because I walk like a snail (especially uphill) and it was time to turn around to walk the 8 miles down 5000 feet back to the car before sunset. Sarah, however, gave up on yelling at me to walk faster and ended up about an hour and a half ahead of me, and did in fact make it to the top.

Now, that said, it was an absolutely wonderful experience. As I came down, I kept thinking to myself (as I was practically arresting my fall on the steep decline of our descent), why did I ever think I could do this? But, of course, I did (all except the last 400 feet). I hurt so much I couldn't walk once I sat down in the car. Today I decided I'd definitely like to do it again (when I am in slightly better shape!)

Now for the pretty part

So, now, for the walk, the beauty, the splendor of Yosemite. When we drove into the park at around 6 a.m., the first thing we passed was El Capitan. This is apparently the Capstone of a climbers' career. We read in the brochure that climbing it takes 4 to 8 days, and the climbers just camp on ledges on the way up. It took my breath away and my heart beat faster just thinking about someone scaling that rock. I might be adventurous, but if it scares me just to look at it...

The first part of the hike, we went to Vernal Falls. Pretty waterfalls, little bridge, and then must keep going. This is where the trail started getting steep, switching back and forth.

Finally it leveled off as we approached Nevada Falls, after about 2000 feet of our elevation gain. 9 a.m., breakfast. There was a sign by the falls "If you fall in, you will die." Yep, it was a long way down to the valley floor.

There were two things that struck me on the way to the falls. One, while I was all alone on the trail, walking with rock on one side of me and the valley floor on the other, I felt like I was in Lord of the Rings. Two, I finally got a clear view of Half Dome. It was SO far away and so high up, I couldn't believe I expected to get there and CLIMB IT in one day.

The second half of the way to half dome was grueling. It wasn't nearly as scenic (though it had its moments), and was a steady, continuous uphill battle. Finally I made it to a marker that said "2 miles", CLOSE! About an hour after that I made it to a view point where I could see all of Half Dome, the valley, and the Sierras peaking up in the distance. By this time, Sarah had already left me (I was going slow), and Half Dome still seemed REALLY far. It was about 12:15, and my self enforced turn around time was 2:30. But I decided not to stop.

This is where the trees ended and the slab of granite began. I walked over one hill, and then there were haphazardly constructed granite stairs that took you up about the first 400 feet of Half Dome (the second 400 involves pulling yourself up a 55 degree incline on a rope). Now, Karen holds the record for climbing the MOST (quantity) of stairs with me (at 800 stairs up the side of a glacier in Switzerland), but these, in fact, were the hardest stairs I ever climbed.

I got to the top of the stairs, and the bottom of the ropes (its kind of a flat part) at about 2 p.m. and crashed. At about 2:10, I was ready to start up the ropes, but I saw Sarah coming down and was reminded of the turnaround time and the need to get home before dark. I was really enjoying the view. There was Half Dome, the valley floor, the mountains all around. I felt like I could see everything. Sarah tried to assure me (perhaps as a concilitory gesture) that the view was about the same on top of half dome, but there was a coolness factor to be on the top. Oh well, it was a pretty huge accomplishment to get where I was anyway, NEXT TIME I'll make it to the top.

I didn't think the walk back down was going to be as hard as it was. After all, gravity is a wonderful thing. But I started to develop a headache which lead into dizziness. I had been drinking tons of water, but maybe I needed to eat more, or it was the altitude, but all the way down to Nevada falls (about halfway to the car) the world spun around me. Still, like expected, we were making pretty good time coming down (compared to up).

Because I was feeling better, we decided to take a different trail down - the Mist Trail. It was anout 1 mile shorter than the way we came up, which meant it was significantly steeper (since we had to lose the same amount of altitude). This involved granite steps. It was beautiful though - we walked down the side of the waterfall. And then about halfway down the trail, we basically walked through the waterfall, or at least its mist, getting soaking wet (we did have raincoats).

So, after this, I basically dragged myself to the car, willing my legs to take each step. I forced myself to eat dinner (despite having exerted a huge amount of energy, I wasn't all that hungry, but knew I needed to eat). Forced myself to shower, and then collapsed in bed.

And...

For my next vacation, I would firmly like to go someplace with no hills (maybe a beach), were the most energy I expend is going from the hamock to the lounge chair, and a handsome man will serve me a colorful drink with a little umbrella. As a matter of fact, I am really looking forward to returning to Houston, where it is very unlikely I will even have to look at a hill, let alone climb one.