well, i made it. not quite to the top, but almost. we got up to the top of the saddle (the part just before the cables) and decided we didn't want to climb the last 200 yards. someday i'll have to go back and climb the cables, but it was a pretty amazing view (and a pretty difficult trek) to get to the saddle of half dome. liz, marla, and i hiked through the night so we got up there around 4am.... we got to see the sun rise over yosemite valley. pretty amazing... i took tons of pictures that i hope come out. liz's camera is way better than mine and she took tons of pictures too, so hopefully i'll see those as well. it was a tough hike for me... i had some trouble with the altitude while climbing up the mist trail (next to vernal fall), but was able to mitigate and move on. i had a few points along the way where i had to stop and catch my breath, but mostly i'm just out of shape! we even ran into a few black bears on the way... a mama and her two cubs. we made enough noise to be able to walk past them, but i was nervous about them for a while afterwards. logically i know that they really don't want anything to do with us, but it's still a bit unnerving to run into bears in the middle of the night with no one else around.

anyway, so yosemite and half dome were awesome. the park was really crowded because it was the long weekend, but we did everything early enough that we beat the crowds (half dome, bridalveil fall, glacier point). i'd do it again, i think, but i'd recommend starting at more like 3am and hiking for a few hours in the dark instead of doing the whole thing at night. although, i do have to admit that seeing nevada fall at night was pretty awe-inspiring...

in disturbing news, it turns out that pat tillman was likely killed by friendly fire. i know mistakes happen and all, but i can't help thinking what a terrible waste...

last night was robbie's steakfest at the sundance steakhouse in palo alto. it was pretty yummy but they didn't have prime rib! bummer. i had the salmon anyway, but the lack of prime rib kind of disappointed the rest of the crew. ahh well. it was still fun... the company made it worth it :) happy birthday robbie! (also happy birthday today to chad, who i know never reads this, but still.)