Glenn's Hiking Adventures

Walking in a Winter Wonderland: San Jacinto Peak, 10,834 ft.

2011-12-19T13:30:00.000-08:00

Walking in a winter Wonderland!

The holiday season is upon us and what better way to get in the Christmas spirit than to go walking in a winter wonderland. Our local peaks are just beginning to get some substantial snowfall so the idea of a snowshoe trip was very appealing. The snow coverage was thought to be too light for a backcountry ski trip here locally but snowshoes would be perfect. I had not been out on my snowshoes since my Mt. Shasta trip a year and a half ago as I have been bitten by the backcountry ski bug. This trip would provide good information on the possible ski conditions on Mt. San Jacinto in the early season and provide a great opportunity to get out in the snow with friends and enjoy the cool weather.

The idea sprang up just a few days prior when my friend Alan had mentioned he was heading up there with the San Jacinto Meetup group for a snowshoe adventure. I made some quick emails and found a few more that wanted to go. I decided I had better check the weather report to see what the forecast was. I was not happy with what I read. While the temps would be cold, 10 to 20 degrees, and there would be light snow that did not really bother me. What I was most unhappy about was the wind forecast of 25 MPH wind with gusts to 50! Since nearly all of my recent winter adventures have involved battling high winds I was really looking forward to a day of minimal interference from blasting snowy winds. I shared my thoughts and firmly stated that I was not up for that however the following day conditions looked much better.

Most people decided to go on the original day, including Alan who had other plans on the next day I had suggested. Fortunately for me, my friend Erica was able to go on the following day which was very fortunate for me for several reasons. I was not going to do this alone so just the fact that she was going meant the trip was on. Secondly, while I grew up in a beach community building sand castles and going body boarding she was raised in Northern Canada and was building snowmen and going snowshoeing, much more appropriate skills for what was before us. In addition to all that, she and her husband have done many winter travels and winter mountaineering courses together so her winter knowledge far outweighs mine.

I got a call from Alan on his way back from his day on the mountain. They did not make the summit and one of the main reasons was the slow and difficult conditions that the snow had presented. He said they were sinking up to their knees very early on and up to their waist in some sections up higher. This makes for very slow travel. He did say that the wind was minimal so at least that was good news. He also informed me that a lady named Ellen from their trip was planning on going the next day and that she was going to look for me at the tram station and try to join us.

Enjoying the easy part of our adventure.

For those that have never been up to the San Jacinto Peak area there are two primary ways to get there. I have been to the summit many times and all of my summer adventures have been variations of beginning over near Idylwild and hiking from there. Typically that is a hike of 15 to 18 miles round trip and 4,000 to 5,000 ft. of elevation gain. Those numbers are just not practical for a winter day hike so the cheater way must used, the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway which takes you from just above the desert floor up to 8,500 ft. in just about 10 minutes. The route to the summit from the top of the tram is just 5 miles one way by trail but can be shortened to 3 miles in winter by utilizing cross country travel.

The infamous Ellen of San Jacinto on the left.

We arrived at the tram station in time to catch the first one up at 8AM. Erica and I were the only people there that looked like mountaineers so I figured Ellen was a no show. While putting on some of our equipment before getting on the tram along came a lady meeting the description Alan had given me on the phone. She walked right up to me and stuck out her hand for a handshake and said, "You must be Glenn, I'm Ellen." For a lady with a few years on me and white hair she had a firm handshake, a loud voice and appeared to be a battle hardened veteran of this mountain. Erica did not know quite what to think as I had not mentioned that Ellen may be joining us. We boarded the tram almost immediately and it became apparent that Ellen knows everybody on the mountain as she knew every ranger and worker on the mountain we came across and we could see why as she was a very easy person get along with and we all became quick friends.

Up top we stepped out of the tram station (after Ellen was personally greeted by at least 5 other workers on the mountain) and found the conditions to be perfect. No wind, about 20 degrees and partly cloudy skies. We headed down to the ranger station to get our permit. At this point we just let Ellen handle it as it was quite obvious she had done this a few times before (probably over 100) and we strapped on our snowshoes.

If we were a couple this would be our Christmas card!

We headed out from the ranger station with Ellen in the lead and she shared the experience from the day prior. We were all very thankful for the efforts from the group the prior day as it meant we had a good stamped down path to follow with minimal trail breaking. Erica and I wanted to take the winter route, a much more direct yet steeper route to the summit. Ellen was pleased with our thoughts as the day prior the group had taken a longer more traditional route to the summit and got bogged down in snow drifts and ran out of time far from the summit.

We reached the point where we needed to divert from the beaten path to forge our own trail and attempt to establish this seasons winter route to the summit. Once we got out onto the fresh untracked snow it got much more difficult. While we offered to take the lead, Ellen just kept on marching at the front, breaking trail and doing at least twice the work of Erica and I. We finally stopped to take a break and admired the winter wonderland we were surrounded by. The trees were completely covered in snow, a light snow was falling and we were the only people out there to enjoy it! It was a wonderful feeling.

