Up and Back to Mt Whitney

Cold But Determined Leaving Guitar Lake

Up early to get up the mountain, 6:30am, it's cold and frosty, there's ice on the inside and outside of the tent, gonna make it heavier to carry, we find out later that the bottom is also frozen to the ground, and the water bladders have some ice in them, not frozen solid luckily, coldest morning yet.

Trying to eat brekkie with gloved hands is a challenge, Nutella is like a rock so in a pocket it goes to warm up a bit, some hot water also helps. As we pack up a cheeky chipmunk comes along and tries to chase us outa the campsite, it keeps making circles and threatening noises, imagine the hide of this little guy after our crumbs.

The sun pokes its way over the nearby mountains and we start to warm up a bit, it's slow going to pack up in the cold and we don't get going until 8:30, still dressed up to stay warm, into the sunlight and it's quite hot, outa the sunlight and quite chilly, hard to get a comfortable level of clothing.

Buddha At Hancock

Finally decide to take some layers off and of course then we're in the shade and it's cold, keeps us moving briskly anyway. It's steep and slow up to Hancock, the trail junction to Mt Whitney where we can dump off most of our gear for a lighter load up the mountain, it takes us about 2 1/2 hours. It's cold and windy there, even in the sun, long pants and coat go back on to stay warm. Buddha shows up too, we've bumped into him so many times I've lost count, he doesn't look too good, the altitude is taking it's toll, he's determined to climb the mountain regardless.

We're off with very light packs, what an amazing feeling not having all that weight to carry, we fly up the mountain, the trail's narrow and very rocky in places, often with an almost sheer drop to the left, scary when you gotta cross rocky sections that slope towards the precipice, there are lotsa day hikers on the way up and we pass them all by in our lightened condition.

Mt Whitney Summit

I come up on a hiker stopped on the trail, try to go around and she suddenly takes off but slowly and the trail is too narrow to pass, bit rude, she's wobbly on the trail and then she stops again and I notice she has no pack or water bottle, she dropped it back just a bit, was carrying it under her arm of all things, I go back and can see it just off the side stuck in some rocks, but it's right on the edge of a sheer drop and I'm not gonna crawl down and get it, way too scary.

I ask if she's alone, no there are 2 other hikers just ahead with her so go talk to them and explain her condition, bad situation, looks like altitude sickness and no water at all, they do have packs and can share but some brave body crawls out and retrieves the water bottle, still one water bottle is not enough for a hike like this, you need at least 2 liters, it's 20 miles and 6000' of elevation from the trail head to Mt Whitney and back.


Further along we see Buddha again and he's resting and looking sickly, he tells us he fell outa his tent this morning, felt nauseous and has a bad headache, we haven't had much trouble with altitude after living in Flagstaff for several months, definitely helps, and deep conscious breathing is also a plus, especially when feeling a bit winded, I get strange looks from some hikers with the heavy breathing and then they look a bit perplexed when I suddenly stop.

Trail Crest, Highest Pass on JMT

The trail continues scary, some small rock scrambles, normally not a problem but a slip here could end badly, to say the least. I've spied the hut on top from a distance so know we're close, the trail suddenly makes a hard right onto a flatter and wide ridge and we can see the hut about a quarter mile ahead.

It's a hut with a tin roof and metal antennae jutting up, it's not a place for shelter in a thunderstorm, seems kinda nutty to build such a structure where folks can't take shelter in a storm, the recommendation is to get the hell off the mountain ASAP if a storm threatens.

We stroll around to admire the view, it's a spectacular place made all the more so knowing we're now higher than anyone in the lower 48, the views are 360, and we got up here under our own power.
We can see a mountain range off to West and wonder what it is, too soon for the rockies, we find out later it's the White Mountains, there's hazy smoke off to the North covering the Sierras.

Rugged Up On Trail Crest

Ranger Rob from Crabtree Meadows is here too, he was the guy who signed the Wag Bag box, I ask about the mules and of course he replies that it's way above his pay grade. It's even not too cold and windy, the sun is fully out and the wind whips up a bit from time to time, then dies off and it's really pleasant.

Part of the hut is open and available to get outa the wind, it's not much warmer because there's no sun, and nowhere to sit except the floor, we go in and sit for a while to eat and rehydrate, a group is there sharing some kinda bean and/or lentil meal and offering to all and sundry to get rid of the weight.

We've been told there's a Verizon signal on top, we we wander around trying to get some bars, no apparent luck although Elena manages to send a text. The wind starts to pick up as time goes by and we get a bit chilly.

Buddha shows up as we wind down, he made it, he still looks a bit seedy but was absolutely determined to get to the top, what an effort. We spend about an hour on top enjoying the view, sunshine and accomplishment after all the hard work of the trail, wish we could just take a chair lift down into the valley, alas still a few miles and one night ahead so we head down.

Not far from the summit and we bump into the hiker who lost her water bottle, the're a long way behind and don't look too happy, made it the top though. It's a quick 1.9 miles back to Hancock, a few brief stops for pix and we're back, a bit anxious about all our gear but all is OK, pack up and again with heavy packs we lumber off, it's a short but steep climb up to Trail Crest, not in uphill mode so really knocks the wind out ya.

Steep switchbacks down to Trail Camp, it's only supposed to be 1.8 miles from Trail Crest, seems more like 3 and takes forever, we were vaguely hoping to get outa the no poop zone, not gonna happen today, too beat so we find a spot that seems sheltered up above the trail behind a big rock that blocks the almost ever present wind.

We boil water for soup and tea and check out the environs, it's trashy, people dump of all kinda things, clothes, shoes, plastic bags etc, probably day hikers who don't wanna carry it up or down the mountain, looks ugly after the pristine landscape we've been through, we try to clean up our area a bit so we don't have to look at all the trash. There's a lake nearby as a water source, the water is down a bit of a rocky bank and it's tricky at the end of the day to maintain balance and take water.

There's another chipmunk scouting the tent sites looking for dinner, I throw rocks at him to shoo him away but he persists. We have Red Beans and Rice for dinner and meanwhile the wind has thrown us a curve ball, shifted around 180 degrees so now the tent is flapping wildly in the wind for our last night camping in the wilderness.

A bit later on we see the group that was the hiker who dropped her water bottle, someone has offered to put them up for the night, too pooped to make it back to the Whitney Portal.