Monday, July 7, 2008

WERE GOIN' IN!


Tomorrow's the BIG DAY: "Y" Day, to be specific. No...I guess "Going to Yosemite National Park to camp and climb Half Dome" would be specific. But "Y" Day is easier to type. Twelve intrepid adventurers--okay, half of them are non-hiking slackers--head up the central California highways to YNP.

We'll set up at Bridal Veil Creek campground and maybe take a short day hike to the valley rim. Wednesday is for sight-seeing and another short hike. The idea is to acclimate our selves to the altitude before tackling Half Dome on Thursday.

Half Dome is an ALL DAY deal. We set out from Glacier point about O-Dark Thirty and head down to the Illouette river. We'll cross the raging torrent then climb a massive chunk of granite up and over to Nevada Falls. From there we cross Little Yosemite Valley then head up, up, up for a tough four mile climb to Half Dome itself.

AFTER we do the Rocky Dance at the summit we head back down. This time we go downhill ALLLLLL the way th Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley itself. There we meet up with our prepositioned cars for a leasurly journey back UPHILL to the caampsite. Hopefully we get back to the valley in time for a HOT celebratory meal. If not, trail mix in the car will have to do.

Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion...

No comments: