17th August, 2013 has left a mark in my life forever.
This is the day when I conquered my deepest fears, disbelief in myself and what
I could do, when I said to myself “Just
go for it” and completed the most adventurous and thrilling expedition till
date. It was the day when I got to the top of half dome and shouted aloud to
myself “Yes, I did it!!I conquered the half dome”. It’s been exactly 2 weeks
since the half dome hike but still its yet to sink in completely. My
friends/family are so excited and proud of me to have accomplished this and
their wishes since the past few days does make me realize that ya I did it, it’s
not a dream.
I will treasure the whole experience forever and it will be
closest to my heart. I never had a checklist, but it is more of a
wishlist,things which you wish you could do in your lifetime, but which needs a
bunch of things to fall in place – your fitness,time,opportunity and above all
God’s grace which lets everything else fall in place.
In 2006,I visited Yosemite national park. It was the first
national park I was visiting in the US and will always be special. It’s one of
my favorite places till date. I was spell bound by the immense natural beauty
around-the mountains,waterfalls,lakes,meadows.I was awe-struck by the huge
mountains beautifully shaped and carved-El Capitan,Halfdome.At that time,it
didn’t even occur to me that it was possible to climb these massive
mountains,couldn’t even think about it, who knew what was in store 7 years aheadJ.
Fast-forward to 2009-2010 – Saunil and I had been travelling
to different places, it’s one of our favorite passions. We were always looking
for new places to visit, interesting things to do.Its just so much fun to plan a
trip,first decide on a place then read and do some research about it,its one of
the things that keeps me going. Looking forward to the next trip in store –keeps
me smiling, motivated and my spirits high.
We got to know from few friends about interesting,
challenging hikes and someone mentioned about the half dome.I am trying hard to
remember when did I actually get to know about half dome hike first but can’t recollect exactly when was that.At first when I heard about it,I remember my first reaction was
“OMG!!seriously!!” It seems impossible,you need to be super fit to do it.Now
after doing it 3 main things I think that you need is firstly of course you need to
be fit and have the endurance to sustain
such a long(~14-16 hours) hike plus most important is you need to be super
motivated and believe that you can do it.
Without the motivation, someone will think why the hell do I need to go through this stress where my knee,legs hurt so much at the end of the day.There is no need to go through so much pain.I might as well sit comfortably on my couch and watch a movie.But my response to that would be the hard work, the grueling ride to the top is totally worth it.The whole experience has been rewarding in so many ways,its difficult to express in words.The adrenaline,the excitement,satisfaction,happiness on making it to the top is so worth it.Its pure bliss!!The 15 hour journey to the top and back has been an emotional roller coaster-ride, your inner self experiencing all the emotions in one day-fear,anticipation,nervousness at the start, tiredness mid-way, desperation of getting closer to your goal soon, exhaustion and excitement while climbing the sub dome, super scared while finding your own way through the vertical granite surface and praying every minute to survive and not slip, extreme fear and self-doubt on whether I could do the cables, euphoria and super excitement on making it to the top!!This is it!!It’s what life is..experiencing the different emotions in the journey of a lifetime in a single day..what could be more rewarding than this!!
Half dome was on Saunil and my wishlist since quite some time,especially after couple of my friends(both shwetha’s,himani) had done it and shared their experience with us.After the two half marathons I was on a high spirit, ready to take on my next challenge with more confidence in myself.Luckily,at one of my friend’s place(Humaa-Sohel’s) where the bay area gang had got together,the half dome topic came up and few of us were really excited about it.That’s how it started..Rahul-Pranav were very focused and diligent to send the plans for hikes every weekend. Since Saunil’s parents were here we could join them for only one hike- Black mountain(9.5 miles-steep and strenuous).We tried to catch up and did a few ones on our own in the last 2 weeks before the half dome one- Berry creek(10 miles) ,mission peak(did it twice) on weekdays after work but was totally worth it.
