Know Your Limits

It's good to know your limits. I learned a lot about limits on our hike.

Don at his limit.

I mentioned in my "Stay with your friends" post that one of our group was in real pain. Don pushed far beyond what I think most people would. He also had the grace to know that he needed to stop and that he was slowing us down. He knew his limits. After he had rested a couple of hours he felt like pushing on to the summit. But he again realized that would hurt the group and gave up on it.

Climbing the switchbacks.

On the way up the switchbacks I passed a couple coming down. The man told me he had made it up the switchbacks. He talked about the rock scramble at the top and said it looked pretty scary. However, he had made even though he was afraid of heights. I'm not sure why he shared with me -- was he telling everyone? He seemed very happy to have accomplished this. His last comment was that he turned back at the cables. He knew his limits and had a very happy hike despite not making the summit.

The shoulder of Half Dome at the top of the switchbacks. Robin reached his limit here.

Robin was the last of our group up the switchbacks. Dan, Rex and I were waiting for the cables. (A man was coming down awkwardly with a group behind and it seemed good to let them get off first.) Robin collapsed on the ground and asked for water. I gave him some. Dan asked if he was ready to climb the cables. He said no. He had reached his limit and had the wisdom to not push too far.

Going down the cables after a boy was helped off them.

A little after we started down the cables we got stuck for 10 minutes or so. A small boy (we heard 5 years old) got scared and was helped down by the search and rescue team (I saw them at the summit -- they had just climbed the face. Are they always there? Was it just good fortune?). The boy, or perhaps his father, exceeded his limits. It was all OK, but he probably would have been happier if he had stayed on the shoulder, still an impressive achievement of such a small one. While on the summit we saw a girl not much older -- she was about 8. Limits are very individual. It's probably a good idea if we parents know and respect our children's limits.

My last story was kind of a downer. I don't mean to rip on the boy or his father -- it's very hard to know when you will get scared and when you will be exhausted. My main point is to celebrate people who know their limits and respect them, who do not go beyond just because of ego or peer pressure. The long, hard and scary Half Dome hike helped me see that more clearly.