Tuesday, September 14, 2010

JMT Day 15 / September 14, 2010 - Mt.Whitney and cheeseburgers

stats: 14 miles, 3000' gain, 6200' loss

We were so grateful that the nighttime low temps didn’t get anywhere close to what we’d seen the night before….we both slept warm and soundly and were well rested when the alarm went off.

As this was our last night in the tent, we no longer had to worry about our tent or clothes smelling like food and attracting bears, so we fired up the stove right next to our tent and finally got to have breakfast and coffee in our sleeping bags instead of out in the cold. We broke camp and joined the string of headlamps working up the switchbacks about an hour before dawn.

After spending two weeks almost entirely above 10,000ft we were incredibly well acclimated for Whitney and climbing the 14,497ft peak felt more like a casual stroll at Snoqualmie Pass (3000 ft), especially now that our food bins were down to just a couple pounds of food. We hit Trail Crest about an hour after sunrise..this is the spot where the west side trail we’d been on joins up with the Whitney Portal trail that everyone else is on for climbing Whitney as just a weekend outing…from there we had two miles and a thousand feet of gain to reach Whitney’s summit.

If we’d been in the sun, we’d have been plenty warm, but the two mile traverse runs along the west side, and our hands were freezing. We’d brought thin fleece gloves which were perfect for everything up until now…fortunately a spare pair of wool socks works as a fine pair of mittens in a pinch, so we continued on to the summit happily wearing socks on our hands.

As we neared the summit, I looked back and saw a familiar figure, and I said to Becky ‘hey, is that Larry?’ …I don’t think Becky said anything, but man oh man did her pace speed up…I think she was determined to hit the top before the speed-demon Larry got there.

The summit cabin came into view and before we knew it we joined Beverly and a young man who was Larry’s son on the summit…Larry strolled up a few minutes later and we all basked in the sunshine of Whitney’s summit celebrating our various journeys to get there. Larry’s son had come up the more challenging mountaineers route that morning and brought along soda, beer, chips, and chocolate…we were happy to help them lighten their pack and ate far too many Pringles.

After spending close to an hour on the summit, Becky and I grabbed our packs and started down…the expected crowds coming from Whitney Portal were beginning to show up. The vast majority of the hikers looked like hell, going so slow and pressure breathing as we chatted and hopped over boulders…not everyone gets as much time as we had had to be acclimated.

We descended the hundred or so switchbacks blasted and carved into Whitney’s east slope and after a short lunch break we met up with Beverly again who we stuck with for the rest of the hike out. I think Becky was happy to have someone new to chat with and I was happy that she was apparently unaware of the wonderfully rapid pace that Beverly was setting. We pounded down the 6300ft to the trailhead by mid-afternoon and before even going to the car for a clean change of clothes we were at the Whitney Portal Store ordering cheeseburgers, fries, and cokes. Despite the pile of food being massive, it was devoured in an instant. We said goodbye to Beverly and headed for the car, which fortunately the bears had taken no interest in over the past two weeks.

A quick drive north on highway 395 brought us to Bishop where we found a motel and hit the pharmacy for all the toiletries we couldn’t leave in our car due to bears ripping into cars for anything that had a nice smell at the trailhead. I finally got to shave off my sad little beard and Becky spent a good half-hour scrubbing the dirt off her feet. By 8:00 we were starving again, so we headed to a nearby taqueria where we ate approximately ten pounds of tacos and tortas.

The next day we hit the Schatt's Bakery where we tried to curb our insatiable appetite and only eat a couple pastries each, then it was off to the coast….we reached the Redwoods by nightfall, camped, then drove home via the northern CA and OR coast the next day. After two weeks of sunny, mostly hot weather, driving along the gray, drizzly coast was quite the change and definitely signaled that we’d squeezed the last of summer out of this vacation and it was time for fall to begin.

After we got back, we read that Cliff Mass, local Seattle weather guru, had officially declared this the worst summer in Seattle since 1980. Upon hearing that declaration we were extra happy to have had the opportunity to spend two weeks basking in the (mostly) warm California sunshine.

Making sock puppets at 13,000ft

Closing in on Whitney’s summit

Views out to the east…our car is down there somewhere…

We made it!

