So what do you say about the day when, after years and years of backpacking, you finally summit the highest point in the lower 48 states? Awestruck with joy over the amazing beauty of this land that God made. It was truly a memorable day. The hikers in our campsite leaving together this morning to make the climb were Batteries, Pepper Jack, Freight Train, Panda, Gloves, Chubs, Jack Hammer and me. Intruder and Bloody Knuckles opted to stay in camp at the Crabtree Meadows and enjoy a relaxing day in the high Sierras.
So at 5am Chubbs sounded off that it was time to get up. I had been cold at times last night, and this morning was below freezing, as well. I bundled up, ate breakfast, packed and found myself standing and waiting on the rest of our crew. We pushed out of camp at 6:15am and the first challenge was the fording of a cold stream. There were some logs that we could attempt to cross and if successful, we would stay dry. The problem was that the logs were constantly sprayed with water and there was a buildup of ice on them. Two thru-hikers fell in while crossing and I was on hands and knees going across. I had a disaster of sorts while crossing as I lost the bite valve to my hydration system in the river. This means I won’t be able to hydrate while hiking and will have to rely on water bottles on the side of the pack.
So off we went and began to climb gently, with 7.5 miles to the summit. Our beginning elevation was 10,670 feet and we were to climb to 14,498 feet. At such high elevation and apparently with a sinus problem as well, I struggled immediately with the climb and lagged behind my fellow hikers (who are all in their 20s or teens, I might add). We were snow free basically for the first 2 ½ miles, but the trail often was a running stream from all the snowmelt above. At Guitar Lake, 2.7 miles into the hike, we hit the first snow fields. Frozen in the early morning shadows, they were easy to cross as we didn’t sink down into the snow (called postholing).
Batteries led us as the trail was obscured by the vast snow fields. We began climbing out of the lake bed area and were headed for a series of switchbacks which would snake up over 2000 feet on the side of a steep 13,500 foot peak next to Mt. Whitney. The lower switchbacks were covered in snow. So we began an extremely steep (like climbing Mt. Katahdin) vertical scaling of the mountain (not on the trail) until a hundred yards or more up we intersected a bare switchback.
From there most of the trail was surprisingly clear, with occasional patches of snow, which at times were harrowing to cross. I continued to really struggle with my breathing as the elevation got higher and higher. Batteries and Pepper Jack were so patient and kind to me and I was grateful that they would wait for me to catch up and would stop when I needed to take a break. We climbed and climbed and we all stayed bundled up with winter clothes, hats, and gloves as it remained cold and got progressively windier with elevation gain. The higher we climbed, the more spectacular the views. Eventually we were able to view hundreds of miles of jagged, snow covered peaks, with the deep valley floor from where we started 3000 feet below us.
Around 11:30am we finally reached the summit of Mt. Whitney with views indescribable for print and photos that will never do it justice. I was so proud to have made the difficult climb, but remained nervous about getting down safely. We spent about two hours up top, hunkering down in the rocks to eat lunch, taking photos and video, trying out the open air privy up top, and celebrating our accomplishment. I tried the cell phone and couldn’t make any outgoing calls, but was able to retrieve messages, barely.
I checked the thermometer on my backpack before we started down around 1:30pm and it was 39 degrees in full sun. The descent took all afternoon and my ice axe was a valuable tool getting down. We all made it safely back to Crabtree Meadows by 4:30 or 5pm without incident, but negotiating the soft afternoon snow fields wore me out. Freight Train did a fun glissade down a snow chute and I was tempted . . . but I’m not 19!!! And I really want to make it to Canada. My trail friends wanted to leave Crabtree and get a few miles in before dark. Having done 15 miles and a full day, I was whipped.
So we ate dinner in the meadow and the group left the decision to me, saying they would camp wherever I wanted to. So I loaded up the pack and we walked 4.2 miles, getting into camp around 8:15pm. We spread out sleeping gear, put all food and smellables in the food box, then quickly turned in for the cold night. Weather: sunny, low 28; high 39 (atop Whitney).
Today’s John Muir Trail (JMT) miles: 15.4; today’s PCT miles: 4.1; cumulative PCT miles: 770.4.
