Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Half Dome Again!

8/17/16  Preparing and packing while watching the Olympics...

8/18/16  Meeting Kelly in Los Angeles (Jodi and I drove the girls up) so they could get a head start on their journey...

8/19/16  Backpackers camp in the valley...

8/20/16  Day 1 Bus ride to Tuolumne Meadows and Hike from Tuolumne to Lake Evelyn...

8/22/16  Day 2 Hike Lake Evelyn to Merced Lake...

8/22/16  Day 3 Hike Merced Lake to Little Yosemite Valley...

8/23/16  Day 4 Hike up Half Dome and back out to the valley...

Kelly took Heather and MacKenzie to Yosemite for their traditional summer hike.  This year they started hiking from Tuolumne Meadows and hiked over 50 miles in four days.  They saw beautiful scenery, but it was some serious hiking. Kelly ended up having issues with both his stomach and his knee and had to stay behind on the last day while the girls hiked Half Dome on their own.  Oddly, I wasn't nervous. I knew the girls were super safety-aware and responsible, and both girls had made the hike a couple of times. They knew the trail and knew the precautions. We knew there would be rangers and other nice hikers along the way. They were prayerful in their decision to make the hike, and they did it amazingly. We reflected on the perfection of this experience as the girls will be heading out into the world as adults in just a year. The confidence this trip gave them was priceless for this time in their lives. After hiking back to Kelly, they packed up and hiked out to the valley to come home.  An amazing adventure with amazing memories.

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