July 21 - HALF DOME!

We wake up surrounded by mountains with mule deer walking around the campsite. We eat a quick breakfast and do some stretching and are on the path to Half Dome by 9am.

Morning exercise - Rock, Paper, Splits

The path is pretty much all uphill. There are loads of people on the trail. Some of them have started as early as 4:30 am from the valley - about 6 miles below. We move slow and steady keeping pace with many of the larger groups and older hikers.

Base of Sub Dome

When we finally summit sub-dome and see the cables up to Half dome - it is truly an amazing site. None of the pictures I`ve seen show the beauty, nor the scale, nor the steepness of the climb to the top.

Steep climb up Sub Dome

Evangeline gets on all fours to climb the high steps

Summit of Sub-Dome

"We're so excited!!"

Abbie and the boys make quick work of the climb - it's not too hard with the cables and 2x4 planks to assist you. I put a harness on Evangeline and we work our way up slowly. She is fine for about the first half - then the steepness of it starts to freak her out. It isn't long before she's crying out loud to go down - though she continues to climb up on her own. She is a real trooper. She gets lots of motivation from other climbers going up and down the cables. It's a relief when we finally make it to the top. People are quite amazed that a 7yr old made it to the top - especially since many others turned around too scared to climb up. She takes the spotlight away from her 10 and 15yr old brothers who made it up with no problems or safety gear.

Going up the cables (the boys are already 30 ft ahead)

It`s very steep!

But we make it!!

Summit of Half Dome - 8842 ft
(Cloud`s Rest in background)

We snack and relax at the top - taking pictures at the "Diving Board" and exploring some of the caves at the top. It's an impressive feeling to have 5000 ft of shear drop below you.

Sitting atop the Diving Board

Caves atop Half Dome

The trip down is just as easy for the boys and just as scary for Evangeline. She cries almost the entire way down - but she makes it down all on her own. I support her but don't assist her. We do create quite a backlog of climbers going up and down. It is a bit freaky to see lost water bottles and hats sliding down beside us.

We make it back to camp around 3:30. We could make it back down to the valley by night fall, but we are all pretty exhausted and decide to camp in the same spot for an extra night. We build a fire and have a late lunch/early dinner. It's time to relax and enjoy the sunset in the mountains and the star-filled night sky. We have a very isolated campsite with an amazing view - I could easily stay here for another week.

Time to eat and relax...