Beverly, Pete, Becky, and Larry

View to the south

Guitar Lake, our camp the night before, is in the lower right

Only a hundred switchbacks to go.

Almost at Whitney Portal

All done! now where's the burger stand?

Whitney Portal Store cheeseburgers are really, really good…

Apparently my backpack straps plus two weeks of grime makes a frowny face on the back of my t-shirt

Monday, September 13, 2010

JMT Day 14 / September 13, 2010 - Bighorn Plateau, Guitar Lake

stats: 13.5 miles, 1500' gain

We stayed in the tent a bit longer than usual this morning…we had hoped to wait till the sun hit the tent and warmed things up, but we finally gave up around 7am and got the stove going for morning coffee. After yesterday’s big day, we were finally going to have an easy day…just needed to drop a bit, climb over the Bighorn Plateau, and then amble up to Guitar Lake at the base of Mt.Whitney.

We both hiked with down jackets on until the sun was up to full strength. Even with the sun, the constant wind and being above 11,000ft much of the day kept temps a little on the cool side…usually that would be a blessing, but after the frigid night, all I was thinking about was just how cold it was going to be camping at 11,500 ft on Whitney at Guitar Lake.

The Bighorn Plateau was another favorite spot for both Becky and me…just a another huge barren area with views that went out in all directions. Becky even got to get up close to a friendly marmot and take a bunch of photos.

By early afternoon we’d climbed up to Guitar Lake and had nothing else to do but relax….we napped, read, and now that we were finally so close to the end, I stopped rationing my food, and tore into the 8oz of salami I’d been carrying for the past 200 miles. We gorged ourselves on pasta with extra olive oil and chunks of salami for dinner…I was hoping if I got an extra thousand calories in my stomach, I might have a hotter internal furnace while sleeping in my one-pound sleeping bag and might be a bit more comfy.

While hanging out at camp, we met one of our tent neighbors, Beverly, she’d been out for 24 days, hiking the JMT solo. She had met some of the same folks as us, including Larry who we hoped to see on the summit of Whitney the next day.

We sacked out early and set the alarm for 4:30…we originally wanted to be on the summit of Whitney for sunrise, but with temps being as cold as they were, we figured with our limited clothing waiting to hit the top after the sun was up might be more comfortable.

Day 15…

Link to photo album

 

 

 

Finally the sun is up, but its still freezing!

Becky’s little marmot buddy

BIghorn Plateau

Final camp at Guitar Lake

Where are we?!?  The Sierras are amazing….

Sunday, September 12, 2010

JMT Day 13 / September 12, 2010 - Glen and Forester Pass

stats: 17 miles, 5100' gain

Our bodies regularly amazed us on this trip…despite feeling beat up every evening, we’d rise the next day, stretch things out, get the packs on and roll right into another 10-11 hour day.  Even after yesterdays rough day, we were up before dawn, felt fresh and ready for more miles.

The tent interior was covered in frost when we woke up…we’d both washed socks the night before and hung them on our clothesline in the tent, but the temps got so cold and the extra moisture from the wet socks just ended up building a thick layer of frost in the tent.  As was the usual routine, we let the tent freeze while eating breakfast, we shook out as much frost as possible and packed it up.  Our laundry was safety pinned on our packs and we knew we’d have our spare socks dry by mid-afternoon.

As usual, our first hour of hiking was done all bundled up as if it was winter, and then once the sun was on us, the frost around the trail melted away and we were back to shorts.  We were up over Glen Pass (11,978ft) before 9am and fortunately this time the descent was on a nicely graded, smooth trail that we flew down.  

Our plan was to make today a short day and just get to the base of Forester Pass (13,200ft), as we didn’t think two passes in a single day was feasible for us, but we made good time up Bubb’s Creek Canyon towards Forester and found ourselves at our planned campsite by 1pm.  Amazingly, we both felt great, and the temperature was about ten degrees cooler that day, so we decided to just keep on going.  

We took a short break at treeline and filtered more water, and I unpacked the tent, letting it dry in the afternoon sun…then it was time to head for Forester. As we climbed towards the pass, a nearby forest fire started pumping smoke into the valley…our views began to be slightly obscured and I’m sure it didn’t help that we were huffing and puffing so much smoky air, but we were encouraged when we met another hiker going the other way who said the smoke hadn’t made it over Forester into the valley we were headed towards.  

