Heather Ozuna: Half Dome

Ok so this 12 hour, 8.2 mile, 4,880 ft increase in elevation, monster of a hike that knocked out 6 of our group of 10 deserves it's own post.

We started the day at 4am and made our oatmeal in the dark. Making oatmeal in the dark while trying not to wake the tent next to you resulted in some nasty watery oatmeal. Well when you are about to start a 12 hour hike foods sole purpose is energy, so we scarfed it down. After getting lost (in the dark) we finally found the trail. About 3.5 minutes into the hike I needed a break. About 15 minutes into the hike I was trying to remember why I ever wanted to do this. About an hour and a half into the hike I was holding back tears of frustration. About 4hours into the hike I couldn't feel anything anymore so I pressed on. About one mile from the cables... I was toast. Someone told me later that they came over to talk to me and I told them to go away, that I couldn't talk right now. I don't remember saying that but I definitely remember being in that state of mind. My body was done and I knew if I didn't use all that I had to mentally focus I would never make it up. So from that moment on I was a machine. I remember literally lifting my legs up to take each step. Once we got to the cables and I saw this beast in person with little ropes hanging done and rickety pieces of wood that I was expected to balance on if I wanted to live I lost all determination. Thankfully Brett gave me a little pep talk and asked me to at least go up a little and that I could go back down if I didn't like it. I gave in and started up. Only a 1/4 of the way into it I made the mistake of looking around me at the cliffs that I would easily slide over if I lost my grip... and I lost it. I wanted down but I was deathly afraid to go down so I just kept going up.. crying and praying the whole way but unable to wipe my tears for fear of sliding over a 5,000 foot cliff onto the valley floor below. What felt like hours later we arrived at the top and just enjoyed the ground for awhile. I'm so glad i did it. It was such an amazing experience and I'm glad I can cross it off "my list". The way down was pure torture. My knees felt like there were shards of glass in them and I couldn't walk for the next couple of days but it was amazing. We spent the entire next day relaxing at the river unable to move.