Yosemite--I can say I've been there now. Not only was I there, I had the priviledge of admiring the Valley from a perch atop Half-Dome. I hiked the 17 mile round-trip route in the company of a fine group. I will refer to the members of this group in code name. There's Boo, Death Marcher, and The Kids. Boo is an adorable gal, thirty--think Meg Ryan, French Kiss. Death Marcher is a gnarly river rat, "I'm in my 40's and can out hike a 20 year old", nurse who avidly invests in REI gear. The Kids are a questionably legal couple (He's 18, she's 15), who possess speed but lack endurance. Just a quick point here to everyone over 25--would you not agree that as you start getting a little older your stamina increases? My theory is that mental toughness accompanies age and thus adds to endurance. The Kids did not make it to the top of Half Dome, but all of us oldies enjoyed the views and befriended a fat Marmot who was alarmingly casual around us Homo Sapiens. Boo was enticing Mr. Fat Marmot with an apple for a photo op. The pics turned out great but we are now on the park rangers' Most Wanted list. Sorry to rat you out Boo :( Death Marcher earned his code name for his aversion to rest stops and for telling me to dump water out of my Nalgene bladder at the beginning of the hike. Rations for the trip included a pack of beef jerky, peanut M & M's, and two Good Nature Bars. Obviously that is not enough calories for a 17 mile hike, 4,000 feet up and then down. I died. At one point I sat down in the middle of the trail and refused to go any farther without a break. Death Marcher relented and we rested for all of about three minutes. Hiking up 4,000 feet is a workout. Hiking down 4,000 feet is an exercise in physical punishment. Were it not for my nifty brand new carbon fiber trekking poles I am sure that I would have severely sprained my ankle. Three times I felt the ankle start to roll, but was able to support my self with my upper body arresting the fall using the poles. If you know about Half-Dome, then you know what is really special about this hike are the steel cables used to climb up the slick granite rock face to the summit. Climbing a few hundred feet up a rock--untethered, unsecured-- is challenging in its own right. Add fatigue and a little hypoglycemia to the mix and the task becomes dangerous. I'm sad to report that the day following out ascent of Half-Dome a gentleman slipped while climbing the cables and fell a few hundred feet to his death. I don't want to exaggerate the climb--most of the people climbing were very average, ordinary people (wearing tennis shoes....yikes!), but it is for lack of a better word, a bit scary. As I began the switch back that lead up to the cable climb I passed a park ranger coming down who "strongly advised me" to not go any further because a thunderstorm was approaching. My internal dialogue went something like "who are you? the f***ing weatherman? (i'm irritable when I'm miserable), but my mouth remained shut as I quickened my pace. I now understand the phenomenon of summit fever. I was going to climb those dag'on cables and a few hundred thousand volts of electricity wasn't going to stand in my way (just kidding, if I saw any lightning or heard any thunder I would have turned around and booked). Kudos to Boo, who climbed the cables in spite of her gut knotting fear of high climbing. Back at the lodge cafeteria it took me quite a while to overcome my splitting head ache, nausea, and the sensation that I was a radiator overheating on the side of an Arizona highway. Our merry gang reunited over some pizzas, recapped the day's adventure, and then departed for the four hour drive back to Sacramento. I crawled into my bed at 2 AM, woke up at 5:30 and was in report on the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit by 6:45 for a twelve hour shift.
Last on my blogging agenda, I bought plane tickets to Peru. I'm going for a month. I'm in the process of booking a 4 day trek of the Inca Trail. This was a spur of the moment, unplanned trip and at this time I'm feeling a bit nervous. I'm not sure how this will affect work or even If I'll have a job. As it stands now, I'm at Kaiser Permanente for four more weeks and then it is up in the air. I will keep writing about this trip as I do my research and make plans.
One last thing--just heard a Jose Gonzalez song on Pandora. I'm impressed! Will explore his music.
No comments:
Post a Comment