Josh and
Day 1:
As should surprise
no one, Josh and I began our trip a few hours behind schedule. We began our
hike in from the trailhead at
Here's Adam
viewing the sunset from the top of Cloud's Rest (11,000ft.). Still have a long
way to go 'til campsite.
From the top of
Cloud's Rest, Josh and I have a pretty good view of where we plan to hike
tomorrow: the top of Half-Dome! Uh-oh.
Well, the view is
great up here, but we've got to get to camp which is still five miles away and
2000' down. Does night hike ring a bell? Yep. We hiked fast but didn't make it
to camp until three hours after dark (good thing we had our headlamps with us).
Dinner tonight is spaghetti and tomato paste. Excellent. Sleep was good.
Day 2:
We wake up well
rested but Adam is incredible stiff. Josh, however, feels quite limber.
Apparently, Josh snuck in some good stretching before going to sleep. For
breakfast, we tenderly carried in with us six fresh eggs. We scrambled them and
ate them over reconstituted dried black beans topped with cheese. Truly
delicious. After that power breakfast we are totally pumped up and ready to
take on half-dome. After hiking a few miles from camp, we arrived at the base.
Hum, are we
sure we want to do this? Definitely!!!
After a bit of a
push, we end up at the last rise to the top. Fortunately, ropes have been setup
for people to hang on to; they're quite useful.
.
When we finally
make it to the top, Josh take a peek over the face. This promptly causes his
testicles to retract deep inside his abdomen.
In the next two pictures, you can see Adam and Josh with El Capitan
in the background...
A funny thing
happened at the top. Josh and Adam were devouring their lunch (peanut butter
and jelly sandwiches and Asian pear apples) when Adam noticed a nearby women
opening a can of tuna. As the woman proceeded to squeeze the tuna juice out of
the can onto the top of half-dome, Adam jumped up and exlcaimed,
"Don't do that!" Adam explained and offered to drink the tuna water
for her---the concept repulsed her. As he proceeded to drink, several small,
furry creatures appeared out of nowhere, converged on the spot of the spilled
tuna juice and hungrily searched for tuna thus proving that Adam was more than
a mere, raving psycho-naturalist.
...and one more
picture of Josh. It's just too good to omit...
After Half-Dome,
we hike back down and trek another five-mile plus another 1000' ascent to
arrive at camp. This time, we got there in plenty of time to set up camp, cook
and eat dinner (a very lovely macaroni and cheese), make a campfire, hang out
for a couple of hours and still get to bed by 8pm.
Day 3:
We awoke at 7am
the next morning. That's some serious sleep. Had some grapenuts
and dried milk for breakfast along with some nice, freshly-brewed coffee. On
our way out, we passed this beautiful lake,
Finished the trip
off with some cheese, crackers, nuts and a few beers.
Day 9:
Major giardiasis attack against Adam. The giardia
parasites invaded Adam's drinking water after a clumsy water purification
attempt. Adam suffers extreme intestinal malfunction for a week. Moral of the
story: when you go outdoors, don't drink the water.