Pam and I on the "backside."Yea, though I hike up
STEEP MOUNTAIN TRAILS
with no idea what's behind the next switchback,
I shall fear no EVIL...
because at 14,497 FEET
there isn't enough
OXYGEN
for my brain to understand
FEAR
anyway.
Anonymous.
Many, many thanks to Dave and Jane for organizing this Mt. Whitney hike. Our summit would not have been possible had it not been for the two of you. Jane, Pam and I wish you could have been there for a "double." Thank you for the post-Whitney hike breakfast! It was DEEEEEEE-LICIOUS. Dave, YOU EARNED IT!
We did it! Dave, my wife Pam and I hiked to the top of Mt. Whitney again! My sixth, Pam's second, and Dave's second.
Mother Nature bombarded us with rain, sleet, snow, wind, lightning and thunder. It made for a very "interesting" hike of all the Mt. Whitney hikes I have done. What made this one really special was being with my wife at the 14,497 foot summit! Words cannot explain the emotions I felt at the top.
Saturday, July 12:
We leave the house at 7:14 (hmm, July 14?) and drive to Yosemite National Park. We stop in Oakhurst to get a few food supplies and to eat at Pete's Place. We camp at Tuolumne Meadows site 57. Bear boxes are very "small" considering the amount of food we brought for our trip. It costs $20 a night to camp.
Sunday, July 13:
Taking it all in while we head into Glen Aulin at the first bridge crossing.
Pam and I sitting alongside the Tuolumne River.
One of the 12 mule deer bucks we saw.
The mountains and the moon on our way back from Saddlebag Mountain.We hike down to Glen Aulin. A 13-mile hike starting from our campsite. About halfway into our hike we spot 12 bucks crossing the trail. Thirty minutes after our hike is over, it starts to thunder and pea-sized hail. Wet. There goes our evening meal over the campfire. We eat at the Tuolumne Meadow Grill and then later drive to Saddlebag Mountain to pass the time and to take in the scenery at sunset.
Monday, July 14:
Our first anniversary. Tioga Pass is awesome. We drive the June Lake and Mammoth loop. We stop in Bishop to purchase some hiking clothes and to see Kurt to congratulate him on his Everest summit back in May. We dine at the deli store and bump into Laura. We arrive in Lone Pine around 2:00. Laundry is the first priority. Never done laundry in the holy city of Lone Pine before. We have dinner at Seasons. We spend the night at Dow Villa.
Tuesday, July 15:
Pam, me, Jack, Dave and Jane pigging out on the pancakes at the Portal. Jack's wife Betsy is on the trail somewhere along with their daughter.Breakfast at the Whitney Portal with Dave and Jane and their friends Chris, Mary Kay and Sarah. We "feast" on the Portal Pancake. With us is Jack, Mr. 2X in 1 day. Remarkable fellow.
We hike to Lone Pine Lake. Dave, Chris, and Sarah do some fishing. Pam and I hike around Lone Pine Lake...a first for both of us. Not recommended for the weak at heart. Quite a workout going through snowfields and scrambing up and down rocks. It was Pam's idea to do it. We return to Dow Villa to have our "picnic-we-never-had-at-Tuolumne-Meadows" in our room as we watch the All-Star Game.
Wednesday, July 16:
Breakfast at High Sierra Cafe. What happened to the whopping portions? Downsizing. Breakfast downright sucked. So did the service. Had to constantly ask for refills on coffee and iced tea. I bump into an old Irvine neighbor of mine who was rooting on one of the Badwater Ultramarathon runners named Art Webb. We drive to the Visitor Center to pick up the permits for our hike before heading up to Whitney Portal to hook up with Dave and Jane. The WAG bags have become "colorful" instead of the olive drab color.
Me at Horseshoe Meadow.After setting up camp, we depart to Horseshoe Meadow for an acclimatization hike. We search for the elusive Golden Trout. We spot many. Lunch snack in the meadow. Soothing. We eat at the Pizza Factory to pig out on pasta.
Thursday, July 17:
1:30 Rise and shine! Time for some hiking!
2:05 A black bear scares the bejeezus out of Pam at our campsite as she sat down to prepare her bagel and peanut butter sandwich to take on the hike. The bear "hissed" at her. Dave and I were headed up to dump the trash when we heard Pam scream (plus a curse word or two). Jane comes down blowing her whistle to scare the bear. I catch a glimpse of the bear before it starts down the ravine. As it runs down, it runs into the hammock Dave had put up. Poor bear. Don't mess with humans with bagels, whistles and hammocks. Up until this point Pam always wanted to see a bear in the wilderness. Well, she finally got what she asked for, but not THAT CLOSE!
3:03 We start from the trailhead next to the Portal Store and not the old stock trail. The recent storms of July 12 left debris and fallen trees. The old stock trail is hikeable but too much to "think and do" during an early morning start. Dave brings his flyrod gear hoping to drop a line in Consultation Lake on the return hike.
3:28 John Muir Wilderness sign.
4:38 Whitney Zone and the legendary Lawrence Murphy "Snooze" Rock. All is quiet. No wind.
5:13 Outpost Camp. All is quiet.
Sunrise above Mirror Lake. What a perfect event for an event like this.6:23 Trailside Meadow.
7:10 Trail Camp. Excellent time. Partly cloudy skies. What a view of the Snowy Range. Now the dreaded 2 mile long 99 switchbacks. On the way up we stop at Switchback #23 to replenish water supplies without the use of a water filter.
