A view of the face of Half Dome from the valley floor. Enlarge the photo to see "The Diving Board" sticking out from the face.
What an awesome experience for Stephen and me - one we will never forget!

The obligatory photo op in front of the John Muir trailhead sign (where many people start and we ended).

Vernal Falls.

A view of Nevada Falls during our descent out of LYV.

The entire crew the morning of our last day, getting ready to leave Little Yosemite Valley. Out of all these folks, no major injuries!!!

Stephen and the real Uncle Buck in Little Yosemite Valley. In spite of the efforts of the scouts to ride Buck, he would always escape before the boys could mount him. Several deer wandered through our camp throughout the day. Although we heard clanks of pots and pans to scare off bear intruders during the night, we never had the privilege of hosting one of our furry friends in our camp.

A well deserved post descent beverage. Way to go Stephen!!!

Stephen high atop Half Dome with a great view of Clouds Rest in the background. Cool to think that we stood atop that peak only a day before!

Scoutmaster Price and his two sons brave "The Diving Board" - a narrow protrusion from the face of Half Dome that only crazy people approach! Below them is a nice, albeit smokey, view of Yosemite Valley.

Close to the edge. A view from atop Half Dome looking down onto Yosemite Valley.

The Top!!! Five feet from the sheer face of Half Dome, the ascenders raise their fists in a show of victory.

Stephen nearing the top. A nice view down at the saddleback.

Stephen starting up the cables. We had to wait awhile to start due to a lady getting stuck about half way up - unable to move out of sheer fright.

Stephen on top of the sub-dome. It's cable time!

The final climb to the top of the sub-dome; the cables come into full view as does the true nature of the final ascent!

Nearing Half Dome

Working our way toward the base of Half Dome

Stephen catching some z's after our long day hike to Clouds Rest.

Stephen on top of Clouds Rest looking south (opposite Half Dome and the valley)

The old guy atop Clouds Rest - Half Dome in the back and Yosemite Valley below. Some fires were burning in the area creating some smoke, but the view was still awesome!

Top of Clouds Rest looking down on Half Dome

Stephen and me 100 feet from the top of Clouds Rest (elev. 9930 ft).

Around the campfire our second night out. One of the leaders brought a thermometer - temps dropped down to the low 30's during the night.

The nightly ritual of card playing. This seemed to be the favorite part of the day for many of the boys!

Following our first night at Sunset Lakes, we set out the next morning for our new destination. As soon as we started to hike, the clouds dumped more rain on us.

The boys working their way down the trail

Stephen and me in front of Sunset Lakes. Within an hour of our arrival, it started to rain. Fortunately, we had pitched our tent prior to the rain and took shelter while the storm passed. Unfortuneately, as soon as the rain stopped, the mosquitos were out in force!

Stephen pumping water.

Our first river crossing. The first group of boys decided to cross this river without removing their boots... and their feet paid for that decision further down the trail! The rest of us took a little extra time to remove our boots and tredge across barefoot - well worth the wait!

Yosemite Trek 09

Troop 305 en route to drop off spot.

View from Olmstead Point off Hwy 120; Clouds Rest on left, Half Dome right of center. Within days of this photo, all stood atop both!