HALF DOME,

Yosemite National Park, California

Last October, I hiked Half Dome, which is considered one of the most dangerous hikes in America. I never imagined what hiking the Dome meant until I completed it. We had some prior training to build our endurance and prepare for the hike. But it wasn’t until I saw what I was going to conquer the next day that I realized the magnitude of it.

The Half Dome hike is considered a very hard hike, not because of the altitude but of the non-guarded 400-foot granite terrain at Subdome and the single pair of cables for Half Dome. We started our hike around 3:30 and reached Subdome in 7 hours. Only after we reached the base of Half Dome did we realize the magnitude of 400 feet of stone climbing with a pair of cables and our upper body strength. Midway through the climb, my feet started giving up, but I gathered all my courage to cover the remaining 200 feet. The thrill down my spine, when I reached the dome, was something I can never explain.

This painting was made the night before when we needed to rest our minds and body for the hike the next morning.

Watercolor painting, available in custom size prints