When I take the local library's old magazines and newspapers out to the recycle center, I always thumb through the stack to see if there's anything I want to take home and read before it bites the dust. Big Bore has a standing request: National Geographic. And did I ever find a doozy to take home to him this week. One look at the cover and he was reeling!
"Oh, my God! This reminds me of being on the High Line Trail at Glacier (National Park)," he said.
"High Line was nothing like this," I countered, referring to the above picture taken of some maniac on the Thank God Ledge of Half Dome, which is about a gazillion times hairier and scarier than High Line will ever be. This is insanity.
"But to me, when we started on High Line, this (the magazine cover pic) is what I saw," Big Bore said. "In my mind, it was this steep." He turned away from the cover. "I can't even look at it."
The story and other pictures inside were just as wild as the cover. These people climb without any kind of aid. No ropes, no harnesses. (And some would argue: no brains). Totally incredible.
Someday I'd like to visit Yosemite and hike a few trails, but there is absolutely NO WAY I'd find myself out on a ledge like this one. Not even when I was young and careless would I have wasted a single second thinking in the daredevil mode.
Anyone who climbs Half Dome and perches on Thank God Ledge is a rare bird, indeed.
1 comment:
Thought of you while we were in the Great Smokie Mountains -- lots of hiking trails.
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