Climing Half Dome - Day 6

It was one of the most amazing days in our lives that our whole family made it all the way up to half dome. We woke up at 4:30 in the morning and arrived at the John Muir Trail head at about 5:30. It was still dark and cold while we started. The initial two and half miles were very steep and we passed two beautiful waterfalls, Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall. The last part was also very steep. We reached the bottom of half dome at 12 o'clock. The climb to the cable base which leads to the top of half dome was very strenuous. It was still a 2 hour climb back and forth when we reached the bottom of half dome. David, Leah and I started first and daddy had to stay with Anna. I chickened out when half way on the cable. I was simply scared and tired. David and Leah made it all the way to the top and I was so proud of them. When we came down, daddy started climbing up and it took him only one and a half hours to finish. We thought climbing down should be easy, however, due to the big and steep steps , it was not easy at all. We finally reached the trail head at about 7 o'clock at night. We were all very exhausted, but felt so accomplished. The whole hiking trip was about 17 miles and it took us 13 hours.

We were all extremely proud of Anna. She did the whole hiking on her own. We were prepared to carry her, but she didn't end up needing it. She is just an amazing girl!