Sometimes you have to remind yourself how small we really are.
Early morning packing includes boots, food, two gallons of water, spare camera battery, 28mm lens, 50mm lens, and gloves for the cables.
We started the day a little late, but hoped to make up some time.
A welcome or a warning?
Cheaters.
The last 400 ft to the top. We are some of the last people of the day and the north face is already in shade.
The cables are my favorite part of the day.
Two miles to the summit and we are starting to significantly slow down. Knowing that we are close just makes it that much harder.
We got to the top a little later than planned. Just enough time to take a short rest and sketch the view.
We came all this way for the ubiquitous selfie kiss.
Our reward at the top: dark chocolate and a nutella fun pack. Life aint too bad.
Looking out over the valley.
The sun peaks out from behind a ridge from the top of Nevada Falls.
The one short, flat part at Little Yosemite Valley gives us a well needed break.
Yosemite has always held an important place in my heart. Every summer for as long as I can remember we took family vacations to the valley. There is a favorite photo of mine where I’m no more than two-years-old on my father’s back at Mirror Lake. In the photo he’s not much older than I am now.
Having lived in New York for the past few years my love for California has only strengthened, so when my wife and I were deciding on what we wanted to do for our honeymoon, I couldn’t think of a better experience then hiking Half Dome together. I was expecting some push back to be honest. Instead of spending our honeymoon on a beach, I was asking her to walk up and down a mountain for 12 hours. In the end she was game. Not ecstatic, but game.
We spent a couple months prepping for the trip with lots of cardio workouts and a few hikes in the Hudson Valley. Once we were in Yosemite, we discovered the first six miles to the summit were a breeze. But as we were approaching the top the heat and thin air took its toll and we starting having a hard time. I could see the end of the tree line and guessed the summit had to be just beyond. I was wrong. After every turn there just seemed to be more trees.
Finally we poked through, which gave us a much needed second wind. It was a little later than we had planned so the cables to the top were relatively uncrowded. As we peered up I promised Bernadette the cables weren’t as bad as they looked. “Trust me,” I said. “It’s not that steep.” We put on our gloves and started climbing.
Once we found our rhythm the cables went by quickly and finally, after six hours of hiking, we were on top.
We have a family story about my dad sitting in Curry Village after a long hike waxing poetic about the simple things in life over a pitcher of margaritas. At the time my brother and I laughed at our dad, the square, getting drunk in the woods. Now I see that my dad knew something I didn’t. Crappy pizza and strong margaritas with a loved one after concurring a mountain is about a good as life gets.
All Photos: Jeff Enlow