Friday, September 3, 2010

I did it!

A few months ago I told Kurt & Anthony (my son) that I had a goal for my upcoming 50th birthday, I wanted to do something I have always wanted to do, I wanted to climb Half Dome in Yosemite. This was a huge goal for me, over 16 miles of hiking (half of those up a mountain) then climbing the cables at the end ( have I mentioned I have a huge fear of heights)

So over the last few months to get ready for my goal, I've packed the steps on my pedometer, hiking every weekend, yes every weekend. Anthony drove the 2 hours home every weekend (he's in college) to take me hiking. I could not have done this without my guys. Telling my "you can do this" when I really did not think I could!

Because the cables on Half Dome come down in early October due to weather, we decided to give ourselves plenty of chances to try it before the cables came down. I was going to go every weekend until I made it to the top! So yesterday we went for it.

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The view of Half Dome after about 6 miles of hiking.

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You can see people on the cables (that line in the middle of the photo) they look like ants.

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At this point I really wasn't sure if I'd be able to make it up the cables. It was a lot steeper than I thought. Seriously straight up and I didn't bring a harness! 

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The weather was great yesterday, not a cloud in the sky.

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Here we go...
At one point (about half way up the cables) I thought "I'm not sure if I can do this or not"
My fear of heights started to kick in (remember I did not bring a harness) and yes, people have fallen off the cables before, you don't survive if you do...

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But we made it! The view was amazing too...

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Lots of cairns...

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This was the part that was terrifying (remember my fear of heights)...going down the cables.
It is straight down. Why, why why didn't I bring a harness so I could clip myself on the cable?
I kept thinking I was going to pass out and fall off.

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But we made it!
And I could not be more happy!
I set a goal, I worked really really hard and I climbed Half dome! I really did it!

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And I have the tee-shirt to prove it!

Again, I want to thank Kurt and Anthony for making my dream come true
xxoo