Badass Mountaineers on Mount Whitney – PCT 2017: A Hiking Story [18]
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Part 17 ‘Off to Lone Pine’
Day 55 (22/05) – Whitney Portal
Still in Lone Pine, our plan for the day was to arrive at the Whitney Portal trailhead, and from here, ascend Mount Whitney. There was no rush for time, as we only needed to hike about 5 miles. This allowed us to reach the base of the steep climb up to the ridge crest, before the actual summit climb. We packed our things at the motel and left around 9am to hitch up to the Whitney portal. Within a speedy 30 seconds, we had flagged a car down and we were on our way. ‘I wish all hitching was this easy’ I thought.
Upon starting the hike from the carpark to the actual trailhead at Whitney Portal, we were flagged down by an Asian couple who showed us a photo of a 27-year-old girl, who was travelling with them; and explained they didn’t know the whereabouts of her since their hike the previous day. Apparently, she turned back alone from trail camp which was our destination for that day. We thought perhaps this was due to the ascent being too steep, leaving the couple to ascend Mt Whitney alone. The couple explained they hadn’t heard from her since they parted ways, and were worried. We said we’d keep an eye out for her on our hike, and set off.
It wasn’t long before the trail was covered in snow, and we ended up making our own path as per usual through it. There weren’t a lot of options here, as there was a steep section climbing up toward Mirror Lake. It was fairly tough going, and we ended up arriving at Mirror Lake, about 3.5 miles in, deciding that it was our camp spot due to it having grass and no snow in one patch.
Immediately, Corky and I dived off the half-frozen ice and swam briefly – it was one of the coldest lakes I’d swam in! This was then followed up by a relaxing session laying in the warm sun and drying out. We all sunbathed briefly on the rocks, and had dinner around a tiny triangular-shaped rock, serving as a good table.
Whilst eating dinner, a helicopter came overhead above us – ‘search and rescue?’ we thought. Turns out – it was. They called out to us via loudspeaker – “we’re looking for a 27-year-old Asian girl”, to which I gave the signal for no by waving downward hands. They repeated flying around different sections for a good hour or so at least. We began coming up with potential scenarios for the missing girl. It was quite scary to think about when you’re in an area with a missing person.
We went to bed early, but I woke up in the middle of the night to pee, and couldn’t resist trying a star shot – it was so beautiful!
Distance hiked: 3.5 miles
Total PCT hiked: 767 miles
Day 56 (23/05) – Summiting Mt Whitney
Getting up at 4am was hard, but we managed to leave by 5:20am to ensure we had the firmest snow conditions possible. We intended to summit Mount Whitney, and then return to the trail junction sometime around midday to head out west back towards the PCT afterwards. However, little did we know, that the snow walking was going to be so tough today.
The sunrise was incredible as we hiked up to trail camp – the beginning of the steep ascent to the trail junction on the ridge. There were three other hikers there at the camp who were also planning to summit Mount Whitney, and we all began the steep, steep snow climb.
We began to ascend the lower slopes before they began to get very steep, trying to pick the best approach. The actual trail was in the rocks on the left, but there was an obvious snow chute that looked easier. It wasn’t long before the altitude got to one of the other climbers and he had to descend. Mt Whitney is 14505 feet (4421m) high in elevation, which is just high enough for certain people to feel the effects of the thinner oxygen levels.
Rex and I had our spikes on, with one trekking pole and an ice axe. Corky somehow managed with just his shovel pole (he had been hiking with it for ages now), an ice axe and just trail runners. Although it was still morning, the snow was already getting slushy. We didn’t anticipate this until at least midday, so it made the climb a bit harder.
The steep part of the climb was about 1000 feet (300m) in 0.2 miles which was insane for us at the time! I had to kick in steps – mainly for Rex behind me, but sometimes because the snow was too soft and unstable for my own stability. Corky and I were quite confident, but Rex struggled a bit. I stayed back to keep Rex moving on, who needed some vocal motivation to push on. I remember telling her ‘to get the sand out of her vagina, and get to the top‘. ‘You have been a badass this whole trip and there was no way this climb was going to stop you’. She told me this really helped. Despite having a fear of falling and minor altitude sickness, she pulled through – even after the remaining two other random climbers turned back halfway.
We were all happy to be at the crest, and had some lunch there. This was before the 1.8-mile stretch along the back of the ridge to Mount Whitney. We unloaded our gear at the trail junction. I volunteered to unload my pack on the ground and use it to carry everyone’s gear for the short trip to the summit.
The way to the summit was relatively easy, but sections were covered in snow and post-holing (when your leg sinks into a pocket of air or really soft deep snow) was common.
