Whitney 7/2/09 - 7/3/09 recap!

So, where to start?

I got up to Horseshoe Meadows on 6/30 late in the afternoon and spent the evening up there to help acclimatize myself with the altitude. The altitude at camp was 10,000 feet. I met some nice people up there. It's amazing how friendly serious hikers are. You really get to see the human side of people and it's relieving that we're not all robotic all the time. I met an older gentleman named Guy who was really nice and is obviously well traveled and has certainly conquered a great deal ranging his ability to stay healthy and active in his 70s to climbing El Cap and Half Dome. I met another gentleman who was a high school teacher out of Carlsbad but I didn't talk to him much so his name didn't stick.

Day 1 - 7/1/2009:

The previous night was aggravating. I couldn't sleep well as there was a group of guys farther down the campground that felt it was appropriate to party and disturb everyone else until 1 am. In my tent and sleeping bag I was either too hot or too cold. I couldn't find a nice comfortable temp. so I was up several times stripping off and putting on layers. I got 3 hours sleep...all broken.

I awoke around 5:30 and lay around for an hour. I hit the trail after making some oatmeal, hot cider and packed up camp. The morning was beautiful. The air crisp and clean. At 10,000 feet in the middle of nowhere...at least 30 miles from the nearest artery road.

I hiked 11 hours this day. I hiked over Cottonwood Pass electing not to go over New Army Pass instead figuring it was a good idea to simply stick to the plan I had rehearsed. If I go again, I will take the New Army Pass route. I've heard that route is beautiful too. I really can't overstate how beautiful the alpine back country is! I didn't see anyone until late afternoon. My only visitor for the day was a marmot I walked up on going over Cottonwood Pass and looking out over Big Whitney Meadows as he was basking up on a rock in the morning sun. As I walked by he moved around to keep a curious and cautious eye on me.

I stopped at a creek and made lunch. I don't remember the time. A pack of burros and their human leaders came up the trail as I was enjoying soup and a Clif bar. I asked their leader if they were on some sort of guided expedition or something (you know...the type people spend too much money on so they don't have to lug around their own gear or make their own food!) and he said not quite. They do a 37 day back country camp for kids/expedition and were bringing up supplies. I said about the 37 days..."Cool, you can't beat that in country like this!" to which he grinned and said "Absolutely."

I later passed them on the trail as they were resting and having lunch.

I continued on enjoying the different views and mountain zones I went through. Some were baron while others were rich in gorgeous red log pine trees.

I made camp at Crabtree Meadows, about 20 miles in. The mosquitoes here were horrible. I had dealt with the pesky annoyances all day but here, they were relentless. When I entered the meadow there was a lone doe grazing. She turned her head to see what was approaching and kept an eye on me but was content with just letting me walk within maybe 200 feet as I walked by to my destination. She flicked her tail a little bit to serve as a warning to the others (which were nowhere to be seen).

This was a long day and I was STARVED! I reached camp around 7:30 pm I believe. I really wanted to make dinner and refuel myself. That wasn't happening. The mosquitoes were horrible and any open flame would have just drawn them in more. So I threw my stuff inside the tent, got in and zipped the door closed. I'm talking entry that would have competed with the speed of Superman. =) I looked around in the tent only to discover about 30 of the bastards came in with me. So I had to exterminate them before they figured out I was more entertaining than the tent mesh screen. No dinner, and by the time I had everything set up to go to sleep I didn't care. I just wanted to sleep.

Day 2 - 7/3/2009:

Another difficult time sleeping the night before. The temps and my body temperature seemed to get a little bit more in sync but sleeping was an issue again and was lucky to get 3 hours of broken sleep again.

I woke up at 5:30 and broke camp early. I elected not to eat at camp and eat later further up the trail. I had to cross Whitney Creek again. The footing to cross this creek was scattered and slippery. I lost my footing and slide in soaking my feet. Waterproof boots only work as long as you don't get water in the boots from the top! So I walked a little bit and made oatmeal and changed to a dry pair of socks. The mosquitoes wouldn't relent so it was a battle being smelly, dirty, and sweaty with those mosquitoes. Literally I would look behind me as I walked and would see the trail of them following me. Every one that landed and got noticed met life's eviction notice.

