HST Day 7 and 8

Day 7:
     
    Once again we were up early, packed quickly and on the trail in good time. This day was not to be difficult. We were essentially going to be putting ourselves in position for Mt Whitney the last day so we only had about 9 miles to go. The stretch to Crabtree meadows was a nice hike with some lovely views. We made excellent time and took a few breaks.

At Crabtree meadows we picked up our "Wag Bags" for the Mt Whitney zone. I've linked that in case you really really want to know and so I don't have to explain it here....

The walk from Crabtree to Guitar lake was very nice as well but the usual afternoon smoke was starting to roll in.

That's Mt Whitney in the background

Guitar lake is the main staging area for a Whitney attempt. It sits at a little under 12kft on the western side. We got there early and set up camp. The GoPros came out and we attempted to get more footage for the Oatmega folks. The area around the lake started to get really crowded. Since we were at such an elevation the sun was really hot. To keep the heat down Adam and I had a swim in the freezing water but Joe and Matt did not.

Adam and his monster coming down to guitar lake.

Whitney

More Whitney

Notice 2 things: the thick smoke, and the face of John Muir in the rock on the left.

SOOOOO much smoke.

Joe descending.

Eventually as the sun started to set things cooled off quickly and the smoke practically vanished. This greatly improved the mood of everyone in camp and the cameras came out again to much better effect.

Joe left, our campsite next, whitney then guitar lake for an almost 360 degree shot.

This is almost the same shot as the extra smoky one in the previous batch. 

They are watching my set up a GoPro time-lapse shot of the sun setting on Whitney which is awesome but I don't have it yet

Now a progression of the sun setting on the next mornings destination, Mt Whitney.

We set our alarms for 2:30am (lesson learned about afternoon thunderstorms, and a 16 mile day coming up) and retired for a chilly few hours of sleep.

DAY 8:

   We were up on time and packed in the near freezing predawn air. We skipped breakfast, shoved a bar or 2 in our mouths, donned our headlamps and set off. It was my first time hiking a trail by headlamp. I could only see about 10ft in front of me so it was almost literally 1 step at a time. I could occasionally look up and see a few bouncing head lamps up the trail but overall the predawn hike was oddly isolated. We made excellent time passing many people up to trail Junction. We had become stronger, the packs lighter, and Adams knees always felt better going up rather than down.
     Once at trail junction where the route to the summit breaks off many people leave their packs and take a day sack up to the summit thereby lightening their loads. I had planned to do this but when I got there there was a footlong rat nibbling on anything he could find so I decided against it. I dropped only my bear canister (if a bear can't get into it what chance did a rat have?). Adam and I set off to the summit first because we were freezing as soon as we stopped. The breeze had picked up considerably since we'd made a saddle in the ridge, moving would warm us back up. As soon as I started hiking with my poles my hands started going numb. The trail was rough, in many spots more of a boulder hop than a trail but I stowed my poles and kept my hands in my pockets as much as possible.
     The trail to the top has a bunch of jagged precipices through which you can view the Owens Valley 11kft below. The sun was rising as I was walking past these "windows" and I stopped to shoot some shots.

As you can see the smoke was filling the Owens valley too but we were now above it.

I had read that after the windows there is a point where you feel like you're almost there and then you round a corner and see how far you have to go...

The above picture is some dude who is standing on the infamous corner. Once I rounded the corner I saw the below shots. Sure it's a ways to go still but look at what that sunrise light was doing to the summit.

Eventually I made the summit and it was even colder there than it had been on the trail.

The official plaque. The most recent survey puts Whitney at 14,508. I actually photographed 5 summit markers all with different elevations from various surveys over the last 80 years.

The summit hut. It used to be a bathroom. Now its best used in a lightning storm. On this morning it was filled to the brim with freezing people.

Joe and Matt signing the summit register.

Sunrise view down into the Owens valley from the absolute edge of the top of the lower 48.

Group shot.

From left: Joe, Adam, Matt, Me

We actually didn't hang around the summit very long on account of the overall freezing numbness of any exposed skin.

The trail down the mountain was a jarring experience. Things got WAY more crowded, there are approximately 99 switchbacks in a row, and suddenly we were on the sheltered and sunny side of the mountain so things got hot fast.

Where we still had to go.

Where we'd come from.

