Half Dome
Writing this post on my way to kid Francescoli’s concert in SF.
Last weekend I went with 3 great lads to Yosemite. We were on a mission: taking on Half Dome.
Yosemite is a national Park Located in California and is part of the Sierra Nevada mountains.
Half Dome is a mountain that rises 1,444 meters to dominate Yosemite Valley and about 2,694 m above sea level. For the longest time, people thought it would never be trodden by human foot. But in 1875, Philipp George Anderson proved them wrong- this is the guy on my hat.
Today, Tens of thousands of people reach the summit each year, for about 20-ish deaths recorded on the mountain itself – mostly due to poor weather and slippery conditions.
Did you know?
In 1964, Douglas Tompkins and his wife, Susie Tompkins founded the North Face, Inc., in San Francisco They started by selling rock climbing and camping gear.
The North Face logo, now seen around the world, was inspired by the profile of half Dome.
For this thrilling expedition, I was accompanied by 3 cool dudes I met a couple of weeks ago; Joachin, Arthur and Ryenn, true “bon vivants” – haven’t found an English translation for this one yet.
Every day, 200 people get drafted to go hike to the top. The cables used to ascend the final stretch are only installed from late May to early October.
On Friday, the 4 of us apply to the daily lottery. Only one of us got it, LFG (let’s fucking go)!
It has been decided; we’re not camping over. We are staying at a lodge at El Portal (about 30 min away from the valley).
After fixing our booking (we’d chosen the wrong date), we hi the pool, relax in the spa and crush some fat burgers- classic American wilderness experience lol.
Before getting to bed, everyone is excited and we ask chat GPT to tell us ghost stories.
It’s all going great -until we shut the light off. I am the closest to the window and the AC unit.
There’s light from the balcony leaking through the curtains, and the AC roars like an old train passing by. Then it shuts off – thank God! Wait … It’s back on. Oh boy, the mighty is going to be long. Around midnight, I finally doze off.
At 5am, the alarm goes off – it’s Show Time. The night wasn’t that long, not even that good.
We had packed lunch the night before, and the smell of onion still lingered in the room.
We hop in the car, make our way to Yosemite. The sun is rising and dopamine is kicking in. We wait for a shuttle but quickly realise it doesn’t start before 7 – my bad. So we walk to the start of the Mist trail and start walking. It feels great !
We follow the Merced River upstream, passing Vernal Fall and then Nevada Fall. It is an 11-12 km hike just to get up there. As the sun gets higher, our legs grow heavier.
Giving in is not an option.
Maybe it’s just me but I noticed that usually, when there are at least two guys in a group trying to accomplish a given goal, there tend to be an implicit and unspoken rule to push harder – to keep up with the pack, especially when the challenge is physical.
Is it just a universal primal instinct for one to think “I wanna be the alpha male!” or “I cannot be left behind. ” ? Honestly, I do not know.
No idea what it’s like for women, if you are a dude, you probably get what I’m talking about.
Either way, it’s a surprisingly powerful motivator. Regardless of the task being meaningful and/or beneficial for the users. I have seen great men being collectively quite stupidly efficient sometimes. Personally still am.
Once you reach the bottom of the cables, you are just 10 minutes away from the top. Tbh (to be honest), this exciting portion felt like the easiest of it all.
Anyway, the rest is pretty straightforward, we make it to the top – we are basically kings of the world. As always, it’s humbling – feeling so small, vulnerable and powerless next to those rock formations. Nature puts everything in perspective.
Dark clouds start forming in the distance – it’s probably time to head down.
The way down is strenuous and tough. The descent is brutal. We do not remember going this far on the way up. Oddly, it feels easier to run it down. Well at least stretches of the trail – we are a group with heterogeneous levels of fitness.
Around PM, we finally reach the valley. I take a quick, refreshing dip in the Merced river – the one that runs right through it. Like always after fulfilling a challenge like this: life feels great. We get to the car, stop by El Capitan to watch some climbers on the big ass wall – then we’re off.
Here is my garmin log from Sunday:
On the drive home, we blast some classic 2010s french songs, ignore the fatigue and keep our driver hyped. I kill that bag of M&M’s, -felt earned. Haha. Amateur move.
I get home, crawl into my bed and shut my eyes. It s just another day -sort of.
Not sure about you, but after a few of these kinds of exciting and thrilling adventures, I’ve I noticed I usually don’t feel 100% the following days.
It’s like the dopamine spike drains the tank.
I wonder If I’ll ever be able to ride those ups and downs mor smoothly.
Cheers,
