Alpenglow on Half Dome at sunset

After a half hour or so in the meadow, checking out the status of The Nose, we headed to the housekeeping camp, where Aaron's parents had reserved a site. We checked in and unloaded some of our belongings, then headed to Curry Village for dinner. We arrived just as the sun was about to set, casting this lovely glow over Half Dome. After a pleasant but crowded dinner, graciously paid for by Aaron's mom and dad, we stopped at the grocery store to pick up some food, then headed back to camp. We went to bed almost immediately, knowing that we would be getting up awfully early the next morning to begin fixing lines up the first four or five pitches of our climb. Unfortunately, as it was Sunday night of Labor Day weekend, the whole campground was packed with partying tourists, which made sleeping very difficult. And of course, the anxiety of what we would be up against the following day, the “pre-climb jitters” as Aaron calls it, didn't help us fall asleep either.