Hopkins 4K for Cancer

July 26, 2005

DAY OFF
One of the best things about the Hopkins 4K for Cancer is that it brings you to many different places, some of which you can only hope to see once in your entire life (unless you decide to come on the 4K twice, like I did). Each of the three legs of the trip takes on a distinctive character from the places that it brings us to. The first leg cut straight through the heart of the Appalachians and brought us through vibrant and very historic cities like Cleveland, Chicago and St. Louis. The second leg brought us through the corn and wheat fields of states like Kansas and Nebraska that constitute the breadbasket of America, and gave us a glimpse of the majesty of the Rockies. The third leg of the trip brought us right through some of the most breathtaking sights that Mother Nature has to offer humanity, many of which are highly recommended in the book “1,000 Places to See Before You Die” by Patricia Schultz. For the National Park fanatic, this last part of the trip was just heavenly, as we had pedaled our way through the National Parks of Bryce Canyon, Zion, and Capitol Reef. Even before hitting this Grand Slam of carefully-preserved natural beauty, Steve, had already consulted his uncle, an avid hiker himself, for reliable hiking tips, and those pointers had proven to be pretty reliable thus far.

Yosemite National Park was our next stop, and the raving reviews about it only served to generate a buzz of anticipation amongst the entire team. The official website described it as a national park that “embraces a spectacular tract of mountain-and-valley scenery in the Sierra Nevada…The park harbors a grand collection of waterfalls, meadows, and forests that include groves of giant sequoias, the world's largest living things.” Having already gotten a preview of the scenery of the Sierra Nevada on our 13-mile ascent along Tioga Pass the previous day, we were extremely excited to be able to have a day off today to take in the beauty of the Yosemite Valley. Upon consulting his uncle once again, our hiking chief Steve had found out weeks in advance that the most hike-worthy of all the trails was the hike up to the Half Dome. This was going to be the grandmother of all one-day hikes. The whole trip would take 17 miles, and in the process, we would gain over 4,800 feet of elevation. It was hard to imagine doing this in between 70+ miles days of biking, on a day when we were supposed to be relaxing those muscles which were probably by now charged full of lactic acid. However, after much cajoling and persuasion, we managed to form “Team Half Dome,” which consisted of Steve, Travis, Aaron, Trang, Jess D and me. It almost felt like a mission to outer space, the task seemingly treacherous and almost foolhardy to undertake. For starters, we found out that the last 2 miles of the trip to the top of the Half Dome would be closed the entire day for trail maintenance and would only open at 4 pm. Assuming that 9 pm was when total darkness envelopes the valley, this would mean that we would only have 5 hours to get to the top, savor the moment and return to our starting point. What would happen if we don’t make it? Or what if we should get lost? Would we have to camp out for the whole night in the Valley, huddling close together for warmth? And what if our food should run out? Needless to say, I had never felt so uncertain or insecure on the entire trip, and I was sure that these nagging fears were on the back of the rest of the members on Team Half Dome. However, we also realized that never in our lives would we be in such good physical shape nor be with enough like-minded people to undertake such a challenge. And after all, we were already crazy enough to think about cycling 4,000 miles across the continental United States!

As we could not completely desert our base camp at Tuolumne Meadows, Justin volunteered himself so that everyone else in the team could take in the spectacular sights of the Yosemite Valley. He also volunteered to pick up Team Half Dome from the parking lot at Happy Isles, which was the trailhead for the hike up to the Half Dome. After a quick carbohydrate-laden breakfast of cold oatmeal and cereal, I set about emptying my backpack and filling it up with food and water reserves for Team Half Dome. Then, everyone piled into our two support vehicles and we set off for the valley. One and a half hours later, at 10.30 am, we finally arrived at Yosemite Village, where the 6 of us caught the shuttle bus to the Nature Center at Happy Isle. By the time we started hiking up the John Muir Trail, it was 11. It was just as well that we hadn’t showered for 3 days prior to this, because after the first 30 minutes of hiking, my shirt was already thoroughly soaked in my own perspiration, my muscles vehemently protesting against the load of peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, power bars and 7 liters of water I was carrying. Between the 4 guys, we decided to take 45-minute shifts in backpacking the group reserves. However, with every step taken, we were rewarded with amazing mountain-and-valley scenery. The sheer curtains of water formed by the cascading Vernal and Nevada Falls constituted a breathtaking sight, while generating fine mists which provided gentle relief from the scorching overhead sun and drumming up thunderous roars that resonated with the pounding of our hearts. It was times like these when you gasp in amazement, speechless in appreciation of the beauty and majesty of Mother Nature’s creations.