We had planned to do half dome on Aug 17 but a big “if” roadblock to it was getting the permit for the cables.Pranav/Rahul sent a detailed email regarding the procedure for the application and reminders to each one of us to apply on Thursday(2 days) before the hike.The energy/excitement amongst the whole group was high and so much fun.I remember being awake and applying at sharp 12 midnite and having some email discussions with Rahul,Pranav and Shantanu around the same time.Next day all of us waited in anticipation for the results of the lottery.Rahul was the lucky one..thank god for tat!! JHe was the only one amongst 7 of us to have won it- 6 of us were covered.Getting 1 permit would be okay and we would be able to meet someone on the way who had an extra permit,I was pretty optimistic about that.
We left early from work on Friday and started for Yosemite. After beating some traffic on the way we reached our cabin.Pranav had booked the cabin-it was an awesome house with 5 rooms, a huge living room,family room , a big patio facing the woods.It was so nice!! It was my first overnight trip with the bay area gang.Everyone was having a good time-laughing,talking and joking around..no one was stressed about the big hike tomorrow. Everyone was just super excited and looking forward to it.We had delegated people to get different things for the hike.We all made some sandwiches,packed our bags and were ready to call the day off.The girls got to be in one room.We chit chatted for a while and dozed off.We got up at 3:45,managed to get around 5 hours of sleep,got ready..took a few pics of all the warriors (Pranav,Kartik,Shantanu,Rahul,Shweta,Saunil and me)ready to conquer the half domeJ
We
reached the trail head at 4:30.It was pitch dark.All of us had flashlights
which were absolutely necessary to cover the first hour or so before the
sunrise.We started the hike at 4:45.First hour or so is pretty steep till the
top of vernal falls.I was feeling good and energetic, took it easy and took few
second halts couple of times since body was warming up.All of us stuck together in
the dark.We reached the top of vernal falls around 5:45,we were doing pretty
well. After sunrise,Pranav and kartik went ahead to make sure they reach the
permit check point early and find someone with an extra permit. Next big
checkpoint was the top of Nevada falls which had grueling switch backs (A road/trail that follows a zigzag course on a steep incline).Thinking
about it now,I laugh about the switch backs and someone who has already been to
half dome would tell me “If this is grueling, watch out for the sub dome switch
backs which are yet to come.”
After reaching top of Nevada falls,we had some breathing space
for a while, going through the flat,sandy little Yosemite
valley.Rahul,Shweta,shantanu,Saunil and I met at the start of this and I still remember Shweta’s sleepy face ,she
was extremely sleepy J.To
keep up the energy we sang a couple of songs.But that didn’t last long.Because
there they were- the switchbacks yet again.And this time they just seem to be
never ending ,going on and on.I was huffing and tired , bored.Saunil kept
motivating , pushing me that it would not be for long.After that long stretch
of switchbacks – there we saw it, the 2 mile marker to half dome.Yeh!! It seemed I got back all
my energy in a fraction of second on seeing the board.We took a pic at this
important checkpoint which had rejuvenated our spirits and we were all set for
the final stretch.
We rested for a while and started for the sub dome at around 10:15.Saunil was ahead of me and Pranav decided to stay back behind me at the end in case I got scared or stuck somewhere in the middle.I had read and also heard from many people that for many the climb to the sub dome is the most difficult part and not the cables so all of us were all geared up to take these two final hurdles to the top.The sub dome had the most grueling swithchbacks.With absolutely no shade,the granite flat rocks were exposed totally to the sun and at such a great height made it really slippery,scary and tough.At one point there was no path at all and it seemed that the only option you had was to walk straight on the rock and pray you will be safe and not slip.Pranav was there with me encouraging and helping me through that.Thx a lot Pranav!! J I am not usually scared of heights but walking through those steep switchbacks with no proper predefined trail at such a high elevation could leave anyone cold,the irony with this statement is,it was actually pretty hot at this point.Finally beating all those obstacles we reached the top of sub dome ,one done one more to go.All along as it started getting warmer I was just praying to not get a headache.I have been pampered with good California weather and have become very sensitive to heat,and once I get a headache my whole system goes upside down. And at this point it was definitely the last thing I wanted. We sat at the sub dome watching people climb the cable and getting some rest at the same time.
