Half Dome – Yosemite Musing
Get or Give Half Dome permits<HERE> Just posted: I have 4 extra tickets for 8/27/10. Hit the button and snag these!!!
Today’s tale of mystery and imagination is about a friend of mine. We’ll call him Al of Burbank. (Although his real name is Jerry of Pleasanton.) On a glorious late June day, Al began his first hike up Half Dome. An early start of 4:30 was to ensure that everyone made it to the top before the mob. All went well up the Mist Trail then up the switchbacks. When we arrived at the Sub Dome, Jerry … er, I mean Al, was amazed at how high it was. He shot out ahead of us with his excitement fueling his body. When I arrived at the top of Sub Dome I found a perplexed Al hunched over his boots. Both of his soles had come almost 40% off his boots. They just said, “the warranty is up – I’m quitting.” There he sat with soles that were flapping in the wind. BOTH blew out at about the same time. Now that’s weird. He quickly confessed that he should have gotten new boots as these were well over 10 years old. Now what to do? He wrapped them with some adhesive tape (a good idea to pack some). What a hoot.
Well, there was no way he was going to trust them going up the cables. So he sat and waited for the rest of us to head to the top and return over an hour later. The message is that boots can die. I figure maybe 300-400 miles or 5 years of use is max. The rubber molecules and glue just won’t last on a trip to Mars. Even if your boots look good, the innards might be going. Invest in a good pair of boots – the best your budget can afford. Of all the things to have go wrong – your boots need to be good. You can go one with a broken backpack strap or a torn pair of shorts, but refresh your footwear periodically.
Oh, Al told me he is going to have his boots mounted on his office wall.
Unrelated thought worth quoting: “When you have worn out your shoes, the strength of the shoe leather has passed into the fiber of your body. I measure your health by the number of shoes and hats and clothes you have worn out.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
*Mr. Half Dome – Rick Deutsch – www.HikeHalfDome.com
MrHalfDome's Blog 
August 26, 2010 at 5:30 am |
I’ve seen this happen before. I was hiking up to Ten Lakes and tried to help out a fellow hiker whose boot soles were coming apart. I didn’t have enough duct tape to really do any good. Another reason for a failure of the boots could be they were left somewhere in the heat (trunk of a car). Heat will definite cause delamination. I’m just glad it wasn’t me!
August 26, 2010 at 3:17 pm |
True. It also happened to me eons ago. I had favorite pair of low cut trail shoes…then one day …. blewie! I had to walk on the raw shoebed bottom for a couple hours. Funny.
August 27, 2010 at 2:40 am |
I made it to the top last Thursday. This is indeed the new Satuday- very crowded. Several people were on top well after 6 pm. I left about 6:15 pm. Good thing I had a great headlamp, it helped get 3 of us back at 10:40 pm. I found the cables extremely easy despite being worn down. I saw 2 rattle snakes in the warm sand right on the trail. The lLttle Spring was full of water. I filled up for people who were all out and were parched. Lots of bears all over… one in a Camp Curry Apple tree; one by my car in the dark by the 4-mile trailhead. I saw another by Housekeeping camp. I saw one all over the trail … first below Nevada Fall, then just beyond the bathrooms, then just before Little Yosemite Valley- same 300 or so pound cinnamon brown bear. The Merced still has a respectable flow. Lots of water in the high mountains off Tioga road
August 27, 2010 at 3:58 am |
Last week Thursday…8-19-10
August 27, 2010 at 11:35 am |
I will have to get my boots out of my trunk.