AdventureStalk AdventureStalk

In this episode I walk you through our first time hiking Half Dome! Gear, timing, fear of falling, and HOLY CROWDS BATMAN! I hope you enjoy this talk-through on our Half Dome experience, and find it helpful if you are planning your Half Dome experience!

Best Time to hike: April through October
Type of hike: Rigorous day-hike, or adventurous overnight with backcountry permit; out and back from Happy Isles trailhead
Distance / Elevation Gain: 14-17 miles (depending on route) / ~5,200 ft (1,585 meters)
Our Excursion: Out and back overnight at Little Yosemite Valley in early August of 2022 with clear skies day one and afternoon thunderstorms day two; ~16 miles on AllTrails app, leisurely ~11 hours hiking and rest time plus overnight; ~5,250 feet elevation gain on Garmin GPS; cables in good condition with uncrowded ascent at sunrise; fear of heights/falling overcome with minimal whimpering.

Have you ever hiked in the pitch black night with nothing to guide you but your headlamp and a somewhat reliable GPS?  We've done more than our fair share of night hiking, but Whitney wins for being the most impressive, oppressive, and exhilarating! 
We scored a single-day permit for Mt. Whitney for July 31st of 2022! Now, what this means is that we were blessed with a 24-hour period in which to hike the tallest peak in the contiguous U.S.A., 14,505 ft of forests, creeks, and granite over ~23.5 miles up and back down with ~6,400 ft of total hiked ascent (according to my Garmin; 20.9 miles, 6,600ft according to AllTrails).  This trip was made extra-special by some dramatic weather that opened up on us with ~5 miles to go in our hike, resulting in washed out trails, washed out selves, and rockfalls booming down the mountain as though Thor was having a temper-tantrum. 
We loved a lot, learned a lot, and lucked out a LOT on this trip! We hope you enjoy hearing about our experience!

Gear List - a lot of this is our tried-and-true standards:
Osprey Tempest 20 & 22L daypacks (his & hers) with hip belt
Platypus 2.5L bladder with hose and Camelbak bite-valve
Gregory 2L bladder/hose/valve
el-cheapo trekking poles off Amazon (we will be replacing after this trip, but they've lasted 10+ years)
T-shirt-turned bandana from our church (gotta represent!)

Amanda:
Danner Trail 2650 Gore-Tex boots (LOVE!)
L.L.Bean hiking zip-off pants and anorak 
Mountain Hardwear tank top and Ghost Whisperer packable down coat
Mammut med-weight jacket
Ex-Officio unders
VS wireless medium-impact sports bra
SmartWool Liner socks and Merrell wool-blend hiking socks (extras packed for wet feet)

Dan:
Asolo Agent Gore-Tex (his go-to boots)
Mountain Hardwear hiking zip-off pants 
Mountain Hardwear Gore-Tex raincoat 
Mountain Hardwear buton-down and med-weight jacket
SmartWool liner and hiking socks
Ex-Officio boxer-briefs

Food:
Stinger Waffles, Clif Bars, Clif Blox, Quest bars, some gross high-protein cookie Dan got excited about, Kind bars, dried fruit, candied nuts, Stinger Gels, candied ginger (for the win!), Justin's Nut Butter individual packs, bagels

 Part 2 of our chat with Lance - his time in Cali on his Jeep journey, musings on healing in nature and how it ties to faith, and what's happening next with his backyard biking ventures.  Don't forget to subscribe wherever you get you podcasts, and to check out Lance's Instagram @lance_rk

 We were super excited to sit down and chat with our friend Lance Kriesch, a fellow outdoor enthusiast who is passionate about encouraging people to experience the outdoors and adventure. He recently went on a Kerouac-inspired jalopy road trip with his brother in his Jeep Cherokee dubbed "Black Betty," and has some fantastic reels you can view on his Instagram @lance_rk while you listen to his stories here! 

We are hoping to get permits to hike Mount Whitney this year, revisiting a place where Dan had a fantastic experience back in 2008!  We will likely have a few episodes this season as we prep for this trip, and we wanted to start out with a revisit of Dan's '08 trek.  

We are working with a new setup in our recently renovated basement, and are finally on dual mikes, so please bear with us as we work to reconfigure our audio (a new mixer program and I'm learning the tech!), but the content will continue to flow as we get into 2022!

This is part 2 of our coverage of Glacier National Park!  Bears, Whistle Pigs, and more epic hikes!  We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed our trip to Big Sky Country!