It is 11.7 miles down from the summit of Mt Whitney to the Whitney portal and you lose 6,000 ft. It is long, hot, and anti-climactic. I basically raced down the mountain with a few stopped for snacks and water. Once at the trailhead I happily deposited my wag-bag in the proper receptacle put my gear in the trunk of my car and took a nap in the shade while I waited for the rest to catch up. Joe and Matt came along about an hour later. While we waited for Adam a ranger I'd met earlier in the day came down the mountain. I eavesdropped on his conversation with the store/grill owner in which the ranger said there was a guy coming down with a huge pack and horrible knees. The ranger told the store guy that he had given the poor kid 4 Advil and told him to take his time. That was Adam. He was a really tough dude. Eventually he made it down the mountain and we all immediately went to the grill and ordered huge plates of burgers/ fries/ and ice cream. It was glorious.

We walked to the car which Teresa and I had left there over a week ago and started the drive home.

It was a great trip. I don't think I still have a way to sum it up. I know I want to go back soon and often.


The blog will now resume its regularly scheduled intermittent family programming.

'Til then-

Ryan

HST Day 5 and 6

DAY 5:

   Since the previous day had really taken a toll on the knees of the group and we had an extra day built into the trip we decided to hang out at the Kern Campsite. The fact that there is a wonderful hot spring there helped make the decision a bit easier.

There was someone in it so I didn't get any close up shots like a creeper but that wooden structure on the right houses a cement tub which is fillable to the height and temperature you want.

I spent most of the day writing in my trip journal and taking photographs.

I'd slept under the stars the night before and it was wonderful.

Since fires were allowed here we burned a morning fire just for kicks. 

As I was tending to the morning fire I turned around and in the Manzanita bushes right behind me was a 5 foot timber rattlesnake.

Tail in this shot.

He's kind of hard to spot on account of being camouflaged for the environment but his head is in this shot.

Sorry about the crummy/awful/regrettable camera work on this video but I was trying to keep my distance and one eye on him.




In this particular camp we had the backcountry luxury of a toilet. These were the views.

How can you beat that?

To be honest I was a bit anxious sitting around all day but it was a good rest and I think it really benefitted the moral of the group.

   Towards evening we started to notice a hazy smoke that filled into the canyon. It smelled strongly and made the air a little acrid. Word around the camp was that the fire was far enough away to be no threat to us, the wind was just blowing the smoke up the canyon.

Day 6:

We resumed the hike. I was curious how the rest would affect us and whether or not it would be a good decision to waste a day lying around. I had hoped to put ourselves close to Mt Whitney with a day to spare in case the conditions weren't conducive to a climb but that day was now spent.
    The morning started out with the most level trail of the trip for a lovely 7.8 miles along the Kern River. The smoke still lingered so the photographs aren't that great from this day. Once I made it to Junction Meadow I took a break like I did at all junctions. I sat down in a lovely campsite and took a few shots.

 As I was sitting there eating more trail mix and bars (all I packed for lunches) I could swear I heard a whistling noise so I wrote a poem in my trail journal.

Junction Meadow:

This meadow isn’t.

More a plateau. 

Certainly a junction between;

creeks, canyons, rivers, trails.

This junction serenades me.

Trees click in soft breezes

as an old bearded man in a wide brimmed hat whistles

an aimless tune in a major key

Always in a major key.

As Matt came wandering up 30 minutes later he was whistling. Then Joe 15 minutes after Matt, also whistling. Adam 5 minutes later also whistling.

It was that kind of morning.

I told the guys that there was a big climb coming up from 8kft to 10+Kft in the next 4 miles. We set out up to Wallace Creek where we would join with the John Muir Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail. The climb was pretty tough since it was a hot smoky day but there were no storms on the horizon and we made it soon enough.

Kern Point and another distant long cascading waterfall.

Looking south into the smoke filled canyon we'd just climbed out of.

North the smoke wasn't as bad.

Matt resting at a junction and waiting for the TX boys.

Once we made it to Wallace creek there was a much different mood in the air. Things became a lot more crowded with the joining of the 3 trails. With the crowds there was more noticeable litter and noise. Since we'd gotten an early start and had a solid day of hiking we were there early enough to pick a prime spot near a meadow and the creek.

The sun set on a good day of hiking, we ate more dehydrated food and retired early. There are no campfires allowed over 10,200 ft because of the presence of the Foxtail Pine which is only found in 2 places in the world and is a close relative of the bristlecone pine. The trees can be up to 3,000 years old and their rings are excellent indicators of climactic events during their lifetime. All that combines to mean the parks don't want you collecting them or harming them for fires.

-RYAN