Front row: Me, Erin, HoracioBack row: Kelly, Greg, Garv, Anne
Not pictured: Amy
Mt Whitney.
We did it. At least two of us anyways. Erin and I "bagged" Mecca West at 10:23 a.m. on Thursday, August 10, 2006. The 22-mile hike took us 17 hours and 5 minutes to complete.
We did it. At least two of us anyways. Erin and I "bagged" Mecca West at 10:23 a.m. on Thursday, August 10, 2006. The 22-mile hike took us 17 hours and 5 minutes to complete.
Thanks to my digital recorder, I was able to recount the day's events. Here is the trip report:
12:03 a.m.: All eight of us embark to the summit via the old stock trail. The skies are clear and the moon is at 97% illumination. Confidence is high. Garv is point. I am sweep.
12:25 a.m.: We reach the John Muir Wilderness sign. I have everyone turn off their headlamps to see the world around them as John Muir himself would have seen it.
12:43 a.m.: Greg drops from the hike. A very wise decision on his part. He was starting to slow down due to the exertion and altitude. I ask him if he were okay to find his way back. He nods in agreement. There are now seven of us.
1:32 a.m.: We reach the log crossing. Everyone makes it across safely without incident. There is a group of four hikers blocking the other side. They are "asked" to move aside to make way. That is no place to muster when you have seven eager hikers wanting to pass through.
1:40 a.m.: We enter the Whitney Zone. I point out "Bed Rock" that Lawrence Murphy slept and snored on back on August 6, 2004.
2:24 a.m.: We reach Outpost Camp.
4:35 a.m.: The winds are blowing as we near Trailside Meadows. My eyes water. I start to yawn. I feel disoriented. I want to lie down and sleep. We stop to top off our water supplies in our Camelbak bladders. The water is numbing cold.
5:15 a.m.: We reach Trail Camp. The exposed camp is windy and cold. Gusts are 25 mph. Windchill hovering near 30°. We are all not feeling well. We huddle against a rock as a windbreaker. Kelly is not feeling well. Horacio and Kelly decide to turn back. I can see in Horacio's eyes that he did not want to abort. He had no other choice. He did extremely well up to this point. I can sense the disappointment and frustration in his eyes. The team huddles close together to stay warm. I take out my space blanket and put it over Garv, Amy, Anne and Erin. I give Anne my Marmot Dri-Clime jacket to keep warm. I place their packs at their feet to shield from the cold wind. We anxiously wait for the sunrise to provide some sort of comfort. All of us are ill-prepared for the unusual weather conditions. I have a long-sleeved t-shirt, a short-sleeved t-shirt, a shirt, jacket, and balaclava. The key articles of clothing I am missing are my upper and lower shells and fleece jacket of which I took all out of my pack the night before to save weight. Bad decision on my part. I feel nauseous. I move away from the huddle to avoid vomiting on them. I decide to keep moving around. I start to feel better. I am constantly thinking of a way to keep moving to the summit. I am trying to find a way to motivate the group to keep pushing. I do not have any ideas or suggestions. I scamper along the rocks trying to find a solution. My thoughts turn negative. Now what do we do?
6:04 a.m.: The sun rises above the White Mountains. The alpenglow is something to behold. Erin gets up to take the early morning photos. I take a few of my own. I am reminded of George Harrison's song, "Here Comes the Sun."
12:03 a.m.: All eight of us embark to the summit via the old stock trail. The skies are clear and the moon is at 97% illumination. Confidence is high. Garv is point. I am sweep.
12:25 a.m.: We reach the John Muir Wilderness sign. I have everyone turn off their headlamps to see the world around them as John Muir himself would have seen it.
12:43 a.m.: Greg drops from the hike. A very wise decision on his part. He was starting to slow down due to the exertion and altitude. I ask him if he were okay to find his way back. He nods in agreement. There are now seven of us.
1:32 a.m.: We reach the log crossing. Everyone makes it across safely without incident. There is a group of four hikers blocking the other side. They are "asked" to move aside to make way. That is no place to muster when you have seven eager hikers wanting to pass through.
1:40 a.m.: We enter the Whitney Zone. I point out "Bed Rock" that Lawrence Murphy slept and snored on back on August 6, 2004.
2:24 a.m.: We reach Outpost Camp.
4:35 a.m.: The winds are blowing as we near Trailside Meadows. My eyes water. I start to yawn. I feel disoriented. I want to lie down and sleep. We stop to top off our water supplies in our Camelbak bladders. The water is numbing cold.
5:15 a.m.: We reach Trail Camp. The exposed camp is windy and cold. Gusts are 25 mph. Windchill hovering near 30°. We are all not feeling well. We huddle against a rock as a windbreaker. Kelly is not feeling well. Horacio and Kelly decide to turn back. I can see in Horacio's eyes that he did not want to abort. He had no other choice. He did extremely well up to this point. I can sense the disappointment and frustration in his eyes. The team huddles close together to stay warm. I take out my space blanket and put it over Garv, Amy, Anne and Erin. I give Anne my Marmot Dri-Clime jacket to keep warm. I place their packs at their feet to shield from the cold wind. We anxiously wait for the sunrise to provide some sort of comfort. All of us are ill-prepared for the unusual weather conditions. I have a long-sleeved t-shirt, a short-sleeved t-shirt, a shirt, jacket, and balaclava. The key articles of clothing I am missing are my upper and lower shells and fleece jacket of which I took all out of my pack the night before to save weight. Bad decision on my part. I feel nauseous. I move away from the huddle to avoid vomiting on them. I decide to keep moving around. I start to feel better. I am constantly thinking of a way to keep moving to the summit. I am trying to find a way to motivate the group to keep pushing. I do not have any ideas or suggestions. I scamper along the rocks trying to find a solution. My thoughts turn negative. Now what do we do?
