Charlotte and Ron hiked up to the top of Nevada Falls on June 17 to check out the logistics (parking, etc) for the June 23 Half Dome hike.

Dinner on June 22 in Yosemite Lodge's Mountain Room. Doug proposed the hike on his 60th birth year. Ron agreed to join on his 70th birth year and invited Paul Williams, John Marinko, and Michael Comerford to join us. Charlotte, John, Paul, and Ron had been hiking in the Eastern Sierra and were acclimated to higher elevations.

Ron suggested a 5:00am departure from the trailhead parking lot. Everyone arrived on time and we were on the trail at 5:15am.

We set a fast pace and made it to the top of Vernal in one hour.

We continued the fast pace all the way to the top of Half Dome. Note that John is sweating even at 6:20am.

Both the Stephanie and Doug Fairbairn were doing quite well, especially just coming from sea level.

Click again for more detail and you can see hikers climbing amongst the trees on Quarter Dome and up the cables near the middle of Half Dome.

We wanted to get to the cables on Half Dome's shoulder before 10:30 to avoid a queue.

John, Paul, and Ron were ready to start up the cables at 10:20am.

This image was acutally taken by John in Sept 2007, but it gives a good perspective of the cable route.

John is leading and taking photos, while Paul is following me. About 30 years ago I climbed solo up just one cable hand over hand after the posts were removed for the winter. I was the only one on the trail or on the summit then. It's quite different now.

My legs were starting to cramp a bit, so I was relieved to reach the top.

It takes a lot of courage to do this. Most people just crawl to the edge.

John has done Half Dome more times than any of us.

We were having lunch and pleased when Doug and Stephanie arrived about 30 minutes later. Quite an accomplishment having come from sea level!

Just a year before I was still recovering from a total hip replacement performed by Dr Moreland. I would never have dreamed that a year later I would be able to hike up Half Dome. I feel very grateful that I can still do strenuous hikes.

And very grateful to have such a wonderful son.

I rounded the distance hiked and elevation gain to 18 miles and 5000 feet, but since we came up the Mist Trail and down the John Muir Trail, 17 miles might be more accurate.

Looking from the cables down to Quarter Dome. This shows how steep the granite slope is. My cell phone fell out of a special pocket on the way down and broke into smithereens.

Michael Comerford won the patience award as he greeted us at the base of Quarter Dome. He soon saved the day by filtering lots of water from a nearby spring. Thanks, Michael!