View of the snow covered trees near the summit.

We began the serious portion of our climb towards the San Jacinto-Miller Saddle. The going was tough not just because we were headed up a very steep incline but also because the bushes on the slope were not fully covered in snow so every step up was met with a sinking into the snow and bushes below. More than once it took several attempts just to make a single step forward due to the slippage and sinking. My long legs and 36 inch long snowshoes were very helpful in getting through this section although we all took turns in the lead as the person breaking trail was exhausted within 10 to 15 minutes at most.

Summit photo on San Jacinto.

As we got higher, the clouds increased and the snow and wind did as well. They were both still light but noticeable. The bushes ceased to be an issue but that was offset by the deeper powder snow we were encountering. We were hungry but the summit was near so we pushed on. We finally reached the summit a little after noon and took our photos. Another couple joined us up top as well. They had been following in the trail we had broken and were most grateful for it. Due to the snow and light wind, we descended back to the hut near the summit for lunch. This hut is an old stone cabin built in 1935 by the Civilian Conservation Corps to serve as an emergency shelter. The hut is stocked by hikers with food, water, sleeping bags and other emergency items. It made a great shelter for us to briefly escape the elements and enjoy our lunch while talking with our new friends we just met on the peak.

Ellen invites us into her home away from home near the summit

The hike down was via a different route with Ellen once again in the lead. We opted to link back up with the more traditional trail to the summit to avoid the bushes. Ellen steered us off this trail at the perfect spot to intersect the path that had been beaten in a day earlier which made for a rather easy and fun descent back to the tram station and we arrived back at 4:30 just before dark.

Once back to the amenity filled tram station we could relax a little before catching a ride down the mountain. It is rather fun to see the looks we get as most of the people up there don't venture much farther than a 10 minute walk and some just came up to the top from the desert to see what it is like. They look at our gear, our windburnt faces and crazy hat hair and draw their own conclusions on who and what we are. Some probably just think we are a bunch of smelly homeless people but you still see many who are interested and amazed but are to afraid to ask what all this stuff is for. Others start a conversation and are completely unaware of the peak just 3 miles as the crow flies from where they are standing.

This trip was definitely what I needed to kick start my winter adventures. The weather was good, we made the summit and I got to do it with some new friends. Ellen, who considers San Jacinto Peak one of her family, is the real deal and a very enjoyable person to spend time with. Erica and I were happy to have met her up there and certainly wish to include her in our future travels. Yet another great weekend of making friends while climbing mountains!

Grand Canyon, Rim to Rim in One Day!

2011-10-11T16:49:00.000-07:00

View across from South to North.

Summer has past and we are now into Fall. It has been a great hiking season for me this year. I started the Summer by hiking the Trans Catalina Trail which was an outstanding way to start the season. In late summer I did a 5 day Sierra Trek to attempt some fourteeners in the Palisades Basin. Now with the hiking season drawing to a close we had one final adventure up our sleeves and it had been in the works for a little over a year in planning phases. The last big adventure hike of the year was to be hiking the Grand Canyon rim to rim in a day.

Over the years we have met many hiking friends. Some of them we meet on the trail, others are family and friends, and sometimes we even find that our clients have the same passion for the outdoors we do. That was the case when we discovered that our wonderful business contacts at Heritage Foods shared the same love of long hikes to incredible locations we do. Our main contact there, Gayle, has been hiking for many years and is out on the trail as often if not more than us. We share our hiking adventures and last year friends Clark, Michelle and Steve joined Gayle and her group for a February hike at the Grand Canyon to do a South Rim to river and back up. Gayle's group had been making plans for this years Rim to Rim (R2R) hike for over a year and asked if we would like to join them. We couldn't resist, we had to say yes!

Gayle's group of hikers has done the backpacking thing and overnight hikes for a lot longer than my group of hikers. They have done all the big stuff we have embarked on, they just did it a few more years ago than us. They prefer to stay in lodges and hotels and skip on the freezing nights on lumpy, uneven ground and eating your meals out of a ziplock bag. They have substituted pleasantly scented body lotion for the smell of insect repellent and prefer a meal that requires reservations instead of rehydrating. In the end, who can blame them, it sounds like a much better deal to me as well!

The reason the planning for this hike was started so long ago revolves around our intended starting point. We were going to hike the Grand Canyon from the North Rim to the South Rim. Accommodations at the North Rim can be hard to come by and book up very fast. You can make reservations up to one year in advance and Gayle had suggested we get on the phone exactly 1 year in advance at 8AM to make those room reservations. My coworkers wife Michelle was on the phone early that morning to get our reservation made for the North Rim. The trip planning was officially started and the rest would fall into place over the next year.

