6/21/2017 Mount Whitney alternate tentsite 767.0 to 772.7

Warning: this post contains a naked butt or two. 

Today was to be a special day in our lives but it definitely didn’t start feeling that way. Our plan was to wake up early at 3:30 a.m. and try to be descending in the early to mid morning before the snow is overly slushy. We planned to leave our gear at the tentsite on the Mt. Whitney and carry our winter gear and water only. 

Waking up was a real chore for both of us and we immediately started bickering within a mile we were in a full fledged walking fight. We had to stop every ten feet because we were too frustrated to walk and we both felt very injured and sure that we were the ones being wronged. We explored every angle of our frustration and eventually ran out of options for our own vindication and the others’ condemnation so we had to give it up and make up. I am sure, for my part, I was very tiered and sensitive because of my lack of sleep but I was also frustrated because of the fear that was now palpable and surrounded us because of the hikers we spoke to yesterday who had a scary stream crossing experience. 

Their fears are not unfounded and they had a terrifying experience. That being said, having been involved in some of the more difficult sports when it comes to facing fear, such as climbing, I know that once you are afraid your situation becomes immensely more challenging. It also often leads to mistakes and injury. I was eager to have us push through the next two stream crossings and have some success before getting bogged down in the terror of the unknown. There is undoubtedly dangers ahead, but if we keep our heads we can find safe paths around them and not put ourselves in significant risk. It is so common to hear of the risks ahead and hear from those who have tried and failed that there is no safe path forward. These are experienced hikers so their stories should not be discounted, that being said they have their own lens and it is tinted with a terrifying experience. I was eager to assess the obstacles and see if there is a safe way forward before giving up. 

All that eagerness shaped my night and morning and so my patience with Sherpa was drastically diminished and so we had a slow start but as the sun came up we were back on the same side again. 

We only had roughly 8 miles to the summit but much of it was covered in snow and suncups. Suncups are these large divots in the snow formed by the sun melting the snow at different rates. They are often have nearly knee high ridges and the valeys are just under my boot side so there is rarely a comfortable foot placement. They really kept our speed in check and so we slogged our way to the junction. 

All in all it was a very difficult hike but very beautiful. The altitude was really starting to get to us when we reached the Whitney Portal junction. We would take 12 steps and then break, then another 12 steps and break. We repeated this till the summit. 

By the time we reached the summit our attitudes had drastically improved and just in time to see Yote’a naked butt briefly posing in celebration of hike naked day! Hike naked day is on the summer solstice and many hikers hike all day in the buff. It was on my PCT bucket list but since we were in such a supposedly touristy area, I decided I didn’t want to end up on the sex offenders list!

Yote, 2.Toe, Sherpa and I had the summit to ourselves which is rare on such a celebrated peak so of course I joined my naked brother for some quick butt shots to celebrate our accomplishment and to add more scenery to the most scenic peak in the continental U.S. Poor Sherpa tolerates my eccentricities and I love her for it. 

We hung out at the summit for a while and then headed down in reverse order Sherpa and me followed by Yote and 2.Toe. The decent was such a fun hike. We really started to appreciate our surroundings and the snow was a bit softer so we could really throw ourselves down the slope without much danger. We were skiing, running, and glisading our way down the mountain and there was lots of laughing and wet, cold butts. 

We got back to camp around 1:30 p.m. and were pretty spent so we took a siesta. Sherpa, Yote, and 2.Toe took a nap in the shade and I watched a movie on my phone. 

Around 4 we packed up and headed for the crossings.  The way there was really pretty enjoyable and I was getting excited for the streams. We reached a fast moving stream and immediately assumed it was the first tough crossing. I plunged into a sport that looked safe and demonstrated to Sherpa that she could do it. She mustered up the courage and we went across together.  We were so excited and proud of ourselves walking arround, high fiveing, and patting ourselves on the back. Suddenly we started to realize that wasn’t the crossing at all. This stream wasn’t even talked about! A little bit of dread set in as we descended a steep slope but I was glad we had a practice stream. 

Soon we came across a hiker we met at Casa De Luna named Murphey’s Law. He was planning on spending the night to cross in the morning when the stream was lowest. We invited him to come with us and cross now so he did. We heard that it was safe to cross Wallace right at the trail and when we came upon it we were like whoa! This is a hell of a lot more water volume then our practice stream. 

Again I tested the water and it was totally doable. It was fast moving but only thigh high and totally manageable. Sherpa and I crossed together after the others and she was so brave. This type of fun terrified Sherpa but she always sucks it up and does what needs to be done. We are a good balance because I am often overly bold and she is often overly conservative and we are both willing to budge in the other direction. I am sure it is more difficult to make yourself more bold!

“On to the next crossing!” We all shouted and we hiked our way Write. This crossing was no joke. It was obvious that we were going to have to hike upstream because the water was raging and scary. I was skeptical of finding a safe crossing that we would all be willing to cross. 

On the way up the stream we picked up another straggler hiker Godongo. We hiked for about a mile till we came to a flooded meadow made up of a series of waste deep rapids. After pacing the shores for 30 minutes first Murphy’s Law crossed. Then 2.Toe broke the monotony. After that we all were going for it! There were many falls and wet, scraped hikers but it was safe enough and we all made it across. 

Sherpa and I were jumping around trying to get the feeling back in our toes and we decided we needed to hike on so we could get warm. We took off and to our pleasant surprise, the trail had paralleled the stream and we hadn’t done any extra hiking.  We jumped on trail and ascended a short slope.  We camped at the first dry spit of flat land we could find and to our pleasant surprise we found Giggles, Stacks, Tidy, Curry, and Megaphone were camped 30 yards away. Yote and I greeted them and chatted with them then went back for dinner. 

Sherpa and I ate quickly then slipped into our tent. We watched a movie for a few minutes to calm down and then put in our earplugs and fell asleep like little hiker babies.