Looking down at Trail Camp (left) and Consultation Lake (right) from the last of the switchbacks going up.
Hancock Mountain and Hancock Lakes looking towards Sequoia National Park as we stand at Trail Crest (13,600 feet above sea level). Note the "clear" skies at the time this photo was taken.
Making out at Trail Crest. The clouds are slowly forming to the south.9:35 Trail Crest. Wow. The 2.5 mile hike from here to the summit starts to take its toll on all of us. The altitude was difficult for all of us. Every 100 steps we took a break. Then, the weather started to change about 1.5 miles from the summit. Rain, sleet and cold wind.
11:52 Summit. Pam and I kiss at 14,497 feet! Confidence is high. We first stop at the register to sign in. There were no pages so Dave found an empty sheet on the back of the July 14 register. Coincidence. Our anniversary. Few photos and a few phone calls to loved ones to let them know we are on "top of the world." It is calm although there are clouds forming over Sequoia National Park. I meet Marshall Ulrich at the summit register. He had just completed the Badwater Marathon from Death Valley to Whitney Portal. Then the next day he and two of his companions come up the Moutaineer's Route.
Pam, me, and Dave at the summit hut register.
At the summit. Storms clouds loom on the right.
Marshall Ulrich and I at the summit register.12:18 Descent. Lightning and thunder in Sequoia National Park. At 12:56 we encounter a gentleman feeling nauseous on his way up to the summit. I advise him that if he is not at the top by 1:00 (that's 4 minutes) that he turn around and go back. I tell him the mountain will always be there. He responds by saying he may not be around. Sure, you keep climbing and you die from HACE or HAPE. Dave "oh-fish-ully" announces at Trail Crest that he WILL NOT be fishing at Consultation Lake.
The 99 switchbacks are a mess. There is water on the trail the entire way down to the last few switchbacks making footing on the descent terrible from the get go. Sloggin through the "mud" we make our way down one switchback at a time. A slip here and a slip there. It is drizzlilng and the thunderstorms are on the other side Trail Crest. All of us are just miserable.
We are about a fourth of the way down the 99s when a lady spotted Dave and relayed a message to him saying that Jane made it to the cables and was headed back down. We were 30 minutes away from her. Dave knew there was no way to catch up with her.
We get to the cables when another couple wanted to pass us. We stay close to the wall as they proceed holding onto the cables. The gentleman almost slips under the cable to his demise down the granite chute. Had he not had a death grip on the cable, it would have been the end for him.
We finally get off the switchbacks as we hike into Trail Camp. We spot Jane's hiking permit lying on a rock in Trail Camp. Being as wet as it was, we saw a lot of permits on the ground.
I get more water at the spring outside Outpost Camp without using the filter. The water is cold and refreshing.
The last 2.8 miles from the Whitney Zone sign to the trailhead is the longest part of the hike during the descent. You are tired, you want to get off the trail, you want a burger/fries/beer, you want a shower, you just want to go to bed, or you really have to go to the bathroom without using your WAG bag. Another 25 switchbacks from the fallen log next to the cascading stream.
6:54 Touchdown. The End. 15 hours and 51 minutes. Pam and I hug each other and kiss. A long, cold, wet day on the Mt. Whitney Trail! Damp, sore, tired, but elated that we accomplished what we set out to do. We done did it! We can both say, "WE WERE UP THERE!" I am so proud of my wife. Jane is there to welcome us and orders us five burgers and fries. We devour the infamous Whitney Portal Cheeseburger and Fries.
Notes: I wore The North Face trailrunning shoes. Not a good idea. My feet paid the price for it. Our weight training regimen of squats, hack squats and leg presses really helped with our endurance. We needed to sneak in a couple of 10,000 foot hikes. Hikes to Glen Aulin, Lone Pine Lake, and Horseshoe Meadows did help. Hiking high and sleeping low was a key factor in our success.
Friday, July 18:
Dave and Jane cook us a spectacular breakfast of scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon and sausage. We break camp and say our farewells as Pam and I head to Bishop. We are heading north on the 395 for the first time after all of our past Whitney hikes of heading south into the Mojave Desert to go home. We stop by the Manzanar National Historical Site since Pam never been there. We check in at the Creek Side Inn. We get a room on the first floor overlooking the creek. After unloading, we do more laundry and then we go to the pool and spa, then shower and head to Whiskey Creek for our evening meal. We walk back to our hotel and "crash" around 7:00 p.m. We do not wake up until 7:00 the next day. A well-deserved rest for both of us.
Saturday, July 19:
We stop by Schat's Bakkery in Bishop, CA, to pick up some bread and jams before heading home. We head back up through Tioga Pass into Yosemite National Park. We tried in vain to get a campsite at Tuolumne Meadows but they were full but had 8 vacancies in which they held a lottery by calling out names. We didn't get it. We decided to go home. We stop in Oakhurst to eat on Mexican cuisine at El Cid. We get home and unload the perishables, put on our swimwear, dive into the pool and then relax in the spa.
This concludes any further Mt. Whitney summit hikes (yeah right!). Pam and I plan for other hikes and other summits in Yosemite National Park and other national parks.
If hiking Mt. Whitney is on your "bucket list," then do it!
Standing, well sitting actually, on top of the world.
