The final national park I got to see in the US was also my favourite. Yosemite boasts an amazing glacier-chiseled valley complete with some of the worlds largest cliffs and waterfalls. There are miles of awesome hikes in every direction.
We spent our first day busing around the park and then headed back to camp early to prepare for a big hike the next day. In the end 8 of us set out at 6am on a 30km quest to climb Half Dome, which rises about 1.5km from the valley floor. The weather was absolutely perfect the whole day.
The first 4km were very steep and passed through the mists of 2 amazing waterfalls.
The path wound steadily uphill for the next 8km or so before the final ascent - a kilometer of rock scrambling, culminating in 200 meters of near-vertical, cable-assisted climbing. If you look closely you can just see people climbing up the cable.
I'd guess that only 3/4 of the people who started the cable-climb actually made it, and a fair portion of the rest were reduced to tears along the way. Huge kudos to everyone in our group for making it, especially Andy, Lucy and Jeremy who had the added handicap of being terrified of heights.
After almost 5 hours of very tough hiking I wandered over a ridge and was greeted one the most impressive views I've ever seen.
I walked a couple of steps more and a couple of friendly Americans offered me a beer - just like something out of a fairytale. The same Americans, who'd done the climb several times before, then showed me 'the diving board' a 3 meter long chunk of rock sticking out over the edge of a 1km vertical drop. Sliding out to the edge was just about the scariest thing I've ever done. Best view ever.
On the 15 kilometer hike back to the valley my right kneecap started causing me some serious problems - possibly a lingering injury from when i landed on it awkwardly back in Australia. It's improved slightly over the past 2 days, but I'm still moving pretty slow at the moment. Anyone know a cheap knee surgeon in San Fran? ;)
We spent our first day busing around the park and then headed back to camp early to prepare for a big hike the next day. In the end 8 of us set out at 6am on a 30km quest to climb Half Dome, which rises about 1.5km from the valley floor. The weather was absolutely perfect the whole day.
The first 4km were very steep and passed through the mists of 2 amazing waterfalls.
The path wound steadily uphill for the next 8km or so before the final ascent - a kilometer of rock scrambling, culminating in 200 meters of near-vertical, cable-assisted climbing. If you look closely you can just see people climbing up the cable.
I'd guess that only 3/4 of the people who started the cable-climb actually made it, and a fair portion of the rest were reduced to tears along the way. Huge kudos to everyone in our group for making it, especially Andy, Lucy and Jeremy who had the added handicap of being terrified of heights.
After almost 5 hours of very tough hiking I wandered over a ridge and was greeted one the most impressive views I've ever seen.
I walked a couple of steps more and a couple of friendly Americans offered me a beer - just like something out of a fairytale. The same Americans, who'd done the climb several times before, then showed me 'the diving board' a 3 meter long chunk of rock sticking out over the edge of a 1km vertical drop. Sliding out to the edge was just about the scariest thing I've ever done. Best view ever.
On the 15 kilometer hike back to the valley my right kneecap started causing me some serious problems - possibly a lingering injury from when i landed on it awkwardly back in Australia. It's improved slightly over the past 2 days, but I'm still moving pretty slow at the moment. Anyone know a cheap knee surgeon in San Fran? ;)
3 comments:
I often reward myself with a beer when I stumble down my hallway to the Kitchen.
That is no good about the knee. I have suffered my fair share of knee problems. Three things I find that help. 1.) Ice it up after all activity. 20 minutes normally prevents stiffness for me the next day. 2.) Ride a bike regularly (you might want to recover a bit first) 3.) If all else fails, just run it out.
Hope your knee gets better - I don't want that to get in the way of any future pictures you are going to take.
My suggested remedy goes like this: one cold beer for you, and one cold beer for your knee.
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