The fire wasn’t particularly big, but the smoke was starting to produce its own clouds which weren’t too far away.  Back in college, I’d worked on some really big fires that produced so much smoke that they’d generate their own storm clouds and lightning…I think my pace quickened over Forester out of a little paranoia of not wanting to be so far above treeline if/when this fire started to do the same. 

After a couple hours of climbing though we were leaving the smoke behind and were standing at Forester Pass looking south at clear blue sky.   This was another pass where the trail was blasted into the mountainside and one would otherwise need ropes to get to this spot.  Forester was another place I’d daydreamed about and spent lots of time on GoogleEarth looking at…it definitely lived up to my expectations…such a massive, high, barren place punctuated with deep blue lakes.

We kept plodding away downhill looking for a reasonable place to camp out of the wind…we weren’t going to make it to treeline by dark, but we found a nice spot next to a car sized boulder that provided plenty of wind protection.  As the sun set though, the temperature sunk like a stone…most of the nights the outside temperature had dropped below freezing but in our tent the temperatures rarely went below the high 30’s.  In the middle of the night I woke up and checked the temp, it was 25 degrees in our tent, not good for those with 45 degree rated sleeping bags.  Becky slept better/warmer than I did, and I got through the evening wearing all my clothes inside my sleeping bag, but it wasn’t a restful night. 

Day 14…

Link to photo album

 

Rae Lakes from Glen Pass

on our way to Forester Pass

getting a little smoky from the forest fire

Clear weather once we reach the top of Forester!

Late in the day and searching for a campsite

Saturday, September 11, 2010

JMT Day 12 / September 11, 2010 - Pinchot Pass

stats: 17.5 miles, 3300' gain

I got up before sunrise and snapped a few shots of big peaks of Kings Canyon in the dim morning light and then we packed up and headed for Pinchot Pass.   We’d seen a couple coyotes in the days before but last night we were awoken by the howls of a pack of coyotes nearby…so cool! 

Pinchot was a12,130ft pass and by now we were pretty well acclimated, so keeping a steady pace and chatting while at altitude was surprisingly easy.  Unfortunately after Pinchot we had one of our biggest descents, 3600ft down, and to make matters worse it wasn’t even a smooth dirt trail, most of the elevation loss was stepping down huge stone steps which looked like they’d been made for someone ten feet tall.  

By the time we reached the suspension bridge over Woods Creek and were done descending, our feet and knees were aching and sun was cooking us.  We found a patch of shade, refilled our water, gave our feet a soak in the creek and then slowly started making our way up the 2000’ towards Rae Lakes.

This was probably the toughest afternoon for both of us, the hammering we’d taken on the descent, combined with the heat from being at such a low elevation, and the late afternoon climb really did a number on us.   I’d suggested to Becky that we did not have to beat ourselves up with the fifteen day timeline and could add in a day to slow things down, but this was met with a strong resistance I couldn’t quite understand.  Once we finally reached camp and had dinner we figured out that her worries about an extra day were from a fear of running out of food…she had rationed out her supplies very accurately and didn’t have any reserves.  Her anxiety went away completely though when I dumped out my bear bin and showed that between the four extra bars, a full pound of Halva, a half pound of salami, and a few other odds and ends, I was carrying more than enough food for both of us to stay out an extra day or two. 

We finished the day with our usual routine of stretching, icing our legs in the nearby lake, playing some cards, reading, and then sacking out by about 9pm. 

Day 13…

Link to photo album

 

 

 

 

Mt.Ruskin before sunrise

 

closing in on Pinchot Pass

on our way to Woods Creek

Rae Lakes

Rae Lakes and Painted Lady

Friday, September 10, 2010

JMT Day 11 / September 10, 2010 - Mather Pass

stats: 17.5 miles 4880' gain

After spending all afternoon the day before pounding out the miles through LeConte Canyon we were eager to get back into the alpine.  We broke camp and were on the trail by the usual 6:30am heading for Mather Pass.  Within a few miles we started the 4000’ climb towards Mather Pass (12,100ft).  We laced back and forth on the ‘Golden Staircase’, an impressive set of switchbacks that ascended the steep head of Palisade Creek Canyon and were rewarded with Palisade Lake at the top.   We couldn’t pass up taking a break at the sandy beach and turquoise blue water, so we had our mid-morning snack while cooling off our legs in the frigid water. 

