Unfortunately, the weather gods didn't give us a 3 day window of warm temps and low winds. It snowed a couple of nights last week and winds Sunday were forecasted to be 15 - 25mph with gusts to 40mph. These were less than ideal paddling conditions (the point of these adventures is a good time, not a battle against nature). There were a couple days that would have worked but we decided that it was all or nothing. Our backup plan - if you can call it that - was to hike Half Dome in Yosemite.
Tom and I both applied for permits Friday morning (The park only allows about 300 hikers per day up the cables to the top of Half Dome - to get to the top you must have a permit) knowing that we would not get word until Saturday afternoon and hit the road from Truckee friday night. We stayed in June Lake friday night (I promised myself that I will ski at June Mountain this winter) and headed into the park Saturday morning. After a bit of driving around we secured a camp site about 40 minutes from Yosemite Valley and the Half Dome trailhead and met up with friends from Truckee, Jason Gifford and Sara Sarrett in the valley. I also got word that our permit came through and we were good to go.
June Lake Saturday morning
Half Dome from the valley
Sunday morning came with a 5:30am alarm, quick camp breakdown, some coffee, and a drive to the trailhead. We were hiking at about 7:45. The hike started a bit as I expected - it was steep and I was winded.....and there was only about 7.5 miles of steep climbing left. I didn't do too much research on this hike, but it turns out it is almost 5,000 feet of climbing over 8 miles of trail.....and then back down.
Early morning start
I am a little over 2 weeks out of my last chemo and although I have made a point of working out as much as my body allowed, nothing was going to prepare me for this hike. It was going to be an "off the couch" or in my case an "off the infusion chair" experience. I figured if 300 people per day can make it up there - including some interesting looking characters, I CAN make it up there. The hike was steep and slow for a majority of it - I'll spare you the details of the long walk up, hiking probably isn't the most exciting blog topic - but we took our time and made it to the cables in 6 hours.
Just a couple stories from the day
1) a guy ran up behind us at mile 6-ish. He was on the Stanford crew team and had run from the valley floor in an hour.....we reached the same spot in 4. Impressive
2) I was wearing a shirt that read "Stronger Than Cancer". A man stopped me on his way down and asked about my shirt. Turns out he was diagnosed with Bronchial cancer in his lung, told by his doctors he had one year to live, had the lung removed and was walking down from the top of Half Dome 10 years later!! There is awesome inspiration everywhere!!
The cables were an interesting experience. Steeper than I expected and full of people of all comfort and ability levels. I was on the" comfortable with the heights and location but tired as all hell" end of the spectrum. The last push was completed only by climbing 20 feet at a time and resting for a few minutes, and repeating over and over until we reached the top.
The final push up the cables
The top was an amazing reward of accomplishment, beauty and views. To be on the top of Half Dome after hiking and climbing for 6 hours was amazing! The day was full of many aches, pains, and slow steps but to look down on Yosemite Valley and the surrounding views made everything else fade away.
View from the top
More meaningful than anything, was the proof to myself that cancer will not slow me down, cannot slow me down. Just because I have this dangerous, horrible disease does not mean that my life stops. Sure, my life has changed dramatically, but I will continue to push myself and do what I love! There are plenty more accomplishments, challenges and adventures in my future!!
"Get busy living or get busy dying". Picked up that quote from Red in Shawshank Redemption the other night. I am getting busy LIVING!!!
By the time we got back to the car I was exhausted, absolutely exhausted. You know? That good euphoric exhausted that you can only feel after a long day of physical activity. I have been experiencing a lot of the fatigue and tiredness associated with chemo but to feel this exhaustion was to feel happy, accomplished and even strong.
I go back into chemo this week not feeling anxious or apprehensive but feeling that strength and accomplishment, not worried about feeling sick and tired but excited for the next adventure and what opportunities for enjoyment lay ahead. I am stronger than cancer!
(for a "Stronger Than Cancer" t shirt that supports a good cause check out - http://thejackmortonfoundation.org)
Huge thanks again to Tom, Jason and Sara for watching out for me and pushing me to complete this goal!
Jason keeping an eye on me on the way down
If you are taking on an adventure and don't mind a tall, goofy, slow cancer patient tagging along let me know. My time is a bit restricted and I have some limitations, but I'm otherwise up for anything!
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