It was a thrill and a sense of accomplishment reaching the top of Half Dome at Yosemite National park, with a lots of prep, support of family and company of amazing friends. The total hike was more than 22 miles and took more than 14 hours.

Half Dome has a been on the top of my bucket list for sometime. Half Dome rises nearly 5,000 feet above Yosemite Valley and 8,800 feet above sea level. It is a Yosemite icon and a great challenge to many hikers. Despite an 1865 report declaring that it was “perfectly inaccessible, being probably the only one of the prominent points about the Yosemite which never has been, and never will be, trodden by human foot”.

But all that changed when cables were installed in 1919. It’s also the most arduous and the daunting part of the climb. All that preparation, conditioning hikes and tips from friends who had climbed Half dome earlier, helped a lot.

A permit is required for the Half Dome hike, which turns into a 45-degree ascent along the cabled section. There are wooden planks spaced out about every 10 feet for hikers to rest and get their footing the national park service website said. But there were planks missing in the most difficult part of the cables, where the gradient was almost vertical. The climbing part of the cables was definitely the most toughest part of the hike for me.

But, to get to the dome we had to climb the sub dome which has no cables, which is as harder if not more, than climbing the cables.

It was great that all 6 of us made it to the top. The views are spectacular of the Yosemite valley from Half dome.

Coming down from the cables was much easier than I thought. Changing from the fancy climbing gloves to the $2 gardening gloves did the trick. The return journey in this long hike was straining on the tired legs, as it felt never ending, specially in the John Muir trail section.

Overall, reaching the top felt pretty emotional. and completing it a special achievement. This was surely an adventure of a lifetime!