After an hour of lounging in the water and grassy meadows, we tossed the packs on and ground out the final 2000’ to the top of Mather.  Towards the top of Mather the views really opened up and we found ourselves again in a massive open bowl with ancient glacier moraines and small, deep blue colored tarns. 

At the top of Mather we could see south all the way to Pinchot, our next pass…some speedy hikers knock out both Mather and Pinchot in the same day, but we were just hoping to get to the base of the pass by sunset.   We had some leftover bacon from dinner the night before, so our usual lunch of peanut butter and honey tortillas were supplemented with dried bananas and bacon…maybe it only tastes good when being out in the woods for a long time, but we thought they were great.

Down from Mather there were more impressively carved switchbacks into what would otherwise be a 4th class scramble over terrible rock, and then we were out into the flats of another huge plateau that a glacier had carved out thousands of years ago. 

We made quick time and were at the base of climb to Pinchot by late afternoon.  We rallied and knocked off a small 800’ climb to get back above treeline so we’d have some nice views that evening…it was well worth the effort.  We passed by a ranger station just before finding camp and got an updated weather forecast…clear weather through the end of our trip…what a relief to hear that!

Today was our last mandatory 4000’ day, so we felt happy that we’d only have 3000’' climbs in the days ahead.

Day 12…

Link to photo album

 

 

The Golden Staircase on our way to the Palisades

 

The Palisades

 

Palisades Lake

 

Almost at Mather Pass

 

The view at Mather to the south

 

Long ways still to go today!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

JMT Day 10 / September 9, 2010 - Muir Pass, LeConte Canyon

stats: 20 miles, 2000' gain

When the alarm went off at 5:30 we discovered the inside walls of our tent were soaked…unfortunately as it snowed overnight, the snowflakes briefly melted on the warm tent walls, then refroze into a sheet of ice, effectively killing the breathability of our single-wall tent.  As we ate breakfast we set our sleeping bags out on a few boulders that didn’t have snow on them and let the tent freeze solid.   After some cream of wheat and coffee, we did our best to knock and wipe the ice off of the tent (having the unexpected benefit of simultaneously cleaning all the accumulated dirt off the sides!) and off our bags, then we bundled up in all our clothes and started up into Evolution Valley.  Fortunately the trail only had a trace of snow and the blue sky above meant we’d be warm soon, once above treeline and into the sun.

Evolution Lake was spectacular with the fresh coat of snow over everything, and as the sun rose we couldn’t spot a cloud in the sky, so we felt optimistic we’d made it through what would hopefully be our only storm. Once out in the sun, we shed the puffy jackets and goretex and it was back to our usual wardrobe of t-shirts, shorts, and sunscreen. 

We climbed towards Muir Pass (11,955’) up into terrain that can best be described as what you might imagine outer Tibet to look like. We passed sparkling blue Wanda Lake just below the pass.  Muir Pass is flanked on each side by a spectacular Lake; Wanda Lake and Helen lake, named for John Muir’s daughters.  At the Pass the Sierra Club constructed a stone hut for hikers to use to get out of inclement weather while crossing the pass.  The hut is just plain cute and was a welcome shelter to escape the wind.  We spent about a half hour resting at the pass before beginning the looong descent into Le Conte Canyon. Along the way we stopped at an unnamed lake for lunch and to filter water.  As we approached the lakeshore we saw a flurry of movement and discovered that the lake was populated by scads of frogs. We were both giddy over the discovery and renamed the place Frog Lake.

We continued our descent from rocky, arid, high-alpine terrain down into the lush, forested valley of Le Conte Canyon.  It made Becky think this must be what Switzerland would be like and it seemed like the place should be dotted with cows and milk maids. We passed the Le Conte Ranger station shortly before setting up camp at the Palisades trail junction and were informed by the ranger that a bear had been sighted in the canyon that morning so to keep a close eye on our food.  Had this piece of intelligence been relayed a week earlier Becky would have spent the night wide awake, poised to repel any impending bear attacks.  But we were 10 day trail veterans by now and bears had become nothing more than a possible nuisance to be dealt with if the situation arose and much less of a vicious and certain threat to our lives and food supplies.  We slept just fine that night.

