Resources

So, I visited this presentation by Rick Deutsch who has hiked up Half Dome a mind-blowing 27 times. He had a lotta interesting things to say about the day hike to the top of the Half Dome.
This is the information I gathered.

He categorized the hike into the following:

1). Water: How much water should you carry? Really, it depends on the individual, but here are a few tips. Rick usually consumes about 7L. No Kidding!! Water weighs roughly 1kg/L. So its a lot easier if you carry less. The other option is to fill it up as go. There are a lotta springs where you can do that, but, there are two kinds of parasites in the water in the springs. So you cant directly drink from it. He uses a purifier pump from CATADIN or something. And carries 2 1L bottles. One for water and the other with electrolytes from Gatorade powder.

2). Boots: Highly recommended since the closer you get to the top, the terrain is mostly granite (rock), which apparently is slippery. He uses bots by Vasque with ankle support.
Another important add-on are the socks. He recommends using a thin layered socks and another well-cushioned one over it like woolen or something.
He also uses a foot insert. If you have following my experience lately. I have been using these since last week after my heel problem called Plantar Fasciitis which affects the heel because of less-cushioned socks and shoes. And believe me, it is helping a lot. I have been wearing it to work everyday.

Rick also uses a lubricant for his feet to prevent blisters. The brand name is Body Glide.

3). Poles: I cannot express more ardently how important these are. It takes off the pressure on your lower body and shifts some of the work out to the upper body. Another advantage of the poles is the support they can lend when the terrain is difficult to hike. Its like having 4 legs.
There are tons of different kinds of poles around. LEKI is a popular brand. They practically invented poles for hiking and skiing. I'm looking for one with shock absorbers.

4).Gloves: Rick uses gloves that he bought from a hardware store. Its called Atlas, I think. He uses open fingered ones for the hike up to the cables with the poles and switches to the other for the hike thereafter.
Other people have recommended using leather gloves too. GLOVES are a must because these cables are made out of steel. If they are hot or cold, it can be a problem holding them to climb.

5). Clothes: Suggestion is to not wear cotton as it is more difficult for water to evaporate from it as opposed to Polyester or Polypropylene.


Please follow up with your thoughts and comments.

More than anything, we need to be prepared for our weaknesses.
These are some of the ways to overcome them.

Does inspiration really inspire??

The inspiration to hike up the top of Half Dome came one rainy evening in a bar in downtown San Francisco. You really think so?? I'm just kidding!!!
I had visited Yosemite once in November 2008, a few months after an ACL surgery on my right knee. As you would have rightly guessed, I couldnt hike then. We were humbled by the sight of half dome and hiking it was a passing joke.
I went back again for a weekend at the end of March in 2010. Although, I was in slightly better shape and had been hiking every once in a while (once in 5 months), my knee was now a passing joke, swelling up every now and then.
We decided to go up Vernal Falls via the Mist Trail. Someone along the way mentioned that this was also the way up to the top of half Dome. Half Dome?? That piqued my curiosity.

Us: What sort of hike is it?
Them: 16 mile hike and an elevation of 4800 ft. The peak itself sits at around 9000 ft.
Us: Thats not so bad.
Them: But here's the catch. Have you heard about the Cables?
Us: What Cables?
Them: The infamous cables!! Long metallic ropes that are staked to the granite rock face, that run for the final 900 ft. The rock face, itself, has an average gradient of 45 degrees. That means, in some places, its more than that.

I had always considered Half Dome to be something only avid hikers would attempt to do and I stopped being one a long time ago.
We got back from Yosemite on Sunday. I couldn't help find out more about the hike to the top of Half Dome.
The menacing details didn't help at all. So, I asked my boss, next week, who is an experienced hiker, having gone up half dome thrice in the past. He made it sound like it could be done without a hitch, a piece of cake, a walk in the park, etc. At the same time, I stumbled upon a blog about seven 40 ish year old women who hiked up Half Dome with 10 weeks of preparation.

And alas, there was inspiration!!!

I sent out an email to a few buddies who I thought would join me or declare that I'm a crazy fool.
Fortunately, 5 of them agreed.
After a few days of bickering and reasoning, we decided the campsite, Indian Flatground Park and the date, July 23, 2010.

And this is the story of how SIX crazy fools are going to make it all the way to the top of Half Dome with three months of Sex, Drugs and Rock N Roll. OOps!! Three Months of Training, Fun and Madness.

Who are we??

Arun, Amit, Anubhav, Sushant, Vik and Nik.

We think that life is too short to be wasted on drunk weekends, ogling at women and watching TV. So, we have decided that, in addition to getting drunk, ogling at women and watching TV, we are going to the top of Half Dome on July 23, 2010.

We are going to have a plan to hike every weekend whether we can make it or not.

So keep your eyes peeled, ears to the ground and follow this blog closely for the next 10 weeks.
I hope it will inspire you to keep track of all the goofy things that happen on your journey to the top of Half Dome.

Not so classified.....

This blog will be a collection of posts from individuals of a small group of wanna-be hikers. The mission is to conquer Half Dome, Yosemite.

Posts here will vary from what got us started, motivations to take up this challenge, entries and experiences from our hikes at other places which we did (or plan to do) as a part of out "training" etc. It is in essence a live diary of how we gonna do our thing.

So stay tuned......