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After a bit of rest, we were ready to ascend the cables. Someone encouraged us by saying "It's only about three hundred yards. Not that bad." I thought that would be all right; I could handle hanging on to a steel cable for three hundred yards.
At the base of the cables is a large pile of gloves. I don't know who has donated these. They help protect the palms of the hands as well as adding friction for a good grip. I found a couple of ratty but acceptable righties and was having trouble finding a usable lefty when a guy came off the bottom and tossed a matched set into the pile. I snatched them up. These had worked for him (indeed they were still a little sweaty) so I figured they must be good enough.
I'm having trouble describing the cables, so here's a picture taken by some other intrepid hiker. The horizontal lines you see are small wooden boards, maybe one-by-twos, propped up on poles driven directly into the granite face. Through the top of the poles is threaded some hefty steel cable. Two parallel lines of cables cling to the side. They're a bit less than three feet apart. The boards, or the poles themselves in places where the boards are missing, are just about the only possible place to stop and rest. Anywhere else, I found my feet would not stick at all, and I just slid right back down to the nearest pole.
The steepest part is at the beginning. Yes, it may be only three hundred yards, but a goodly portion of that is straight up. The traffic was incredible. At any given moment, there could be up to five people trying to share a board. The main flow of traffic was "drive on the right", so upward bound folks were clinging to the cable closest to the flat face of the half dome and downward bound folks were on the cable closest to the curvy side. But many agile people ignored this flow and passed on the outside, in both directions. I spent agonizingly long minutes waiting for space available on the next board. In all, I took well over an hour to ascend the cables. In hindsight I shouldn't have let the terrified kid pass me; I really was going faster than he was, and the effects he had on the traffic flow probably lasted long after I reached the top.
I was pretty scared. As I put it later, I don't have a fear of heights, but I do have a fear of falling. There's something about being unable to trust my feet on a slick rock face with mile-long drops on both sides of me, and being JOSTLED, constantly, by people swarming around... Bad. Very bad.
I heard someone reassure his hiking companion: "No one has ever died on these things." I knew this was not true, but it was not the right time to correct him, so I didn't. They were on their way down, so what they were seeing was something like this (but much more crowded). The rock in the upper two thirds of the picture is the bump and the saddle area.
Debris fell frequently. I saw three water bottles, a walkie-talkie, a lens cap, and I forget what else come bouncing down the rock. Sometimes there would be a shouted warning.
I got to the top long after Chris did, probably in part because I have less upper body strength and needed more rest, and definitely in part because I'd been foolish and let people past. He was definitely wondering what had happened to me. I admit I'd considered turning around, but there wasn't room. He yelled like a wild man when I came into sight.
The cables become less steep near the top. I staggered off them, a few steps to the side, and flattened myself on the rock for a minute or two. There it was: the top of Half Dome. I'd made it.
I never ever wanted to touch those cables again. I wondered about helicopter rescue.
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However, it is my own worst nightmare. I am terrified of heights and of falling.
Anyhow, thanks for sharing your story.
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You Did It!
was your goal, and you did it!
Re: You Did It!
Re: You Did It!
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Here is a picture (http://www.kaibab.org/vac95/zion5.htm) of Angel's Landing from midway up the trail. The other pics are views from the top.
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How long's the trail?
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Time to plan your next hike!
:o)
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totally cool. you did it! overcoming fear to do something always counts way more for me than just doing it.
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Same here. Similarly, working hard to achieve a goal counts way more for me than just doing it on a whim, no matter what the goal. If there's someone out there who can skip up Half Dome and back before lunch, and someone else who (like me) exercised for weeks leading up to it and planned and prepared, and they both climb Half Dome, I have more respect for the achievement of the second one.
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