I love adventure. Any kind of adventure. I was the kind of kid that, on my daily walk home from school, would extend the walk by a good half hour by ending up in a tree, or throwing rocks in a creek, or somehow ending up covered in mud. If I had to walk straight home, I?d walk across the very edges of my neighbors? yards, pretending each change in landscape underfoot was a whole new geographic location.
And I?d narrate. ?I?m walking?across the plains of Africa? I?d say, as I stared down at the dried-out lawn beneath my feet. As it changed to the river rock of the next yard, I was ?trekking near the Nile River,? and as I trod across the next lava-rocked over yard, I had ?landed on the moon.?
I?ve since grown into an adult that CRAVES adventure. In my 20s, I participated in a slew of running events. In my 30s, I took to triathlon and road biking, and my hubs introduced me to the wonders of mountaineering. We bagged a few 14ers (14K foot mountains) and rode our bikes from San Francisco to L.A. Now, in my 40s, I?ve become a fat, lazy sloth that eats cupcakes while watching ?Biggest Loser.?
But I still crave adventure, and I know the one thing that keeps me going is when I have a goal. I recently dusted off Blue, my trusty road bike, and have hit the The Roadhouse a couple times. I?m trying to get more active because I have grand plans for my summer.
Last week, Yosemite National Park opened the lottery for Half Dome Permits for day hikers. Used to be you could drive on up, hit the mountain and head home without further thought. Back in 2010, the park began requiring hiking permits for Half Dome day hikers, in the hopes of regulating the traffic on the cable system that leads to the top of the mountain.
Yes, there?s a cable system that you need to use in order to get to the top of the mountain. See?
Those aren?t ants, there. Those are people holding onto the cables. A better view:
Kinda scary, no? What used to happen, before the permits, is that literally hundreds people ? after hiking the back country for several, SEVERAL hours ? would arrive at the saddle (the little land bridge before the cables) the stand in line to hit the mountain. The line was stop and go, all the way up the cables. You could be stuck hanging onto the cables, standing at a 45? angle for 10 or 15 minutes at a time. Just waiting to move. And there would be line cutters, because of course. People who would take it upon themselves to shove their way past. And there would be jackasses who were beyond using the cables altogether. They would walk on the outside of the cables, bypassing clogs in the lines.
Also? This isn?t one-way traffic. People are heading down the mountain as well.
Scary? Yes. Awesome? SUPER. This is not a simple day hike; you need food for the day and water ? lots of water. It?s best to have a water filter with you, so you can easily refill from the water sources on the mountain, instead of hauling agua with you.
The permit lottery opened March 1, and will be open through March 31. They select 300 hikers per day through the hiking season; lottery bids are $4.50 each, and you can select 7 different days per bid and get up to six permits (for hiking groups up to six people) per day.
I?ve got my bids in; so does my hubs. Fingers crossed we?re selected ? adventure is calling.
Interested? Check out some shots I took of my last?ascent, back in 2009.
Traci
Traci Arbios is a founder of TheFullMoxie.com and a morning co-host at KJWL 99.3 FM in Fresno. She also loves cheese. LOVES. E-mail her at traci@thefullmoxie.com
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Source: http://thefullmoxie.com/2013/03/07/adventure-calls/
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