The Lost Arrow

Half Dome – Yosemite Musing
Get or Give Half Dome permits<HERE>

**This is the last day for the thread “to get permits.” Monday is the last day to go up. Keep tuned to this blog for continuing coverage of Half Dome and Yosemite all year.***

 
     Just to the right of Yosemite Falls stands a formation called The Lost Arrow. It’s easy to miss when you are overwhelmed by the 3 cascades of the 5th largest waterfall in the world. Plus the rock color makes it blend in to the surrounding rocks.

     Wonder why it’s called The Lost Arrow? Fasten your seat belts and I’ll tell you why. Legend has it that a deer hunter was in the cliffs above the valley and was successful in his quest. To celebrate, he shot an arrow into the sky and when it came back down it stuck and turned to stone. Ergo, we now have the Lost Arrow . . . found! Whatever. It’s a neat looking formation. Oh, it has also been called the “Giant’s Thumb.”
Unrelated thought worth quoting: “He who limps is still walking.” – Stanislaw J. Lec

*MrHalfDome – Rick Deutsch – www.HikeHalfDome.com

Season recap

Half Dome – Yosemite Musing
Get or Give Half Dome permits<HERE>
     With just a few hiking days left at Half Dome it’s time to bundle things up for another season. But don’t go away. I continue to write this blog every day. Well, except when I am camping or on a cruise ship. So keep us bookmarked and continue your passion for Half Dome. If you are curious, you are among about 250 daily readers of this missive. The GET OR GIVE PERMITS thread had over 350 hits. Neat. I also do a FACEBOOK page. Just search for Mr. Half Dome. I’m not into FB as the younger generation, but try to put blips on occasionally. Sorry, I don’t tweet. We’ve sold close to 8,000 “One Best Hike: Yosemite Half Dome” books. But I am not getting rich of royalties. Authors don’t. But it’s great that so many people are now at least educated on the hike. Thanks to those who have sent me personal emails with good comments. We are going to wait for the second edition (with a whole lot more stories and info) until after the Permit situation is settled. So target is a spring 2012 release. If you have ideas, let me know. I just got one saying I need to emphasize that upper body strength is key to getting up the cables. Done. Also some folks had trouble finding the top of Sub Dome and didn’t know which way to go once the steps ended. Done.
    Also you can help feed Yosey (as in Yosemite), our 5 lb Yorkie, by getting a TShirt to celebrate your achievement. Just go to my website under STORE. Ditto on the 1 hour presentation via Mindbites. Also thru the website. And I also can give private hiking presentations to your group as well as Motivational talks. For this go to my speaking website at MrHalfDome.com.
    It looks like 2010 sailed thru without any Half Dome falls. Whew. Be sure to book your accommodations reservations NOW for 2011. And stay tuned in for info on the plan for 2011 permits. As I find out I will let you know. Cables for 2011 should be up by mind-May – snowfall depending. Plan on them every day.  Don’t forget George Anderson Day, Oct 12. I fly back to the Homeland outta Monte Carlo tomorrow and will catch up with you Americans and friends of the USA soon. Carpe Diem!
Unrelated thought worth quoting: “A dog is one of the remaining reasons why some people can be persuaded to go for a walk.” – O.A. Battista

*MrHalfDome – Rick Deutsch – www.HikeHalfDome.com

Stretch

Half Dome – Yosemite Musing

Get or Give Half Dome permits<HERE>

***Cables come down Monday – Back up in mid-May 2011***

    Stretching should be a par t of your workouts and hiking. I try to do 40% aerobic, 40% resistance and 20% of my time in stretching. If you take breaks on the trail it’s a good idea to do some basic quads, hamstrings and calve movements. Here’s a shot of a hiker in Little Yosemite Valley at a water pumping stop.

     She is slowly pulling her leg back to stretch her quadriceps (aka Quads aka thigh muscles). If you are not too busy ited on the summit it’s nice to do a little stretching on top – fer shure when you finish your hike…maybe even in the shower! The keys are to do it when the muscles are warmed up – not cold, first thing early in the morning. Stretch for about 20 seconds…don’t bounce.

     Tioga Road has snow. El Closo!!    

     Waldo is in Rome today. Saw the big stuff – Vatican, St Peter’s and the Sistine Chapel. I have no idea why it is called “Sistine.” The Michelangelo paintings cover in the walls and ceiling are superb as is the architecture of the basilica. It’s the largest church in the world. Too bad the $$billions$$ in artifacts sit there when folks are starving around the world – but I won’t go there.

Unrelated thought worth quoting: “Do not lose your desire to walk.  Every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness.  I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it.” – Soren Kierkegaard 

*MrHalfDome – Rick Deutsch – www.HikeHalfDome.com

Talus fields

Half Dome – Yosemite Musing
Get or Give Half Dome permits<HERE>
     Last week when I blogged about the hike up the old Big Oak Flat Road I mentioned that there is a huge rockfall that covered the zig zags of the road. Here’s a photo of the same.

     The road was active from 1874 thru 1940, then the 3 tunnel Hwy 120 Road we use today opened. After that the Old Road was just for uphill car travel only. But in 1942, a huge rockfall of VW Beetle-sized rocks tumbled down.  It covered maybe ¾ mile of the old road. So it is gone. In the late 1980’s the park had discussed making it a hiking trial, but I think the idea of moving all those rocks was too big of an effort. The trail is not even on maps anymore – I’m sure the park prefers you not be on it, but you can go back on this blog to my story if you want to try it. You can really only see the talus field if you look to your left on Southside Drive….and it comes and goes quickly with all the trees. You really can’t see much of it on Northside Drive. The very faint horizontal line is where many of the rocks were moved off a portion to the road – up to the “Oh My!” or “Rainbow View” point. This is where arriving visitors first saw El Cap and Half Dome. Also, you can see a nice rainbow at Bridalveil Fall in the afternoon.
Unrelated thought worth quoting: “After a day’s walk everything has twice its usual value.” – George Macauley Trevelyan

*MrHalfDome – Rick Deutsch – www.HikeHalfDome.com

G2 on the fate of the cables

Half Dome – Yosemite Musing

Get or Give Half Dome permits<HERE>

     T-10 days and counting until the cables come down. The NPS is actively discussing what to do in 2011 regarding Half Dome permits. Observations in 2010 show that the permit system has essentially moved the weekend crowding to weekdays. Thursdays and Mondays appear to be the worst with over 600 going up the cables. Waits of 90 minutes just to get on the cables have been experienced. Add another hour to get up and you have a miserable day. Those who got permits were overjoyed with the lack of people. A decision needs to be made kinda soon so a new plan can be developed and recreation.gov contracted to administer the permits. It’s turning into a hairball. People need to get accommodations lined up PLUS get a permit to make it all come together. Out of towners also need to get flights far enough in advance to get a decent price. AARRGGHH. A few options are being banged around including having a higher permit fee so folks don’t load up on them and then not use them. The current $1.50 is not a barrier to doing this. If you pay $15 or $20 each you probably will not trash unused ones. Unless you are really obsessed, like yours truly, most people will only do the hike once a summer or once in their life so $20 should not be a major deterrent. (half a tank of gas).   

     The overall Half Dome Stewardship Plan is in the Alternative Development phase and a third party contractorhas been  hired to manage the process. It’s due to be signed off in Nov 2011. I’ve delayed the Second Edition of “One best Hike: Yosemite’s Half Dome” until Spring 2012 to capture the permit direction.

Unrelated thought worth quoting: “We live with our heels as well as head and most of our pleasure comes in that way.” – John Muir

*MrHalfDome – Rick Deutsch – www.HikeHalfDome.com