On Christmas, Eric surprised me with plans made to take me to California for two weeks to do several things we have dreamed of - one major thing being to backpack for several days and hike to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. You have to have a permit to do this and in order to obtain a permit you must win a lottery. Well, we won! And long story short all this snow happened, like an abnormal amount for the winter in the Sierra Mountains. Therefore, even in June, several roads are closed and there is still 12 feet of snow on the ground on several parts of the trails. This means the poles used to hold the cables up to climb Half Dome are not up, but the cables are there laying on the mountain. It also means the wooden footholds are not in place. You can still hike it in this condition but it brings an extra challenge! We weren’t going to let a little snow change our dreams, we just had to pivot and change our backpacking route…to a longer harder route; but that’s ok!
So, finally the time came for us to begin our California trip and we hopped on a plane and made our way to Yosemite National Park.
Our first night, we camped in Curry Village in the valley. These are small A-frame basic canvas tents. Most do not have electricity/heat/air. Ours had one outlet that we used to charge up before heading out on our backpacking journey. We had pizza in the village and got to bed early so we could have as much energy as possible for the long trek.
We began our backpacking journey at Tunnel View in the park. We parked our car there and made breakfast then slapped on our packs and climbed up 3,383 feet. The hike began in hot sunshine and eventually the trail had blankets of snow laying in wait for our dirty boots. We hiked to Dewey Point- an incredible point for views of the valley floor and El Capitan. By this point, we were really sore, tired, and ready to make camp but we had to go further still. From Dewey Point we hiked to Bridal Veil Bridge where we would make camp for the night, but to get there meant enduring a challenge of significantly more snow. 12 feet of snow. Hiding the trails. We could only proceed using alltrails as a compass because there was no evident path. In fact, it felt like we were blazing the mountains entirely ourselves. I fell through the snow several times where it had melted and become hollow at the base bringing me up to my hips in snow with a 60+ pound pack on my back. Trying to get up at first was comical but eventually it became discouraging and painful fighting the weakness of my exhausted muscles and sore feet. But I did it. One time I fell through the snow and cut the front of my leg up and I was just hiking with blood running down the snow crystals on my leg into my sock. At these times in the journey I had to verbally affirm myself and quote scripture and really get my mind strong because I knew I could do this. I am a VERY tenacious, ambitious, fighting, strong, strong willed, enduring, goal oriented little woman. God made me that way. And I have used that personality to bring me through so much in my life. So I persevered and fought to get to camp. We made it after a steep climb of 9 miles and instantly I felt revived because I knew I was going to conquer this goal. We set up camp, made dinner and fell asleep before the sun. It was cold! The temperatures were in the 30s at night. We had seeping bags rated for 20F. The temperatures during the day varied because of the changes in altitude. We encountered every type of weather except a tornado basically haha! We even hiked through a hail storm.
Day 2 of backpacking we hiked 15.6 miles navigating through more snow, hidden trails, sliding down mountains in the snow and having to grapple my way back to Eric. In case my mom is reading - my sliding down the mountains were a result of slipping on snow and ice 12 feet deep and having no way to get back up but to wisely go down. A “smart fall.” I slid with purpose down to the previous switchback, and climbed straight up gripping any dirt, roots, and plants I could find. Eric would grab my hand and pull me up when I got back to him. So it was physically exerting to just backpack the miles we did carrying the weight we did, but the added challenge of the snow and no clear trail really added to that exertion. But it also built up our strength and abilities and teamwork together! This day, we hiked to Taft Point, the Panerama Trail to Glacier Point, to Illiqua Falls, Vernal Falls, then to Little Yosemite Campground. By the time we got to Vernal Falls, a mere mile and a half or so from camp, we were done. Again, I had to bring forth the most positive of attitudes, smiling and encouraging Eric, pushing him, and saying to myself that I can do this - in Christ, I can do this. The last bit to camp was up, up, up. But we made it. And we laid out flat for a moment before setting up camp just before the sun went down. We made dinner, settled in, and decided a rest day was in need so we could finish strong on day 4 - our biggest day yet!
So day 3, we rested. We literally both fell asleep in the dirt flat on our backs under the sun amongst other resting backpackers. I slept most of day 3. Water and sleep.
