Hike Half Dome

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Entry for August 20, 2008 - 2008 Tuolumne Planning Workbook NOW AVAILABLE

Half Dome – Yosemite Musings

The “other” great river flowing through Yosemite is the Tuolumne. It flows down the meadow by the same name, past the Glen Aulin High Sierra camp, and into the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. From there it slowly winds westward in an impressive canyon. If you are more than a casual visitor, you appreciate all that the Tuolumne has to offer. Like the Merced it is subject to the provisions of the Wild and Scenic River Act. Being significantly under NPS control, the park is tasked with maintaining it for generations. To that end, the park has developed the 2008 Tuolumne Planning Workbook. It is now available for public (your) review and comment through September 15. All comments will be considered in the preparation of the Draft Tuolumne Wild and Scenic River Comprehensive Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (Draft Tuolumne River Plan/EIS), scheduled for release in summer 2009. I have my 32 page booklet in front of me and it outlines 5 alternatives to management of both the river as a whole and the meadows. Each alternative attempts to balance visitor, cultural and natural resources impacts.

Copies are available at the Tuolumne Meadows Lodge, the grill, the Tuolumne Meadows Visitor Center, and at Parsons Lodge. Or email your request to Yose_Planning@nps.gov, leave a phone message with your contact information at 209-379-1365, fax a request to 209-379-1294, or send your contact info by mail to Superintendent, attn: Tuolumne Workbook, PO Box 577, Yosemite, CA 95389. They even pay for the postage! An online version can be viewed on the park's website at www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/2008wrkbk.htm.

Unrelated thought worth quoting: “For the benefit of Mr. Kite there will be a show tonight on trampoline. The Hendersons will all be there, late of Pablo-Fanques Fair, what a scene.” – The Beatles

*Carpe Diem Experience– Rick Deutsch–www.HikeHalfDome.com*

2008-08-20 01:55:51 GMTComments: 0 |Permanent Link

Entry for August 19, 2008 - The Boards

Half Dome – Yosemite Musings

As you ascend the cables on Half Dome, you will be going up vertically about 425 feet. Using your 8th grade trigonometry, with a incline of 45 degrees, this works out to a hypotenuse of about 900 feet. (Isn’t math fun?) That is the actual run of cable you are pulling yourself along. There are 2 x 4 inch boards spanning the width of this “banister.” I figure the poles are set about 10 to 12 feet apart. So you get to rest on about 75 to 90 boards. I have never counted them. I’ve tried, but I get distracted every time. (Maybe I’ll bring a clicker next time.) Anyway, the boards are laid flat on the upper side of the poles and are held in with flimsy straps. If you look on page 26 of my book you can see a vintage photo where the boards were placed on edge. Hmmm The boards are a key to a comfortable pull up. The rock is worn smooth from almost 90 years of use. Standing on the boards allows you to rest and get vertical for a few minutes as you trundle up. IMO the whole system could stand an upgrade, but maybe because of historic reasons the NPS can’t … I dunno. As you can see above, sometimes the boards are missing. I know all are installed at the start of the season. Rangers have told me that jerks probably take them to use as firewood. Camping is prohibited on the Rock, but there aren’t enough staff to police it. When I did the moonlight hike, it was clear that many folks slept up top waiting for sunrise. And that’s the story of the boards.

Unrelated thought worth quoting: “Wild thing...you make my heart sing...You make everything – Groovy." - The Troggs

*Carpe Diem Experience– Rick Deutsch–www.HikeHalfDome.com*

2008-08-19 02:56:47 GMTComments: 2 |Permanent Link

Entry for August 18, 2008 - “Yosemite Online”

Half Dome – Yosemite Musings

Today we talk about a great Yosemite resource called, appropriately, “Yosemite Online.” The website is <here>. Major topics covered include an awesome library of on-line books, notice of Exhibits, a handy lodging guide and a great discussion group. What attracted me were the digitized copies of some hard-to-find Yosemite manuscripts. I first found the Bible: Lafayette Bunnell’s “Discovery of the Yosemite.” Then J.D.Whitney's 1869 book "The Yosemite Book." This site is put together by a private citizen – a lover of Yosemite, Dan Anderson. Dan is a software engineer at my alma mater, Sun Microsystems. He diddles computer bits in his spare time. In this age of assuming than all human knowledge on Google -it’s not- , we all owe Dan a tip of the hat for his efforts to digitize works that Google hasn’t gotten to yet. Give his site a try, it’ll keep you warm on a rainy night!