We marched on at a decent pace, stopping at around 2 pm on a fallen log to have our lunch, which was made up of more Power Bars and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We then resumed our journey, which was now taking us through tracts of coniferous forests, interspersed with sandy patches. We finally arrived at the waiting point at around 3.30 pm, where we found out to our pleasant surprise that only 0.5 miles of the trail was closed for trail maintenance. A park ranger had been stationed there to keep hikers away, and he revealed that in the last half mile, we were going to gain 1,100 feet in elevation. Our jaws dropped in excited anticipation, our minds struggling to come to terms with how that could be possible. When the green light was given at 4 pm sharp, we experienced that for ourselves first hand, as the steep ascents challenged every tendon and sinew in our already aching legs. Many hikers had to take short breaks to catch their breaths. Shortly after, we were confronted with an almost vertical slope in front of us. This was the final ascent—a climb that would be assisted by metal chains and wooden steps wedged into the slope at regular intervals. At the base of the slope laid a heap of old gloves left behind by our hiking predecessors for our use—a very kind gesture I must say. Armed with those gloves, we then proceeded to use the chains to pull ourselves up the slope, keeping in mind what a fellow hiker from California had just told us earlier, that she once dropped a water bottle on this slope, whereupon she heard it clink only once and it was then gone forever.

“This trail was totally not built for vertically-challenged people!” I heard Jess D exclaim, as she held on to the chains for dear life, just like the rest of us. It was hard to see the summit as the afternoon sun shone directly into our eyes on our ascent, but step by step, we were making slow but steady progress. Before I knew it, the sun was no longer beaming directly into my eyes, and I glanced ahead of me at a beaming Steve, who had already brandished his camera and was clearly savoring the moment. “Dude, we did it!” The ecstasy was laced with disbelief that we had conquered the Half Dome, as well as awe at the majesty of the Yosemite panorama which had just been unfolded before our very eyes. We had thought that the view from atop Angel’s Landing at Zion National Park was awesome, but this was a completely different experience, almost like standing on the moon. It was quite surreal. At this point, we spotted a group of climbers hauling themselves up the last overhang, after 3 days of physical exertion. We couldn’t believe that they had just climbed up the Half Dome, as we imagined them sleeping in a fashion akin to that seen in the MasterCard commercial, but at this moment, we shared a common sense of accomplishment. If only we had a “Hopkins 4K for Cancer” flag to plant at this summit.

After several rounds of photo taking, we began to make our way back to the Happy Isles Valley, which turned out to be a harder task than we had imagined. Coming down the steep slope was nerve-wrecking to say the least, as we heard someone further down comment that “the fastest one down (the Half Dome) is the dead one.” Determined not to suffer the ignominious fate of breaking an ankle and having to spend the night at the ranger station, we trotted gingerly and cautiously. Our task had also become more challenging as our CamelBaks had run long run dry, leaving us with only one bottle of water to share amongst the 6 of us. Fortunately, by this time, the surroundings were starting to cool, which made the hike more pleasant and not as strenuous. Furthermore, it was a net downhill from this point onwards, and apart from the part when Jess and I “accidentally” left the defined trail, the hike down from the Half Dome was pretty uneventful, punctuated only occasionally by the gurgling of nearby streams and the chirping of tired birds returning to their welcoming nests. The water fountain at the base of the Vernal Falls seemed almost like a godsend when all 6 severely dehydrated souls finally got there at around 8, and I happily downed 4 bottles at one go. Water had never tasted so sweet before, neither had the satisfaction of completing a hike.

Still, there was one last thing. Would Justin be able to find us in the darkness that had by now almost completely enshrouded the valley? We didn’t have to wait very long for the answer, as within 10 minutes of us reaching the parking lot, we saw the familiar lights of the white van pierce through the darkness. Before getting onto the van however, we made a toast with our bottles of water in celebration of the successful completion of the hike, unanimously agreeing that we will ride together the following together as “Team Half Dome Survivors” or “Team Half Dome Stragglers”. Upon piling into the van, we were all raring to regale Justin with stories from our hike, but within minutes, the gently rocking motion of the vehicle, coupled with the soothing draft from the air-conditioner and the melodious tunes from the radio, had lulled us into dreamland. At the back of our minds, we were relieved that we didn’t have to hike the 200+ miles back to Tuolumne Meadows. We reached base camp to find complete inactivity, the surroundings only buzzing with the songs of nocturnal creatures. After packing all the group gear and duffel bags into the support vans as quietly as possible, we looked up and saw, beyond the towering treetops, easily one of the most beautiful night skies ever, the stars twinkling like glittering embellishments of our feat. It was dazzling and beautiful, romantic and poetic. We then retired into our respective tents, none of us seemingly bothered by the fact that it had been 4 days since our dust-coated and sweat-saturated skins last received the cleansing caress of hot running water, or that we haven’t had any dinner yet. For now, sleep was beckoning to every cell in our body. Little did we anticipate that waking up to the extreme soreness the following morning was going to be so difficult!

(The following day, Justin told us that the moment the 6 of us piled into the van, the air smelled extremely rancid, almost as if the contents of an entire garbage truck had just been poured into it!)

-Weijie Zhang