Once we arrived we chilled out, had a swig of rum each and got some cool photos. We were once again proud of ourselves and did something a lot of hikers couldn’t do in these extreme snow conditions. When we were sitting there, a strange noise came from above – a glider with a pilot flew within 30 metres of us! It was damn cool to see! Corky and I took a piss off the edge of Mt Whitney, and I remember feeling like the pee was pulling me off the mountain – such a surreal experience!
After an hour or so on the summit, we descended again, although the snow was the consistency of fairy floss by this point, making steps unstable. When I arrived back to my gear, I noticed my brand new day-old socks had been torn to shreds – a marmot most likely – ‘bastard!‘ I yelled. The others were quite amused at my expense.
We were weary by this point which was about 4pm, but we still needed to descend to a flat spot to camp. We started down the switchbacks on the opposite side that we came up from. They were less snow-covered, but recent washouts and flows of snow blocked key areas. This meant we had to cut the switchbacks over loose rocks and scree. Again, Rex wasn’t in her strong suit here and I had to hang back with her – guiding her down the sketchy terrain. She was almost at the point of defeat, but again, managed to pull through despite her fears!
We got to the last switchback before the main snow on the bottom. There was a cascade of snow melt here which was the first running water since we left trail camp. We then had to consider campsite options. The campsite we intended to get to was too far for our weary bodies, and we ended up deciding on camping right there on the sloping switchback.
We cooked and ate dinner, and I called out a ‘cooee’ into the valley towards potential human noises in the distance and was received by another call – PCT hikers we know maybe? We wouldn’t know until tomorrow. I tried to sleep but it didn’t come easy, so I stares into the beautiful night sky – no moon, so the stars we at their finest.
Distance hiked: 8 miles
Total PCT hiked: 767 miles
Day 57 (24/05)
We arose at 4am, after being woken up by headlamps coming out way. Was it… yes! The lads! Rubberball, Grim and another hiker I didn’t know at the time. Apparently, Akuna wasn’t summiting and was back at camp. We packed our things and headed down the final slope before hitting the snowfield. The ice is super hard and crunchy at this point, making it easy to cross. I glissaded down a slope near guitar lake – let’s just say the ice was still a bit firm for that and I grazed my ass!
We followed the outskirts of the frozen lake and then walked down the frozen stream instead of on the trail, as the snow often creates mounds on the trail that are hard to cross. The fastest snow walking is usually the best.
We eventually made it to the PCT junction, where there was a sign buried in the snow as a marker. There were no marked tracks on the snow, meaning not many hikers had been through or the sun was that strong on the melt.
We came to a large downward hill to a stream which we needed to climb to the other side. It sucks having to go down and straight back up, so we slid down the huge snow slope on our asses, and rock-climbed the other side. It was the most fun snow slide we’d done so far!
We camped on top of Bighorn Plateau, a very exposed snowfield, but we were too exhausted to continue further. Rex had the only snow camping experience, and demonstrated how to pack down snow (waiting for it to consolidate) and bury stakes before setting up the tent. I extended the security by using the hiking poles as further stakes to provide more support using the guylines.
It was very windy and cold, so we didn’t hang around outside for long before going to bed. The problem was that the light and noise kept me awake longer than was comfortable.
Distance hiked: 11 miles
Total PCT hiked: 773 miles
Day 58 (25/05)
I got up at 4am, but due to bad sleep I fell back to sleep and we ended up leaving at around 7:30am. The condensation from the snow left a wet residue on the bottom inside of the tent, and the towel I used for insulation was soaked. When I lifted my tyvek groundsheet off the ground, it had partially stuck and fibres were tearing off – it has served me well I thought, almost time for retirement!
We hiked through the forested ridge and decided that we’d prefer to be on flatter terrain. So, we went down lower before crossing the river over a snow bridge and heading up the other side of the valley. I was very tired and once the forested area disappeared, it became very hot and the snow melted making me posthole almost every step. After several miles of this, I decided enough was enough. Corky and I really felt exhausted from the trudging, and we found an exposed area on some nearby rocks. It was close to the base of Forester Pass – the highest point on the PCT (Mount Whitney is the highest point overall – but it is not on the actual PCT).
She found an exposed rock and potential tent sites, but needed to dig out the ice sheet at the bottom. The ice axes came in handy here, and I added the huge ice sheets to the already-established rock wall. We tried to rest, but soon enough voices appeared nearby and one I recognised – Rubberball. I got out of the tent and said hi. Akuna, Rubberball, Grim and two new faces – Thirsty and Bobby Hill appeared and joined us on the rock for the evening. We agreed to sync up, and also agreed on a 2am start in the morning to get over Forester Pass early.
Distance hiked: 5 miles
Total PCT hiked: 778 miles
Next Post:
Part 19 ‘Forester Pass & the Awesome Town of Bishop’
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