Day 11…

Link to photo album

 

 

 

Evolution Lake with a little fresh snow

 

Wanda Lake…almost at Muir Pass

 

if only it was warmer, I would’ve gone swimming….

 

The view back from where we came

 

Muir Hut at the pass!

 

Our froggy friends at the lake we had lunch

 

Black Giant and upper LeConte Canyon

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

JMT Day 9 / September 8, 2010 - Evolution Valley and a snowstorm

stats: 15.5 miles, 2100' gain

It was below freezing when we woke up and the barometer had dropped a bit overnight, but it was still sunny when we started hiking. However by the time we crossed the border into King’s Canyon National Park, we could see clouds off to the west.  Over the next couple hours we saw the high peaks above us become wrapped in lenticular clouds and by lunchtime there wasn’t much blue sky left.

We passed a couple park rangers who told us the chance of precip had increased from 20% to 50% so we figured we were definitely in for some weather that afternoon.   In the Evolution Valley we had our one and only stream ford of the entire trip…all the large rivers had bridges and all the small creeks so far had good rocks to hop over, but this one we finally had to take the shoes off and wade shin deep to the other side.  Aside from our moleskin and foot tape getting wet, it was actually nice to give the feet a cold bath mid-day. 

As we neared the final 800’ of switchbacks to get above treeline and into the upper Evolution Valley it began to snow and we ran into several parties descending that told us the weather was bad up high.  We decided to stop a little short of our goal (Evolution Lake) and get camp set up while it was still fairly dry.  I still felt a little weak from my bug, so it was nice to call it a day a little early and spend the afternoon playing cards and reading. 

Day 10…

Link to photo album

 

 

 

Heading into Kings Canyon…where’d those clouds come from?

 

Almost at Evolution Lake…but shortly thereafter it starts snowing

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

JMT Day 8 / September 7, 2010 - Selden Pass

stats: 17.5 miles, 4000' gain

I got my birthday wish today….after a long night of sleep I woke up and my fever had finally broken.  It still felt like my stomach was in a vice, but I could deal with that.   We broke camp while it was still cold and made quick work of the 2000’ climb up Bear Ridge on our way to Selden Pass.  We had read several accounts of people having a heck of time fording Bear Creek which we crossed late morning, but the nice thing about doing the JMT in early September is that most of the creeks and rivers have dropped to very easily passable levels and we happily skipped across the exposed boulders with nary a problem. 

While we were hiking along Bear Ridge, Becky rounded a corner at one point and encountered an older female hiker with wild curly gray hair and a deeply intense look on her face tearing up the trail in an outfit constructed entirely of an ultra-lightweight, baggy parachute type material. Becky’s initial reaction was “Oh my god! It’s a witch!”, but then the lady spoke, rather curtly - “Are you doing the whole JMT?"  Yes? Good.” - and then she blew past us.  Becky realized that it was just one of the many characters you’re sure to encounter deep in these mountains.  She became known to us as “The Witch of the Sierras” and we learned later that Larry had also encountered her on the trail and got an unsolicited and somewhat angry earful on the nutritional deficiencies of Gatorade.

Marie Lake, situated just below Selden Pass (10,880’), was another highlight of the trip…an unreal shade of blue, rimmed with beaches and meadows in the middle of a desolate rocky high alpine basin.  We caught up with Larry (ever so briefly) at Marie Lakes.  We all crossed Selden Pass together, snapped a few pics and then he sped off, not to be seen again until our very last day.

We had planned to camp on the north side of the pass by Sally Keyes Lake, but when we got there we still felt strong enough to go a couple more miles, so we continued on down below treeline and camped along Sanger Creek.  The weather was still clear when the sun set, so we had hopes that the forecast wouldn’t hold true and tomorrow would be dry. 

