This time tomorrow, Nevada Falls

[cjsmith]

I begin climbing tomorrow morning, hopefully for an ascent of Half Dome. Sunrise in Groveland is 6:06am, sunset 8:08pm (how easy to remember is THAT?) so there are maybe fifteen or sixteen hours of usable light. Call it fifteen; I don't want to force my hiking partner to start before dawn! I'm being antsy enough about this as it is, and he's been very patient with things like a wigged-out preparatory phone call that woke him up.

According to my topo map, the trail is eight point two miles long, so I'll need to average just a little over a mile an hour. In the past, that's been very doable, even on trails with significant elevation gain, even with stops to eat and take photos and stuff.

I looked at what I want to bring, and it's probably not going to fit in my monster fanny pack. I'll bring a day pack too, I guess. Wish I had a really lightweight one. After all the food's gone, I could stuff the day pack into a pocket of the fanny pack, if the day pack were flimsy enough. Collapsible water containers would be useful too, I suppose, for the same reason. Oh well.

Now if only my knee will hold out. And my blood sugar. I suspect the knee won't start showing symptoms until I start going downhill, meaning I could do way too much and not know it until I'm coming down the cables. That's a suboptimal time to find out, with eight miles of severe downhill ahead of me. Fortunately, I don't think it would mean real damage. I'd just be in some pain during the descent, probably descend slowly well into the night, and would need some rest and recovery for a week or two. The blood sugar on the other hand could make me turn back. Better keep eating. Eat eat eat. Eat.

Wish I could carry just a bit more water. A half gallon to a gallon is recommended; I have easy space for three liters, but would rather have four.

I'm supposed to be carbo-loading today. Hee. Never done that before.

Gee, think I'm taking this all just a bit too seriously? :-)

Comments

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

Can you get a Camel-Bak? Can you find "instant ice" packs? You might want to stop and make your knees cold once or twice on the trip down the hill.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I thought of a Camel-Bak too late last night, sadly. I wish I had thought of it Wednesday morning, which was my last good opportunity to get to REI.

I like the "instant ice" idea. Hmm. Good one.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

I'm guessing that 6:06 is the sunrise time. You'll have enough light to see where you're going by 5:30, if you want an earlier start.

Other than that, good luck and be careful. I'll be thinking of you, wishing you good weather and beautiful scenery. (I know your hiking partner will have some beautiful scenery.) Take along some ibuprofin (infantry candy) in case the knee acts up.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

The earlier start would be fine with me, although I'm pretty sure we won't arrive in the area until nine or ten tonight so sleep will start getting short.

Painkillers are definitely on the list, for more than one reason. I have an acquired immunity (acquired through overuse) to aspirin, ibuprofen, and now it looks like naproxen sodium as well. (Grr, I had hoped naproxen sodium would last longer.) I'll be trying ketoprofen this time...

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I remembered your earlier post, and figured that was going to influence things too. I hope the ketoprofin proves effective. I know you've been looking forward to this, and I'd like to see you have an enjoyable time of it.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm sure I'll enjoy it either way, but boy will I feel good if I make it to the top. (I have promised myself a "Half Dome Hikers Club" T-shirt if I get there.)

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

Gee, think I'm taking this all just a bit too seriously? :-)

no. that's a serious hike, and being well-prepped is important. i'd take the daypack, but that's me -- i carry weight a lot easier on my back than on my hips, and i like having the straps there for my hands to hold onto while going uphill.

i hope nothing gives out and you'll have a marvelous time -- it's absolutely beautiful there; i visited a few weeks ago (no serious hiking though; not in shape for it).

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

no. that's a serious hike, and being well-prepped is important.

That's true enough. I suppose I miss the days when I didn't have to worry about preparation. I was young and uninjured and healthy as a stoat, and the worst I'd face without prep is being a bit tired or hungry. I am envious of people who can still do this sort of thing without worry. Ah well...

Huh, straps to hold on to, interesting. I like carrying weight on my hips, and I'd rather sweat on my waist than on my back, but I think I'm gonna have both. Now I'll think about hanging onto the shoulder straps when I'm going uphill :-)

Thanks for the well wishes! I hope your trip was beautiful and enjoyable, also.

[lesliepear.livejournal.com]

Have fun. Take photos if you can. Hope your knee hangs in there.

[cassidyrose.livejournal.com]

Good luck and have fun!

Being over-prepared is always better than being underprepared. I once got lost in Big Basin because I didn't think I needed a trail map--oops!

Just a vote of confidence...

[missyberg.livejournal.com]

You can never plan too much, you can only take too much :)
I wish you luck and congratulations! This is a fabulous thing you're doing and I almost wish I could handle doing it myself.....ah maybe someday..
I will pray to knee gods for you :)

-Michelle