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Reaching for the Top — at Half Dome

Back to Volume 9, Number 10


A chance conversation and a crazy idea in January 2019 unexpectedly led three TxDOT employees to an epic challenge and a higher call.

As Victor Goebel (director of transportation planning and development for TxDOT's Waco District) and Brenton Lane (transportation engineer supervisor) tossed around ideas for family vacations, District Engineer Stan Swiatek stopped in and heard them discussing the possibility of hiking Half Dome, a huge granite formation in Yosemite National Park, California.

Half Dome hiking cables

Hikers had to cooperate to let each one pass on the 400-foot final ascent with cables.

Swiatek mentioned that he'd climbed Half Dome in the past, and that led to the decision to go as a group to take on the challenge of the 18-mile trek, including an extremely strenuous final 400-foot climb up the side of the mountain, which can only be accomplished with the aid of cables attached to the rock.

Permits to climb the trail, which rises more than a mile in elevation from the starting point to the dome's top, are awarded in a pre-season lottery. Following Swiatek's advice for each of the three to enter the lottery several times with different dates requested, the group managed to get permits for a day in June when all three and each of their hiking partners could go.

As their climb time drew closer, someone suggested taking along a banner highlighting TxDOT's "#EndTheStreakTX" campaign, which seeks to break the streak of daily fatalities on state roadways that now extends more than 19 years. Achieving one deathless day would break the streak.

Hikers holding EndTheStreakTX banner at the top of Half Dome

Stan Swiatek and Brenton Lane display the #EndTheStreakTX banner at the top of Half Dome.

As Lane explains, "Until 1875, Half Dome's summit was declared 'perfectly inaccessible' by the California Geological Survey, and the goal of reducing to zero the number of deaths on our highways might also seem to be 'perfectly inaccessible.' But with dedication, training, preparedness, and pursuit, any goal is achievable."

So Lane took charge of getting a water-resistant banner made (the trail travels under a waterfall), and when the day finally came, four of the six hikers chose to go the final 400 feet. Lane carried the banner. They found there was not much room between the cables, and for one hiker to get down, others had to move aside and stand on boards placed at intervals to allow each to pass. But all shared the same goal, and they cooperated to make it possible for all of them to achieve it.

Hikers posing on Half Dome

Left to right: Climbers Brenton Lane, Jenna Lane, Steven Swiatek, Stan Swiatek, Victor Goebel, and Peyton Goebel conquer Half Dome.

Once at the top, they unfurled the banner and shot photos of it, along with their group and the magnificent views. It provided numerous opportunities to explain the #EndTheStreakTX campaign to other hikers. As Lane observes, "It's not every day that you hike 18 miles, experience world-famous views and ascend 400 feet of cables up a solid granite rock — why not dedicate that effort to a goal that's just as grand? Humanity is capable of outstanding accomplishments when we decide to put our minds, talents, and efforts toward something great."

Let's End the Streak, Texas. We can set our goals high, cooperate with other drivers, and do something great — so drive today like the life of someone you love depends on it.

Back to Volume 9, Number 10

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