Day 9…

Link to photo album

Marie Lake

 

Selden Pass

 

Sally Keyes Lakes

Monday, September 6, 2010

JMT Day 7 / September 6, 2010 - still at Vermillion

stats: 1.5 miles, 150' gain

After a huge breakfast at the VVR restaurant, omelets and potatoes, we picked up our resupply buckets from the resort staff.  A week before we left Washington, we mailed two 5 gallon buckets of food to the resort that contained our second week’s supply of food.   We spent the morning evaluating what we’d eaten the previous week and how we could possibly pare down our food to make our packs a bit lighter.  We ended up leaving behind a couple pounds of food each and just managed to cram what we needed into our bear-proof food canisters.

While we were sorting our food the water taxi dropped off another load of hikers.  One of them was a man named Larry from Virginia who we spent the afternoon chatting to and we discovered that we both had the intention of summiting Mt. Whitney the morning of September 14th.  Larry had started his hike in South Lake Tahoe (about a hundred miles north of Yosemite) and was doing all 300+ miles by himself, but had made plans to meet his son on the summit of Mt. Whitney.  We also discovered that he had passed “New York” on the trail the day before and it sounded like he wasn’t doing any better than when we left him at Duck Creek.  Larry even suggested to the VVR owner that they may want to muster Search and Rescue for this guy as he appeared to be in a great deal of pain and moving at a snail’s pace.  I don’t think they did and I’m sure New York eventually made it to VVR under his own power and caught his shuttle to the Fresno airport (we hope!) but it really drove home the point that a thing like the JMT can attract all kinds of people.  In any event, Larry was a great guy and we dug his story and his vibe so we hoped we’d run into him along the trail again.

I was starting to feel better and after some time online using the resort’s computer, we figured that somehow I had picked up some kind of food poisoning, how exactly we didn’t have a clue, but from what we read, we figured the symptoms should subside in a couple more days and I should kick it without needing antibiotics or a doctor.   Vermillion was a place that we could pull the plug on the trip, but it wouldn’t have been easy…it would’ve involved hitchhiking to Fresno and from there catching a Greyhound or YARTS bus back over to the east side of the Sierras and then hitchhiking up to Whitney Portal.  We decided to catch the afternoon ferry and just hike the one and a half miles back up to the Muir trail junction and spend the night…if I felt like garbage the next day, we could still hike back to the water taxi and begin the west side exit, but we hoped I’d be well enough to continue.

We did check the NOAA forecasts while at the resort and the weather looked like it was going to be changing in a couple days…rain, snow, and very cold temperatures were on the way for later in the week, but would hopefully only last a day or two.

Day 8…

Link to photo album

time to repack the bear bins!

 

back on the boat, returning to life on the trail

Sunday, September 5, 2010

JMT Day 6 / September 5, 2010 - Silver Pass, Vermillion Valley Resort

stats: 9.5 miles, 300' gain

We only had a short climb over Silver Pass before we started the long descent to Edison Lake and the water taxi.  I was still running a fever and felt like someone had a vice around my stomach, but we still made steady progress. 

From Silver Pass, we dropped past some huge granite slabs and amazing scenery that was a good distraction from how lousy I was feeling.   We reached the lake by noon and Becky spent the afternoon reading while I slept in the tent.  It was the Sunday of Labor Day weekend and there was a pretty big crowd of folks waiting for the water taxi by the time it arrived.   Fortunately we all fit onboard and didn’t have to wait for a later boat. 

Arriving at Vermillion Valley Resort, we set up our tent, took hot showers, did some laundry, and headed for the restaurant for dinner.  It’s worth noting that we specifically did our only resupply at VVR because of their restaurant and Becky’s dream of having a huge pile of bbq ribs for dinner… my regular question to her during the months leading up to the trip was ‘what if they aren’t serving bbq that night?’ was always met with ‘of course they’ll have bbq, they have to’.  Sadly, when we got to the restaurant their limited menu for the night was t-bone steak, chicken curry or chicken with thai peanut sauce.   We both had the chicken curry and it was quite good, especially followed up with a couple pieces of pie, but sadly it was not the feast Becky had dreamed of.  At least she got a couple cold beers (a Mirror Pond Pale and a Stone pale ale – VVR had the BEST beer list!) which went a long way towards making her feel better. 

We spent a little time out by the firepit reading and talking about what we would do the next day if I was still running a fever and feeling weak, then it was off to bed for a long sleep.

Day 7…

Link to photo album

Up and over Silver Pass

Down down down to Edison Lake

showers, hot food, and beer!