So you may ask then if I trained well enough for it and I suppose I'd answer no, having said that the only thing I could have done was start running again which is mostly impossible or maybe hit some more long walks up copious amounts of stairs . And then again, why be in loads of pain for weeks before hand when I can just suffer for two days?
Here are the
stats via Lonely Planet http://tiny.cc/o7yjdz
Duration 10–12 hours ( we took 8hrs 30 mins)
Distance 14- to 16-mile round-trip ( 30 Km on my
Garmin)
Elevation : the trail
gains 1493.52m up to the summit, the last 180 m only have cable rails
leading almost straight up a 93% vertical grade sheer cliff face, the 'sheerest
cliff in North America" according to Lonely Planet.
Difficulty Difficult ( AGREE!)
Start/Finish Vernal & Nevada Falls/John Muir
Trailhead near Happy Isles
Transportation Shuttle stop 16
We started at Camp Curry camp site where we stayed for two nights in not
so bear proof tents. And yes this was my first time sleeping in a tent
experience ( How can AquaGirl... the outdoorsy type never have slept in a tent
before? I know, right ?!?!)
It was forecast to be 33 degrees again, not ideal at all so we headed
off at 5:30 am. As with the swimming, walking up hill is tough when you're
already at altitude, going higher again. Most people do it over two days but we
were time poor and hit it in one long day. To climb the last summit permits are
required now. (Via www.recreation.gov) Hikers need to go in a pre-season
lottery to gain their entries, or as we had to, go in the last ballot 24 hrs
prior to get our final two permits.
The night before we ate at the Cafe at Camp Curry, it was
surprisingly cheap for somewhere that was remote and could have
charged through the nose. Now if I was at home preparing for an endurance
event, I would have old school carbo loaded two days beforehand with wholemeal bread,
bananas, porridge and pasta but travel day and remote location meant a
cheeseburger and fries. Yes I am for real. On our way to Yosemite we had
shopped and bought muesli bars, pretzels (salts) chocolate M&M's and
gummie bears (sugar kick) loads of water ( plus we all had camel backs to carry
at least 2 litres of water with us) and choc chip cookies. I didn't bring carbo
shots such as Gu and I forgot my asthma Ventolin ( which was a problem with dry
conditions and altitude... another rookie mistake.) 
As soon as the sun was up the temperature rose and it never really stopped. The climb was like a long slow torture, step after step after step with little relief in between. Occasionally there would be a flat, dusty path but generally it was a long slow accent that required careful foot placement and looking down most of the time to ensure you didn't slip or twist an ankle. Early on we hit Nevada Falls and then Vernal Falls, exquisite heavily moving waterfalls that left spray mist on your skin. They were spectacular diversions from your rapidly beating heart and hapless breathing as you continued to climb up and up towards the summit, your knees on fire.
One of my biggest concerns was that I was walking with predominantly a running group, so I was always hanging off the back of the group. I felt annoyed at times but then just sucked it up and got on with it until we came to the summit of Half Dome.
This is the most daunted I have ever felt. The summit itself is just incredible and when they say it's the sheerest cliff face in North America, I now believe it.
By now it was 11am and the sun was high, there was no shade on the summit. We had our permits checked, we were told a 74 year old lady had climbed the day before and right there and then I had a little weep to myself, I just didn't think I could do it. The others had already started to ascent, it was one step at a time, on granite rock, no rails and a lot of slippery gravel to contend with. I stopped and called out to Michelle. "I'm not going up." She just looked at me.
"Are you sure?"
"Yep, I just don't think I can do it."
With that, Luke flew down to me. "What is it? Is it your legs? Breathing? What? What?"
"I... I ... I just can't breathe. It's this ..." patting my chest.
"Come on....there's no rush, we'll just take it one step at a time." I hesitated. I looked up. I looked down at the ground and I took myself to the room of mirrors. Can you really walk all this way and NOT go to the top Nicole?
I wiped the little tears away, and made eye contact wit Luke. "OK."
And so we forged on, literally one step at a time. All I did was look down and make sure my footing was stable. People die on this summit. They really do, I didn't want to be one of them.
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| Group shot before we attempt the final climb, you can see the cables in the back grounds, that's what 93% straight up looks like.
The final ascent blew my mind. 182 m at 93% straight up. A corridor of cables about 1m wide and the only thing to actually stand on to gain your footing, was a plank of tethered wood every 2 m. I have no idea how people did it without the cables. Take a step forward, lean into it, pull yourself up, breathe and hold on tight. Lean forward again, take another step forward, move each arm ahead one step at a time, pause, breathe, readjust your grip, rest. Repeat for 182 m and don't look down.
Combine this precision climbing with people coming DOWN the same corridor as you're going up and this was like an expert synchronized swimming dance. There are times right up the top you just don't want to let go of the cables to let others past. In that instant, you need to negotiate and hope they're ok with letting go to go under your arms. All the while, the granite is super smooth, the sun is super strong, you're super tired and you're breathing is super heavy.
 
Finally, the top arrived and my first comment was "I hated every second of that and I promise you I will never, ever do it again." The crew just laughed.
The views from the top are all kinds of crazy and of course you can 't reach a summit like that and not have a photo dangling out over a ledge so we did that too, even though Michelle completely lost her shit doing it, heights aren't her bag.
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| AquaGirl strikes again!
You'd expect the descent to be so much easier, for what goes up must come down but I can guarantee it, if I could have been helicoptered out of there I would have. The pressure on your knees was excruciating , the heat more intense and the fatigue absolutely shagging.
I tried to take myself off somewhere else, as I would when in intense pain when the water is eight degrees in winter, but that relief was few and far between. And funnily enough, all I was craving was to be in the coldest water I could endure ( two degrees for three minutes is my record) and let the numbness just take over. The descent was quiet, each person in their own place of discomfort so much so that on the last three kilometers, even through we'd already walked 27 km, the last three were to be semi jogged just to get it all over and done with. Finally, the blasting cold waterfall water gave our throbbing knees and ankles a smack of relief and the enduring pain was over. No one walked without a hobble or a hitch in their stride, but the pain in the end was worth it.
Of course there were celebratory beers and more nutrition shoved in our faces, this time pizza and no one lasted past half past eight that night. The showers were heavenly, and the old camp beds felt like thrones of the finest and softest down.
The next day was not pretty, we tip toed along, trying to soften every foot strike and made our way to the main road where we witnessed the first light on El Capitan, made famous from the movies Free Solo and The Dawn Wall. Dawn on the dawn wall seemed like a fitting end to our Half Dome experience, the pain certainly was worth it.
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