Half Dome, The Long Walk. In the fall of 1999, Bryan Law and I fixed two new pitches on the northwest face of Half Dome but were unable to continue due to various delays and other obligations. I returned to the project alone in August. The fixed lines had been left on the wall through the winter; they were a bit crunchy but otherwise OK. After hauling to the high point and climbing a couple more partially new pitches, I hurt my left wrist while drilling a belay anchor. I continued, slowly, using my left hand as little as possible and wishing I had made more effort to find a partner or two for the route. After four more new pitches and one of Kali Yuga, I joined Tis-sa-ack. A new finish was originally intended, but reaching the upper features would require drilling through a 100-foot blank headwall. With the wrist getting worse every day, that idea seemed completely pointless, so I finished the wall on Tis-sa-ack. Not much fun, but the route does have a couple of good pitches. “Expand Your Mind” is a difficult pitch of incipient expanding features, and “The Flying Serpent” is a moderate pitch that ascends one of the more obvious and aesthetic corners on the central wall. A total of 40 holes were added in six full and two partially new pitches. I called the route The Long Walk.

Eric George