So, dry socks on and the wet ones tied to my pack to dry out I headed out. I crossed Whitney Creek again as I got to the Crabtree Ranger Station and had to cross it back further up. Crossing this time, like the first was met with the same result...wet feet. Not good at all. I was out of dry socks and the boots were soaked on the inside so even if I had a dry pair it wouldn't have mattered. I pushed on knowing I was in less than an ideal situation but had no way to dry my socks.

I passed through areas now above 11,000 feet and went above the treeline. Timberline and Guitar Lakes were both beautiful and crystal clear. The rock faces surrounding me were stunning and awe inspiring when you considered how long it took for them to look like this. At Guitar Lake the marmots were out in droves. They are cute little things. They have to be related to the groundhog. I do remember reading that they will wreak havoc on your food supply if you are complacent and lazy when you camp. I met a couple that was coming back down from summiting Whitney and had camped at Guitar Lake the day prior. They said it took them about 4 hours from the lake to Summit. I looked at my watch and figured that would mean I would be there around 2 pm.

At last I arrived at the western switchbacks to Trail Crest. Trail Crest is where the Whitney Portal route and the western approach both meet. It was laborous for sure ascending this part. I knew though that those doing the eastern approach had 97 of them to do compared to mine. However, mine were still grueling and having put in 20 miles the day before and still not being able to eat much other than Clif bars made the task more difficult. I lived by my #1 rule and just kept drinking. If nothing else, keep drinking. The symptoms of dehydration and Acute Mountain Sickness are the same. If the elevation was to have any bad affect on me I wanted to be sure it wasn't left to question.

I reached Trail Crest, dropped my pack and headed up the next 2 miles to the top of the highest mountain in the lower 48. The first mile or so was alright. There were some sketchy parts to get through that involved stepping down into compacted snow that didn't always offer the best footing. It involved good decision making and foot placement. I got through all 3 of the tricky spots and moved on. The last mile was the worst. There were many rocks that had to be gone over which is more difficult than just walking. The altitude kept getting higher as it crossed 13,000 feet and into 14,000 feet. The further I went, the more tired and out of breath I got. The distance between breaks I took decreased and 3 times I thought seriously about turning back. I dug deep though after evaluating myself mentally and physically. Physically I knew I could do it. Mentally I just had to continue digging really deep. It began to be laborous just to talk. The altitude starting playing games with your speech. You knew what you wanted to say but the words just wouldn't come out sometimes. The wind was blowing and it was cold on bare skin. The sun was also living it up on any exposed skin at that elevation. I reached the last measurable slope. After this, I would be on top of the mountain and just have to get up the much gentler 100 feet of elevation gain or so. This slope was snow covered and there was nothing exposed to grab onto. If you slipped, you slide down the mountain. Thankfully enough people had been through the area by now that footsteps were already made. All you had to do was follow in them and not break through the snow like some had and go thigh deep in it.

I made it! I was concerned about the effects of the elevation and this section but mentally and physically I was capable.

A little while longer and many breaks later I summitted Mt. Whitney around 3:30 pm! 14,497.61 feet tall! The views were spectacular. I signed the logbook and took in the scenery and my accomplishment. This was a defining moment in my life. It proved to me that I could persevere, overcome fears, and accomplish what I wanted to. Summiting Mount Whitney is something at least 90% of the world's population won't ever do. I'm fine joining that small percentage and being able to declare that as one of life's defining moments because most can't or won't.

I stayed up on the mountain for about 30 minutes. After taking in the views and regaining my strength and lungs I headed back down. Boy was this easier than going up! I was full of energy, peppy, cheerful and making very good progress back to my pack. I made it back to my pack by about 5 pm.

I put my pack back on and headed down the eastern approach. Going down the 97 switchbacks was exhausting. I can't imagine having to go UP them! There were some tricky spots that again required careful foot placement so not to slip down the chute. The cable area was managable too. As I heard later that day someone slipped down the chute a couple days prior. A couple hikers considered lowering themselves on ropes to get to him and the ropes didn't reach. I think a few went down and escorted the hiker out from below.