Day 4 - 2:30 A.M. We woke up and geared up for our main event of Yosemite. Headlamps donned, we hiked up Sub Dome to Half Dome in the dark stripping sweatshirts as we went and abandoning them on rocks to be retrieved later. The temperature was in the 40s but our bodies were climbing! At sun rise, we reached the base of Half Dome. But even with the sun having just awoken, so much cloud coverage hid the mountain we were about to climb. I won’t lie to y’all. I have NEVER been afraid when hiking. I’ve never been scared of mountains or heights or challenges. I love it. But this - standing at the base of half dove void of its footholds and poles with bare cables only to hold to, looking up and only seeing clouds, I was lost of my breath from fear. But, I learned in college about “Eustress” which is “good stress.” And I was in this. I was stressed from fear of something new and daunting and I was excited at the same time to accomplish this feat. Eric strapped me right into a harness and clamps so that I could attach to the cables and in case God forbid I did lose my grip when climbing and fall, I would only suffer cuts and bruises but be caught by the cable. Eric made sure I knew how to work the clamps and then I began ahead of him. I couldn’t breathe from my fear. I’ve never experienced this feeling when hiking. This was more than hiking. This was just a level shy of true rock climbing. There is no sound other than wind and air. I was literally climbing through the clouds. I gripped white knuckled through my gloves to the cables. I pulled myself and lifted myself using my arms and legs. Holding nothing other than a cable - the only thing keeping me from the bottom - I found a strength I never knew I had. I was doing it. I was ascending. At times my boot would slip and I’d have to grip really hard to the cable and reposition. Eventually I made it through and above the clouds, the sun was shining and I couldn’t see Eric below me. I stopped looking down and kept climbing and eventually I reached the end of the cables and I was so proud and excited and relieved that I actually verbally said aloud to myself, “This is the end?! I’m at the top! I did it! I did it!” I got up to comfortable platforms and unhooked and walked around praising God literally from the mountain top on top of the clouds! I waited nervously on Eric to make it to the top and when I saw him again I felt so much relief! We soaked in the views and the fact we overcame that. We achieved our goal and dream to climb half dome! We didn’t let the snow get in our way. We didn’t let the lack of the poles and footholds stop us. (You’re allowed to do this climb without them, they just really would be helpful 😅).
Now, we had to get back down. I was scared again. I told Eric I was scared but I knew I could do it but I wanted him to go down before me. There is comfort in having my husband behind - well in this case - below - me. He encouraged me and we began our descent. Bit by bit we lowered ourselves down. There were ledges in the rock that when coming down my legs couldn’t reach. So I had to lay on my belly, hold they cables tightly, and lower myself down with my hands and wait for my feet to touch rock. Eventually, I made it to the bottom cheered on by my husband and we cracked open a beer, “Valley Sunrise” and sat in the cold wind looking up at the now clear rock we just climbed. Marveling at it, enjoying that we did it and it was over, and taking in all the views. We did it!!! But we still had a long way to go to make it back to the valley to the car. We needed cheeseburgers. We needed showers. And, we needed a real bed. So we began our descent to camp to pack up and head all the way down to the valley. On the way down our legs were jello but our souls were hot peppers, spicy and ready to do work. We passed BEAUTIFUL waterfalls with breathtaking rainbows. We got soaked by the mists.
We finally made it down. Everyone could see we had been backpacking a great trek what with our large packs and they would stop us and want to know all the details. We indulged them but it was hard to stand and chat after all we had put our bodies through. We just wanted to rip our packs off and eat cheeseburgers and shower and sleep. We finally made it to cheeseburger heaven then loaded up the car and headed to our next destination where the best shower ever was had and an amazing night of sleep.
40 miles. Elevation 8,839 feet. Sore everything but full hearts. 🥰 I cannot praise God enough for allowing me the ability to accomplish this. From being told I was never supposed to live, having 3 open heart surgeries and still needing another one, having two healthy babies, and running marathons, hiking endless miles and feats, God has shown me what HE can do through a willing body that HE created. Nobody can limit the power and will of God. He let this little body do big things and it is only through Him that I was able to do this. My strength comes from the Lord, the maker of Heaven and Earth! 🙌🏼 Doing hard things reaps large rewards.
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