Unrelated thought worth quoting: “You're pushin' too hard, pushin' on me. You're pushin' too hard, what you want me to be. You're pushin' too hard about the things you say. You're pushin' too hard every night and day.” – The Seeds

*Carpe Diem Experience– Rick Deutsch–www.HikeHalfDome.com*

2008-08-18 03:24:02 GMTComments: 0 |Permanent Link

Entry for August 17, 2008 - A healthy tan

Half Dome – Yosemite Musings

I remember the days living in Northern Virginia. Every other weekend in high school and college, we’d drive the 3 hours to Ocean City, Maryland. For 2 glorious days, we’d lay out and roast. The goal was to get our middle class white skin as dark as could be. Hours on the sand slathered with baby oil. A theory was that if you burned it would turn to tan. I got my share of blister-burns. My stomach sometimes looked like a hunk of medium well steak. Despite our parent’s caution to use sunscreen, clear baby oil or sweet smelling coconut butter were our only “protection.” Hey, my dark Italian heritage would keep me safe – and nothing looked as good as snow white teeth grinning from a bronze face. In the days before SPF we were building a healthy tan. Fast Forward to today. Boy, were we dumb. A friend just had a small slice taken off her nose. Basal Cell Carcinoma. (BCC) A friend recently lost a son to melanoma which started as a sore on his instep – later traced to 5 years of lifeguard duty as a teen. Why am I telling you all this? I had a small spot on my chin that was not healing. I just got it sliced and am awaiting the lab results. BCC probably. A very early and easily treatable skin cancer. The bad one is Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Folks, all that sun is cumulative. We pay now for our mistakes then. Wrinkles, age spots and haggard skin are all due to the sun. Did you know that a typical shirt only provides an SPF of 5 to 9? Did you know that while hiking, as we go up every one thousand feet the UV radiation increases about 5%? Granite rocks at Yosemite can reflect upwards of 90% of the sun’s rays. Yikes. Check out the products from a company called Solumbra. They have been the leader in sun protection wear for over 17 years. They sell shirts with SFP of 30. Columbia and others are now also offering sun-guard products. Hiking? Kayaking? Snorkeling? Water skiing? Wear a real sun-shirt and lather up. We can’t undo our youthful mistakes, but we can change the pattern and be more aware and cautious. And see your dermatologist. That little thing on your ear that doesn’t heal may be treatable early.

Unrelated thought worth quoting: “I'd help another place, another time, you've got your troubles, I got mine.” – The Fortunes

*Carpe Diem Experience– Rick Deutsch–www.HikeHalfDome.com*

2008-08-17 00:12:33 GMTComments: 0 |Permanent Link

Entry for August 16, 2008 - Silver Apron rescue

Half Dome – Yosemite Musings

On our hikes up to Half Dome we all pass over the Silver Apron Bridge. It sure looks appealing … sliding down the chute into the Emerald Pool. But this would be insane with the 300 foot drop off Vernal Fall just around the corner. Darn. But does anyone ever slip in? Yes! On August 7, a 12-year old girl fell into the chute and traveled 100 feet downstream before she stopped. When YOSAR arrived , she was conscious but had a fractured pelvis or femur. The Crane Flat Helibase dispatched a chopper with Ranger Dov Bock who led the short-haul lift back to the Ahwahnee Meadow. (See the Dave Pope photo above.) The girl was then airlifted via a medical chopper to a local hospital. The SAR team has made 177 rescues this year. A tip of the hat to YOSAR!

Unrelated thought worth quoting: “Rescue me, oh take me in your arms. Rescue me, I want your tender charms'Cuz I'm lonely and I'm blue” – Aretha Franklin

*Carpe Diem Experience– Rick Deutsch–www.HikeHalfDome.com*

2008-08-16 06:06:05 GMTComments: 0 |Permanent Link

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