Conquering Half Dome in Yosemite

Happy Friday! Its been a few weeks since I left Yosemite for my 2nd summit of Half Dome with the cables down (🧗‍♀️🪢). I went back to meetup with friends who hadn’t been and share the experience with them. I also wanted to attempt it again and NOT have the Elvis syndrome of “shaky legs” (accomplished), now that I’ve been getting stronger at climbing and canyoneering over the last 3 years. When I went in 2019, my friend and I were the only 2 to summit it. The cables had just come down, and the weather was a tad grey, but clear of rain. We got to summit the dome and enjoy the views for hours, completely ALONE. I didn’t realize how special this was, until reattempting it this year. I don’t know if we’re experiencing a mass surge in climbing (rad), letting go of fear (more rad), or a guts renaissance, but there were close to 100 people summiting with the cables down on this day and it was wild to see. The cumulative stoke of everyone, sparkling of gear on the cables, and spectator scene felt almost movie-like. While I definitely don’t find myself often in situations with crowds (grew up at Disney and am 5ft tall, crowds = not so pleasant experience of being trapped below peoples shoulders lol), I can definitely appreciate that we are experiencing an era where the appreciation for the outdoors and people embracing its healing and restorative benefits is RAMPANT in the best way possible. While it was fun to climb this again and experience it with some wild amigos, the latter half of my time in Yosemite was the best part and I cant wait to share more about that in the coming posts. Keep climbing, keep breaking those fear barriers, keep enhancing your skills on safety, leave no trace, preparedness, and survival, and keep getting outside. And if you haven’t yet, let this be your welcome mat and clear sign to BEGIN and have the courage to TRY! Its a new era and the views are so much better from it! The great awaits, OUTSIDE.