6:04 a.m.: The sun rises above the White Mountains. The alpenglow is something to behold. Erin gets up to take the early morning photos. I take a few of my own. I am reminded of George Harrison's song, "Here Comes the Sun."
6:10 a.m.: I make a decision to have all of us abort the hike and return to Whitney Portal. Erin had this look on her face. I then asked the group what they wanted to do. Erin wanted to keep pushing. Amy, Anne and Garv decide to turn around.6:15 a.m.: Erin and I start to make our ascent from Trail Camp. We leave the other three behind. As much as I did not want to, it was a group consensus. I wanted everyone to summit. Today, Mother Nature prevailed. I am point. There is ice on the switchbacks due to the springs. I alert Erin to avoid stepping on the ice.
7:07 am.: Erin and I reach the cables. Halfway up the 97 switchbacks. The sun feels good as we make our way up. It is still windy and cold. I tell Erin that during June and July, one must venture outside the cables in order to make it to Trail Crest.
7:18 a.m. Meet Joe on our way up. He came within 200 feet from the summit and had to turn around due to headaches. He told us about the other members of his group and that they had turned around at Trail Camp. He tells us that Mike may be on his way back down. We do not know if he reached the summit.
7:48 a.m.: We meet Mike who was with me during my first Whitney summit in August 2004. He offers us his fleece wear jackets. These articles of clothing provided comfort especially for Erin. He provides us the summit conditions. He saw the sunrise on the summit. We may not see the sunrise, but the summit is our target and it is still a long way to go.
8:26 a.m.: Erin and I reach Trail Crest. She is in awe of the view of Hitchcock Mountains and Hitchcock Lakes and Sequoia National Park at 13,600 feet. It is very windy and still cold. We make a low profile to avoid being blown over by the gusty winds as we cross the crest to make our way to the John Muir Trail.
8:37 a.m.: We reach the Mount Whitney and John Muir Trail junction. We frequently stop along the way. Both of us are not feeling well, but we push each other to keep going. The winds at the "windows" are very strong. We keep a low profile to avoid being swept down as we make our way across. We hike for 15 minutes and rest for 5 minutes. Pace, pace, pace.
9:59 a.m.: We reach the "wedge" using our trekking poles without incident and continue our ascent. Every 100 steps we stop and rest for a moment and continue another 100 steps and stop. This tactic proved worthy. One hundred steps became twenty. Every other twenty...stop...rest...breathe...push...
10:17 a.m.: The summit hut is in sight. Just a few more "steps." The longest 200 yards.
10:23 a.m.: Summit. Erin's first summit first try of the 14,497.61 peak. My fourth "bag" and my "grand slam." I sign the register and take a picture. I proceed to the trail sign at the top. I take a picture of my gear next to the sign. I take a few pictures. Erin joins me and we take pictures of each other with our cameras. I take a picture of her at the summit register and the trail sign. The skies are clear and very windy and cold. We see the forest fire to the south. There are six other people on the summit. Not one marmot could be seen. Probably nestled between the rocks to avoid the chilly winds at the summit.
10:40 a.m.: Phase Two--the "getting-down-is-mandatory" part. Eleven miles to go. I give Erin a big hug and say, "Let's do it and get this over with!"
11:10 a.m.: We are stopped by two park rangers on the "backside." One of them asks if we are from the "parking lot" side meaning Whitney Portal. I tell them the trip and group report. We chatted and laughed for 10 minutes.
12:19 p.m.: Erin and I reach Trail Crest. It is literally all "downhill" from here. We slap on more sunscreen to protect us from the reflected sunlight from the rocks in front of us. It starts to warm up so I start to remove the layers of clothing.
1:45 p.m.: We reach the "springs" and fill up our water bottles to put in our Camelbak bladders.
2:00 p.m.: We reach Trail Camp after descending the 97 switchbacks. It is not as windy as this morning. We relay trail conditions to the other hikers. We wish them good luck on their summit.
3:10 p.m.: We pass Mirror Lake and hit the switchbacks before Outpost Camp. I point out to Erin the scenic expanse of Bighorn Park and Outpost Camp below. It is a sight to behold.
3:30 p.m.: We reach Outpost Camp. Not a tent nor a soul around. Abandoned. Another stream crossing and off we go. Usually one would see a park ranger here along the trail. Today was not the case.
3:56 p.m.: We leave the Whitney Zone. The longest 2.8 miles of the hike are ahead of us. We stop at the log crossing for more water.
5:08 p.m.: Done. 17 hours and 5 minutes. My second longest Whitney hike. Erin's ankle did fine. She had problems on San Bernardino Peak, but not this time. My back was bothering me on the descent but nothing major. I think it was due to the weather more than anything.
Erin spots Garv's vehicle in the day use parking lot and I figured he was waiting for us at the Whitney Portal Store. As we came closer to the store, we spotted Garv sitting on the outside patio. Congratulatory hugs and handshakes were exchanged.
We stopped by the Team Bruin campsite to provide them the trail report. I hope my report gives them a slight edge for their hike tomorrow.
Joe, Mike, Garv, Kelly, Horacio, Anne, Erin and I celebrate at the Pizza Factory.
Lessons learned: Never do what I did AGAIN when it comes to chucking gear to save weight!! Bring goggles or change sunglass lenses from dark to clear to shield eyes from wind.
WE DID IT!
