Our Anniversary/Birthday Half Dome Hike

We had an absolutely fabulous time on our anniversary overnighter and hike to Half Dome. It was our 14th Anniversary on July 9. We spent the night in Curry Village in a canvas tent cabin. It was small, but cozy. We ate dinner at the cafeteria buffet. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was all-you-can-eat, so we ate up to prepare for the hike in the morning. We gave each other cards and had some sparkling cider in our cabin. We took these pictures of ourselves. It was a fun celebration and a nice break from the kids. We're so happy to be in love after all these years!

We awoke the next morning at 5 am to prepare for the long hike to Half Dome. It was July 10, Lloyd's 35th birthday. Our packs were pretty heavy with a hydration pack, 3 extra water bottles, and 4 bottles of gatorade along with snacks, sunscreen, our camera etc. We wanted to have plenty of water for the long, hot day ahead of us.

We arrived at the parking lot at 6:24 where we ate breakfast -- my favorite lemon muffins from Marie Callender's.

We arrived at the Trailhead at 7:00 am. We were excited to see Half Dome on the sign!

This is the bottom of Vernal Falls on the mist trail. The falls are so beautiful and they spray mist on you as you hike. It feels glorious! You can see me at the bottom of this picture.

This is what the mist trail looks like--lots of rocky and steep steps going straight up!

We got to the top of Vernal Falls at 7:52.

This calm water called Emerald Pool is just a few hundred feet from the drop of the falls. It looks very inviting, but people are not allowed to swim here because of the dangerous falls below.

The second waterfall you come to is Nevada Falls. We arrived here at 8:24. It was an even steeper climb to these falls.

Me at the top of Nevada Falls.

A view of Half Dome as we hike closer to it.

Lloyd ascending the 500 ft climb up "Little Dome." This is probably the hardest part of the hike because the steps seem like they are never going to end! This picture was taken at about 11:40.

Me hiking up Little Dome. I was a little excited and anxious to get to the cables!

A photo of the never ending steps!

This was my first view of the cables. I have to admit I was a bit amazed how steep they looked, but I knew nothing was going to stop me. This picture was taken at noon.

Me starting up the cables -- gloves are a must!

Lloyd almost up the cables!

The view of Yosemite Valley on top of Half Dome (12:42).

On top of Half Dome we ate lunch and celebrated our accomplishment! I gave Lloyd his birthday card!

Me on top of the world -- actually the "diving board" of Half Dome. It was windy up there and pretty scary to go near the edge.

This is the view going down the cables. I had a death grip on the cables. Lloyd prefers to go down the cables backwards (1:48)!

After coming down from the cables, we did the whole hike downhill. It's pretty slippery walking down all those steps and I even fell on my bum once. We completed the long hike at around 6:00 pm. We hiked over 16 miles. Our feet were sore, but our hearts were soaring. I have only felt a high like this after giving birth or running a marathon. It's such an exhilarating feeling. We met lots of friendly and helpful people along the way. When you're side by side on the cables, you are all friends with each other. Several people said "Happy Birthday" to Lloyd and one group of women even sang to him. After the hike we jumped in the pool at Curry Village to cool off. We bought some ice cream, but didn't have time to eat dinner because we needed to get home to our kiddos. We got a pizza on the way home.

Lloyd enjoyed his annual birthday apple pie. It was a long, but fun birthday! I didn't really feel that sore the day we finished the hike, but I could barely walk for the next 3-4 days. My calf muscles were so sore and I couldn't walk down stairs ( I had to walk sideways). The crazy thing is that I can't wait to go back to Half Dome. I would go tomorrow if I could. I absolutely loved it! The only thing I would do differently is to try to stay in Yosemite another night. It was an 11 hour hike and I wish we didn't have to go home right away. I felt so bad for Lloyd because he had to wake up the next day at 5 am for the Stake Pioneer Trek.