I guess it’s in my blood. My mother says I didn’t get it from her though. The love for adventure. Extreme adventure. Like, paying-to-jump-out-of-a-perfectly-good-plane-and-scream-weeeee type adventure. That would be me. I’ve skydived once before and grin from ear to ear just thinking of the day when I can do it again.
This time around, my adventure is going to take me dead smack in the middle of the woods sky 4,737 feet above the valley floor. So says wikipedia. You see that rock below? It’s called Half Dome. Thousands of feet of glorious, glorious granite. Half Dome is located in Yosemite National Park, one of California’s national parks that are on my bucket list to visit. This time next week, I hope to mark it off my bucket list!
Now, to calm my mom’s worrying heart, adventure for me doesn’t always have to be so grandiose. A friend and I once hopped on a train just to see where it would take us. I’d consider that a reasonable adventure. We were back in time for dinner.
Oh, but this rock!!!
It’s a 16-mile hike from beginning to end which they say will take an average person about 12 hours roundtrip. Yup, that’s alot of hiking. Like alot, alot. In the late 1800’s the dome was described as being “perfectly inaccessible”. Fast forward to today, it’s possible for curious individuals like me to climb to the top and try to wrap our mind around breathtaking views. Now, there’s a hard way up to the top . . . and there’s a harder way up to the top. I’m taking option A. There are now cable chords that will guide you the last 400 feet to the top of Half Dome.
I’ll take that route for $500, please. And thank you.
I’m definitely looking forward to the challenge. I wouldn’t consider myself a fearless individual though. I have a healthy fear of bees, snakes, and large bodies of water that I can’t see to the bottom of. It’ll be pure adrenaline and Cliff bars that will fuel this hike. When it all comes down to it, it’s the end result that I’m focused on.
The. View. Oh man, that view. The reason is at the top of that rock. My heart skips a beat just thinking about it. To sit up there and take in the vastness of God’s handiwork. That’s priceless. Like a 15 year old school girl with a crush, I’ve been up many nights just staring at pictures of it. Just search for #halfdome on instagram. Yup, my heart skipped. There were even a couple of episodes of binge watching YouTube videos of those that have recorded their experience.
I can’t wait to share this experience with you all! Today, all pictures are courtesy of good ol’ wikepedia. Next week, all pictures will be courtesy of Nicolepedia. 🙂 Lord willing! I’ll keep you posted on my journey!
Nicole
