Congratulations to Kandy and Team Dances With Coyotes (daughter Ashley and trail buddy Michael) on their successful summit of Mt. Whitney on August 15. It took them an 14 hours to do the 22 mile hike. Great job!The following is a trip report from Kandy:
I cannot even describe how awesome Tuesday was. In summary . . .
12:25 am - on the trail. Temperature relatively mild compared to the howling winds and cold of last year. One other gentleman hiker slightly ahead of us. We immediately run into a woman coming down with a pack on her back and carrying a bear cannister. She didn't seem very happy and wasn't interested in talking to us . . .hope this isn't a bad omen.
1:25 am - the log bridge.
3:30 am - Trail Camp - I forgot to note times at the other notable spots like Outpost Camp. I was so focused on the hike itself. There was one tent visable off the trail. Somewhere just before Outpost, we passed two women who were also going up . . . and struggling. Somewhere past Outpost, we passed the gentleman we saw in the parking lot. He tried to keep up but we lost him in the dark.
The 20 minute stay at Trail Camp was miserable. The temperatures dropped miserably and the wind was blowing. Michael struggled some the last 30 minutes or so before camp, and had started to panic about the cold. Once he ate and we stuck "Heat Factory" packs all over our bodies (a life saver, those little things are!), he regrouped and we were off. Our lone hiker joined us for a bit while we were resting, and started up before us, but we quickly overtook him. The horizon started turning shades of orange and red about 1/2 way up the switchbacks and we were soon able to turn off our headlamps. We hit patches of ice which surprised me. I guess it really was cold!
I have no idea when we got to Trail Crest. The sun was just starting to paint the peaks. Unlike you, there was absolutely no wind. Cold though. I had nightmares about Trail Crest in what little sleep I got Monday night, but it wasn't as bad as I had envisioned. It really could have been worse, right? At some point in time, Michael pointed out the hut. I was immediately ecstatic that it was in sight, yet at the same time it looked soooooooooooooooooooooooo FARAWAY! Right after that, I started getting very emotional as there was no doubt that I was going to summit. Ashley turned around and I'm blubbering away that we were going to make it. Collected myself and marched on. Was absolutely amazed that while I wasn't jogging up, the altitude really didn't seem to be a problem. No problems breathing, no headache, no naseua. Michael & Ashley both said they were a bit lightheaded, but I was too pumped to feel anything but euphoria!
7:30 am - Team Dances with Coyotes planted their feet on the summit. I immediately started dancing and screaming - scared the weeby-jeebies out of the 6 people already on the summit. It all seemed so surreal, especially since I didn't really feel all that tired. Cold at the top, but who noticed? I was too busy talking a mile a minute and taking pictures. We savored our triumph for about an hour and since no one was serving coffee, decided to start the second half of the hike. And that's when the misery set in.My headache started before heading down the switchbacks, but it was managable with Advil. I was a bit apprehensive about going down the switchbacks, as downhill is problematic with my knee (I put my brace on before heading back down which helps). I have since decided that the switchbacks are best done in the dark . . .whether going up OR down. Then you cannot see that no matter how many steps you take, you are never, ever going to get to the end. EVER!
Since the ascent was in the dark, seeing the trail in the daylight was nice, but it also kept prompting me to say "we climbed up THAT?" Darkness was my friend . . .
The rest of the descent was uneventful but also never-ending. We left Trail Camp at 11:45 am. I was so prepared for a struggle going up and never really concentrated on going down. The final two miles past Lone Pine Lake were the longest and I was getting really crabby. My feet were throbbing. My legs ached. Even accused the good Lord of moving the parking lot. A group of strangers were standing at the "launching pad" as we crawled through at 2:30 pm and suddenly the pain went away and I started a-hollering and a-hooting. They all joined in and started applauding when they found out it was a one-dayer . . . a perfect end!
Your words of wisdom were a big part of our success. I still have a copy of the first e-mail you sent to me after I posted "Do you think I can do it?" Thank you so much for everything!
