Yosemite/Half Dome 7-7 through 7-11

We have roughly 200 photos of our recent trip to Yosemite, but for brevity's sake, I've whittled down to a handful.  Here's the recap...

We drove to the backpacker's camp near North Pines on Saturday and arrived in time to have dinner in Curry Village and let the girls play in the river a bit.  On Sunday morning, we got up at 5:00AM and packed up camp.  Our hike to Little Yosemite Valley was 4.3 miles, and we accomplished that in seven hours.  The hike was hard, and we had to overcome a bit of hunger, fatigue and even one vomit episode before arriving in camp.  Carrying that extra weight over several miles was surprising, and for Kelly who carried nearly 65 pounds, it was tough at times.  But we made it to our first destination.  We tried to appreciate the beauty as we climbed which we sometimes forget to do while focusing on putting one foot in front of the other.  It was really a beautiful hike.  We set up camp and took a quick dip in the river before dinner and bed.  On Monday, we spent the day in camp recuperating and were down at the swimming hole for a large part of the afternoon.  The swimming hole is an area on the Merced River which slows down and offers cool, deep pools and warm flat rocks to frolic in and around on.  The girls were in love with the swimming hole, and I must say it was quite refreshing.

On Tuesday morning, we got up at 4:00AM and started our hike to Half Dome at 5:00AM.  The key to hiking in the valley is to get up early to beat the heat and the crowds.  This hike was 4.5 miles of upward hiking with some crazy steep switchbacks when we arrived at the base of Sub Dome.  Kelly carried all of our water and snacks, so the girls and I just had to concentrate on making up the mountain.  At nearly 49 years of age, Kelly is amazingly strong and in shape for this kind of rugged activity.  He's our hero.  But more on that in a minute.  We arrived at the top of Sub Dome for our first view of the cables to the top of Half Dome.  Jenna began to cry immediately, and I wanted to throw up.  As we sat and rested, I concentrated on holding my terror together.  The climb was STEEP with nothing on either side to stop one from plummeting hundreds of feet to one's death.  I kept thinking, "Are you kidding me?!?"  But because Jenna was already crying and totally freaked out, I pulled out the actress and stayed positive.  A sweet woman who had just hiked down with her husband told him to go on ahead when she noticed Jenna crying.  She came over and said a prayer for Jenna which got me crying (it was a really sweet gesture), and she was just the first of many who encouraged Jenna as she climbed through her tears and fear.  Let me tell ya, there were no other ten or even twelve-year-olds climbing this mountain (Heather was really sweet and kept offering encouraging words to her sister as we climbed).  We had belts and carabiners for the girls, so we clipped on and began to climb.  We weren't a few steps into it before I realized that I didn't have the upper body strength to hold myself on the cable and mess with Heather's carabiner, which had become tangled instantly.  We had to re-adjust and have the girls climb behind me with their Daddy's help.  I was so flipping terrified of what we were doing that I didn't trust myself being able to help my girls.  This is where the crying was held in and the serious prayers were offered as I pleaded several times for the mental strength to suck it up and finish this with my family (p.s. Prayer works).  I really wanted to be at a nice resort hotel somewhere far away where people didn't tempt death.  The climb consisted of literally hoisting yourself up the cables using your arms while your feet followed.  We had gloves on to keep us from slipping, but our nice shoes were no match for the steep granite.  Arms were the key.  Kelly, the hero, kept both girls in front of him while adjusting their carabiners at each plank (plank of wood at each set of poles to rest for the next part of the climb).  Many times he had no plank to rest on and had to hold on with just one hand trying to keep his feet from slipping.  We made it to the top, took some pictures and enjoyed the view.  Jenna had been crying for half the climb, but had calmed down by the top.  Heather was hyper and stoked just like her dad.  I kept thinking, "We have to go back down," which I tried to forget for the half-hour we were on top.  The top was huge and it was great to look around and realize that we'd made the climb.  Down was equally as terrifying, and we found that going backward was important.  It was especially helpful because by this time, the crowds had started to climb, and we had to stop and let people pass as we hung on for dear life.  Kelly, the hero once again, had both girls, both carabiners to deal with and nearly no foot holds for himself or Heather because there was often a fourth person on the plank trying to go up.  The plank is large enough for two, not four.  Eventually we made it down, grabbed our gear and headed down a little further below Sub Dome to have our lunch.  We were exhausted!  I would love to say that it was worth it (Kelly totally would say that), but only if you don't have a fear of heights or any fear of falling to your death.  This climb is about being physically in shape, but it is also a mental game.  The sense of accomplishment that Kelly felt was different than mine.  He was energized; I was glad to be alive and had decided this activity was best for crazy people.  Once was enough for Jenna and I, but Heather may consider doing it again with her daddy in the future.We'll see.  

Climbing Sub Dome's gnarly switchbacks

 The cable climb to Half Dome

 At the top (above) and on the cliff's edge (below)

After hiking the Dome and hiking the 4.5 miles back in the heat (did I mention we forgot our sunscreen back at camp??)  We shed clothes for swimwear, filled water bottles and soaked in the river for awhile. We were in our tents and asleep (Heather fell asleep at 7PM) before the sun went down.  We got up at 5:30AM and pushed our tired bodies to pack up camp.  Then it was the 4.3 mile hike back to the valley which ended up being the hardest by far.  Our muscles had been pushed to the edge (Kelly was doing okay, but the rest of us were pooped!).  We made it to the car, threw our stuff in and headed to the Curry Village outdoor restaurant for some yummy food.  After several days of backpacking food, we were all looking forward to some real food.  We had decided Tuesday night that we would forgo our Wednesday night plan to camp in the backpacker's camp at North Pines, and drove home Wednesday night instead of Thursday.  Warm showers and our own beds were really calling us.  We finished our visit with a shopping trip to grab some Half Dome shirts, and then we were on our way.  This was a great family adventure that we will remember forever, especially our girls.  Although it was really hard, we had a lot of success and completely met our goal.  The memories we made are priceless.