Please point your brower to ->

http://mrhalfdome.wordpress.com/

Effective NOW we will move the party down the street.

See you there. - Don't forget the dip.

This Yahoo blog location is officially dead and buried.

 

- Your pal

Rick D

Mr Half Dome

 

Half Dome – Yosemite Musing

As I get prepped for the Aug 13 trek up Half Dome to watch the Perseids Meteor shower in total darkness, I thought about Haley’s Comet, Hale Bop (the one where people dressed in purple and killed themselves to climb aboard the comet), and other such cosmic weird stuff.  Here’s one that will mess your medulla oblongata:  The Mayan, Olmec and Great Pyramids predict the solar system will cross the equator line of the Milky Way Galaxy on December 21,  2012. At the same moment the Procession of the Equinox will end and a winter solstice will occur . On that date the world population will be 7 billion and that will be the day the earth is destroyed. Gosh, I hate when that happens. There are citizens of our planet who actually believe that. Great time to take out a long term loan! Spend it now!

NOTE: This blog will be moving to Wordpress on June 1. This assumes I can make the transition off of Yahoo 360 by then. They are getting out of the blog business. I will put the new link on my main website, so don’t despair.  Check back to find this wonderful source of  Half Dome and related information.

Unrelated thought worth quoting: “Ooh dream weaver. I believe we can reach the morning light. Fly me high through the starry skies. Maybe to an astral plane. Cross the highways of fantasy. Help me to forget today's pain.” – Gary Wright

*Mr. Half Dome -Rick Deutsch - www.HikeHalfDome.com

Half Dome – Yosemite Musing

Dick Ewart is a ranger at Yosemite. I did a snowshoe tour with him at Badger Pass and he’s a volume of information. He talks about the flora and  fauna of the park. Above, he was telling us about the moles that live under the earth during winter and the whole life cycle they go thru. As you can see he’s a clown! He has a stuffed critter. (Road kill I’m sure.) Dick is the 2009 recipient of the Barry Hance Memorial Award. The award is named in honor of Hance, a long-term facilities management employee who died in an avalanche while plowing the Tioga Road in 1995. Candidates are judged on their positive attitude, a concern for fellow employees, getting the job done, and a love for Yosemite National Park. Ranger Ewart has been a Park Ranger for 33 years. A tip of the hat to Dick. 

NOTE: This blog will be moving to Wordpress on July 1. This assumes I can make the transition off of Yahoo 360 by then. They are getting out of the blog business. I will put the new link on my main website, so don’t despair.  Check back to find this wonderful source of  Half Dome and related information. Remember, knowledge is good.

Unrelated thought worth quoting: “Take a course in good water and air; and in the eternal youth of Nature you may renew your own. Go quietly, alone; no harm will befall you.” – John Muir

*Mr. Half Dome -Rick Deutsch - www.HikeHalfDome.com

Half Dome – Yosemite Musing

Early in June a woman fell off the cables and tumbled down the slope near the saddle. She survived but only through a  heroic rescue in foul weather. She was transported to the hospital with several broken bones. Valley workers told me that they could not believe the helicopter was able to get to Sub Dome; they could not even see Half Dome from their vantage point.  A week later, a man fell in similar circumstances with fatal consequences. Again bad weather.  I was there that day and headed down the cables at noon as a cloud ominously move in and then away from the top. An hour later it hailed on me while walking down the trail well into the forest. I thought “those people up there are in for big time trouble.” Yet as I continued my downward trek, I saw many  people continuing to go up the trail towards Half Dome. The sign above was put up after the man fell on the 12th. It was not there on the 12th, yet when I hiked it on the 18th it was present. It’s located at the base of Sub Dome.  It is tragic when anyone falls. The sign is not hard to read and takes you about 12 seconds. Yet how many just blow by it? It is not a sign to be ignored. It’s real and it’s true. People HAVE died when caught on the rock in bad weather. Hail? Rain? Yes, that is called bad weather. Is it a fever that makes people continue to go up? You’ve just hiked nearly 7 miles and you are going up the cables no matter what? Let’s all read it again and next time tell those who shoot past it to make a wise choice before continuing if the rock is wet or the weather is threatening. Carpe Diem – but be around to seize it.

Unrelated thought worth quoting: “My heart knows what the wild goose knows, I must go where the wild goose goes. Wild goose, brother goose, which is best? A wanderin' fool or a heart at rest?” – Frankie Laine

*Mr. Half Dome -Rick Deutsch - www.HikeHalfDome.com

Half Dome – Yosemite Musing

While the focus of this blog is Yosemite’s Half Dome, many of us do our training hikes at State Parks. Henry Coe and Mt. Diablo are two of my favorites.  If you recall last year, the Gov flexed hi smuscles by trying to shut down most of them. That was averted, but he’s back at it. Now all of them may be shuttered because our representatives in Sacto can’t balance a budget.  The California State Parks Foundation is playing a lead role in tying to turn this around. There is an idea being floated called the State Park Access Pass. This would be a $10 fee levied on all License renewals while offering Californians free day-use access to their state parks. It would generate nearly $300M to keep the parks open. News Flash -> Today the CA State Senate voted on the State Park Access Pass.  It failed, because it did not receive the 2/3 vote required.   The vote was 22 in favor (all Democrats) 14 opposed (all Republicans + 1 Democrat) and 4 abstentions. If you'd like to support the cause – and the fight to keep the parks open – go to <HERE> and jump into the fray. Moral, financial and leg support will all help. I’ve also heard that local jurisdictions might assume management. Santa Clara County is offering to run Coe.

Unrelated thought worth quoting: “Summertime, and the living is easy. Fish are jumping, and the cotton is high. Your daddy's rich, and your ma is good looking, so hush little baby, don't you cry.” – Sam Cooke

*Mr. Half Dome -Rick Deutsch - www.HikeHalfDome.com