I made it through ok since the snow was compacted enough already.

I met with and talked with about half a dozen others as I kept descending the lower portion of the Whitney area. I was finally done and off the trail around 11:30 pm I think. All I could do the last couple hours was think about calling a taxi to get me back to my car, heading to the Best Western in town for a hot shower on the tired and very sore muscles and getting decent sleep. I also thought about if I got down in time I was going to call Mike, my roommate and ask him to pick me up 1/2 gallon of ice cream and a frozen pizza so I could shove down when I got home after the 3 hour drive. Neither materialized as I learned from information Lone Pine has no taxi service businesses. The gentleman did tell me there was a shuttle service available out of Bishop (50 miles north) and gave me that number upon my request. I called and the shuttle service doesn't run anymore according to their answering machine. Crap, how the hell do I get back to my car?

So I called Mike and asked him to pick me up. I guess there was a huge gap in my SPOTcasting between 3:30 and then. Couple that with the very poor cell reception and Mike thought I was in trouble and needing help. He was in the car and backing out of the driveway before it finally became clear I just needed a ride to get my car. Nobody in the area was willing to drive me to Horseshoe Meadows. At this late hour I couldn't even get a ride to the Best Western in town. So I sat on the concrete slab of the bathroom building. It's not a piped bathroom but cinder block with metal doors and a toilet with a huge hole in the floor. I settled in my mind I was just going to have to crash on the slab for the night. After 26 hours of hiking in 2 days, 40 miles, and not being able to eat much I was beat. Actually, that's quite an understatement. The only reason I was partially coherent was because I was still living up my success.

As I took up a spot on the slab I moved everything off my pack and person that would attract attention. My GPS hand-held went onto my pants belt, SPOT device clipped into a pocket, camera safely tucked under my pack. Hikers in general are not thieves but I still wanted to be sure. I then remembered there was some sort of campground around the area and found it located a little ways behind the bathroom building. Great! I found a spot and set up camp. I slept for 4 hours straight and woke up around 6. I started to pack up my stuff so I could be ready for Mike to arrive around 9. Son of a b****! In my physical and mental state of the previous night I left my camera right on the slab. Realizing it wouldn't be there I hobbled up to the bathrooms to see anyway. Nope. It was nowhere in site but I know someone had it in their car that was parked there. It's not a thru traffic area and the only people that would be there would be Mt. Whitney people. I found some paper in my pack and taped signs up on both bathroom doors with bandaids from my first aid kit. When the portal store/restaurant opened I left them my name and number as well. All my memories GONE! The only thing aside from a t-shirt and sticker I purchased was gone. So this is the price I pay for doing 40 miles in 2 days with little food.

So I've called the store to inquire and found out they turn in all of their lost and found stuff to the forest service in town and it all gets logged in at the forestry office. I called the office and left my information since it hasn't showed up there yet. She did tell me it might be a couple days since many people are up there for the long weekend. Also, it's possible that the person that picked it up might have descended on the 3rd and their biggest priority upon being beaten, hungry, sore, etc. was to get home and deal with a missing item 2nd. Completely understandable especially if the store wasn't open when they found it, which is the most likely situation since it was so late/early on the 2nd/3rd.

My hope resides on someone being able to get in to touch with me (which I'm offering a reward) or the store or forestry office to get my Mt. Whitney memories back. If I get it back I'll have some awesome pics to share!

As a side note, the result of my trip, physically took it's toll on my body. When I got back home, after having eaten a big breakfast I stepped on the scale. I weighed 7 lbs. lighter than when I left. The scale displayed 177. This morning I was already up 5 lbs. Not being able to eat took it's toll in many ways.

In the end though I am so happy I challenged myself. I'm even happier I succeeded.

I've embedded the video below. The first song has images of areas I went through myself and things I experienced. The second song has only places and areas I saw because the gal and her two friends went the Mountaineers Route. A truly awesome video and the songs are to my liking but also work well in the video. There are some links above in the text that provide images by someone else that are clickable to view.

Mt. Whitney's East Buttress from Laura Molnar on Vimeo.