An "advanced biology" class i took my senior year in high school got me on top of half-dome in september of 1987. we studied john muir and naturalism and then travelled to yosemite where we stayed on-trail, out of the valley for three days. it was frightening climbing the dome, and in fact, we all burst into tears upon seeing it. we had studied for a month and worked so hard over three days to get to it, that the sight of a seemingly impossible climb after all that was too much to handle.
september is described as "off season" in the valley, meaning that the climbing cables attached to the granite mountain lie flush with the dome, instead of suspended upwards from vertical poles. we had to collectively hold them up and pull ourselves up at the same time, along with our 30lb. packs. my arms weren't strong enough. my legs were fine, but as it turns out, because of the angle of the mountain and heaving the extra weight...this hike is all about arms. i can't believe it didn't occur to my teacher to mention to us that arm strength was so imperative.
the climb got really frightening. the hiker in front of me instinctively and brilliantly started singing songs to me to get me out of a panic. i think it was jingle bells. yeah, it was. but this was dead serious. i was acutely aware that if i let go, which i wanted to so bad, that i'd be gone in seconds. that death was that close.
when we got to the top we set up camp. in 1987 people were still allowed to sleep up there. i slept in a tent. i was still sleepwalking, so i felt this was prudent. besides, i had just faced death. a lot of kids in the 25-person class threw up upon reaching the top. i remember walking around in a daze of natural morphine. super high. gone. zoned.
the next morning we climbed down. not only was this unbelievably scary, but we were all severely dehydrated to boot. i had let the last drop of water in my bottle slide across my tongue in the middle of the night the night before. it exploded in my mouth. the drop was totally, utterly heavenly. i hallucinated from the satisfaction. that year had been a drought year and there was no water in the upper reaches of yosemite. we were prepared with pumps, but they were useless. at one point i remember drinking totally stagnant mossy, dirty buggy water that i'd dropped a chlorine tablet into. the taste wasn't of consequence. we were on the way down anyway, so i figured if it made me sick, i'd be pretty close to help.
the feeling of accomplishment we all felt upon reaching the bottom of half-dome without losing our lives was so gigantic, the climb, the class and the students were quickly and easily romanticized to the point of disassociation with everything else. upon returning to normal school, i felt i had transcended English and History and especially stupid crap like Economics. those classes were clearly a waste of time. i had flirted with death. i had things to think about.
it took a while to readjust to the priorities of attending high school.
this guy never had that chance.
(picture above is of half-dome from our starting position at Glacier Point.)
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