There were around 50 wooden planks( might be wrong) but that’s what it seemed to me.It was really steep at a lot of places where I had to pull myself with all my strength and at the same time hold onto the cables to make sure I don’t slip. The nitrite gloves and hiking shoes were of huge help here.While climbing some of the planks it just seemed impossible to pull myself up and I lifted my feet higher than I had ever done, but everytime something magical happened.. All through the hike,especially at the cables,I felt the strongest presence of God by my side who took me one wooden plank at a time to the top and slowly but surely I was moving one step closer to my goal..He was just there with me!!
By then the rest of the gang had already reached the top. When
I walked towards them,they were pleasantly surprised. Pranav clicked my pic
walking away to glory towards them. This was it!!It took some time to actually
catch my breath and for it to sink in that I was at the top!!
I was ecstatic and
so was everyone.The moment we had been waiting for since the last couple of
months was finally here,we did it!!We took lot of pics in our victory poses.Surprisingly,half
dome had proper network coverage-one of the very few places in Yosemite valley
to have coverage so the first thing I did was called didi-jiju.When I heard
didi-jiju’s voice I choked at that
moment and was almost in tears.It was the culmination of all those emotions
within and a final breakdown.I didn’t have a way to describe the 7 hour journey
so far..was speechless,all I could say holding my tears was “ Its awesome,feels
awesome!!”
There were a lot of people around in total celebration
model!! It felt as if I was on the highest point of the universe..both
physically and mentally in spirits.I couldn’t thank God enough for being there
throughout and letting me have this experience to cherish for a lifetime.My
dearest and sweetest hubby,anchor,soulmate, best friend –Saunil being with me is
the reason I actually even thought to take up this challenge.I have told him
many times and need to specially tell him again that I always feel
I am the luckiest person ever to have him in my life. The hike
especially the cables would have been impossible without Saunil. Thank u so
much for being there as always and letting me accomplish this big milestone.
All of the bay area mafia gang-especially the half dome conquerors were just incredible. I am so
glad I did it with you guys and will always have you all in my memory whenever
I look back and recollect this experience of a lifetime. I imagine 20 years down
the line when all of us are together, catching up and reminiscing old, fun
days, we will have this wonderful accomplishment to look back to and the best
part is we all did it together, friends in arms there for each other.
I also owe a lot to my half marathon coaches Anu and Rajeev- their
passion for running and life,their ideologies,beliefs,goodwill-just rubs on to
you, inspires you.I will always remember what Anu said to us before my first
half marathon, “Tomorrow is your big day..you need to appreciate and thank your
body,mind and soul for being there for you.Just before the big run,when you get
up in the morning talk to yourself,tell your legs,your body that I need you
today and I am sure you will be there
for me.And thank them after they have worked tirelessly and rigorously to you
get you past the finish line”.I realized that most of the times we don’t
appreciate and value our fitness,our body,mind and soul being there for us when we put it to through the fierce and most
difficult of test.We just take things for granted. Its appreciating and
realizing the value of such things that makes life wonderful, gives you the
satisfaction, happiness that no bigger material stuff can do.
Its experiences and adventures like the half dome that bring
out the best in you and leave you with so many fond memories to look back to. I
will just like to add, “If I could do it, so can you!! Never underestimate yourself and always be
sure to value your own self, everything around and every person in your life.
Never take things for granted!!Life is beautiful!! Travel and explore the world.
Travelling and meeting fellow travelers, appreciating the uniqueness of
different cultures and people definitely helps me become a better person each
day!!
