Note: This post has two sections.  The first tells the story of my ridiculous chain of events and misadventure during my first visit to a national park, and the second shares useful information about hiking Half Dome, cycling Tioga Pass, and visiting Mono Lake.  I encourage you to read this entire post since the first section is entertaining, but if you’d rather skip the misadventure and only read the useful bits then scroll down until you see a bunch of photos. Labor Day weekend 2010 was when I made my first visit to a national park. An acquaintance/friend asked me if…