As we approached our final few weeks before the hike we all needed to finalize our plans. Room reservations for the South Rim had been made and dinner reservations for the main dining rooms in the lodges were set. Initially we were going to ride over with our friends from Heritage Foods and they had non-hikers going along to shuttle cars and gear the 200 mile drive from the North Rim to the South. We found out with two weeks to go that the empty seats we thought were available to us were not and we needed to arrange transportation. I volunteered/coerced my parents to drive us out there and offered to bring my youngest, Eric along for the ride. What Grandparent could resist a 3 day road trip to the Grand Canyon with their Grandchild on board? We were able to grab an extra room at the North Rim from a person in our party of 25 hikers that had to cancel and were lucky enough to get an extra room at the South Rim on short notice. The trip was on!

We finally arrive at the North Rim.

It is a VERY long drive out to the North Rim. We left at 3:30AM and did not arrive at the North Rim until nearly 4PM. Part of that was our route which my Dad had chosen. He wanted to go the southerly route rather than what looked like the shorter northern route but he was driving so who was I to complain. Others in our group left around 6AM and arrived about the same time by going the northern way but we did get to see the eastern end of the Grand Canyon which was very impressive.

We all gathered on one of the big viewing patios at the North Rim Lodge for drinks and socializing. The views from these lookouts are incredible and it iwas such a wonderful way to celebrate our arrival. We all had dinner in the main dining room which hangs on the edge of the majestic cliffs that rise from below. This has to be one of the best dining room views I have ever seen!

Ready to go at 5:15AM at the North Kaibab trailhead.

We met the following morning at 4:45AM to be shuttled off to the trailhead just a mile or so away. Since we would be hiking nearly 25 miles that day we didn't see the need to wander an extra mile down a paved road in the dark and found a few seats among the car shuttlers that morning. The trailhead was quite a hub of activity. R2R is a popular hike and run. We came across quite a few trail runners doing the same thing that morning. We took some pictures in the darkness and were off at 5:15AM. Our intended route was to follow the North Kaibab Trail all the way to Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the Grand Canyon and then take the Bright Angel Trail to ascend the South Rim where we would climb out of the canyon right at the main lodge and tourist mecca of the Grand Canyon National Park.

One of the first pictures that morning at first light.

The beginning of the hike from the North Rim on the North Kaibab trail is rather steep with lots of switchbacks. It was also very dusty and you had to dodge the mule dung on the trail. It was very different to begin a hike with a long descent, and upside down hike as they are referred to. Conversation fills the time as the lack of a view other than the illuminated spot in front of your feet leaves plenty of idle time for your brain. After we reached Supai Tunnel a few miles down the light was just beginning to break through. Mules are not allowed past this point so the trail is hikers only and was much less dusty. I stowed my headlamp and attempted some early morning pictures. The view that was developing was incredible. We were in an area of intensely dark red/brown rock with a very steep switchbacking trail below us. The pictures were difficult to take as I had to prop the camera on a rock as the exposure times were 13 seconds or greater which really limited what I could take a photo of. At least now we could set off without having to look down to see where we were stepping and the views were getting better all the time.

We descended steeply down to a bridge where we could now look up the trail we had just come down and got a real feel for how steep this section is. You could see others in our party spread out along the trail by looking for their headlamps as many still had them on. It was a shame it was not an hour or so later as the views in this area were so incredible. The grand vistas of the canyon itself had not opened up yet but the view of the smaller canyon we just descended was picturesque all by itself.

The ledges.

Shortly after the bridge we came to a section of the trail that I will refer to as the ledges. The ledges were rather wide, 4 ft. or so, with a vertical wall to our right as well as our left. The one on the right went vertically straight up, the one on the left went vertical straight down! The pictures make it look frightening but in reality we did not even notice that we were feet from impending doom as the views just kept getting better. The trail had mellowed out a bit and the descent was very pleasant. We took lots of pictures through this section and it did not look like what I had expected, it was much better!

Before long we had reached the bottom of the canyon we were descending as it merged with the Bright Angel Creek. This creek flows down to the Colorado River and we would be following it for the next 7 or so miles. There was a nice waterfall and shortly after a bathroom and water stop. Most of the group of 25 hikers wound up congregating here as we ate a snack, refilled water supplies and emptied our personal waste fluid reservoirs, our bladders!

Our trip coordinator Gayle in the blue hat and most of her crew.

Easy hiking along the bottom of the canyon.

Back on the trail the next 7 miles to Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the Grand Canyon were magical. The trail was nearly flat and easy to follow. We were hiking along the creek and the views of the Grand Canyon were all around us. At one point the valley we were in opened up enough that we could see the Bright Angel Trail way off in the distance. It looked so far away, and so much higher than we currently were! We passed Cottonwood camp and had about 4 miles to go to reach Phantom Ranch. Somewhere in this section the valley closes up to become a slot canyon very indicative of the trails in Zion National Park. We followed along with the steep canyon walls on both sides and the creek adjacent to the trail. This was very different than the last two sections which is what is so appealing about this hike as it is constantly changing.

We arrive at Phantom Ranch.

We finally arrived at Phantom Ranch, a destination many have been to before but typically by mule rather than on foot. There is camping and a few cabins there along with a small store for snacks and a meal if you arranged it ahead of time. We took a quick lunch break here at about 11:30AM and once again refilled with water. While it was cold up on the North Rim, we were now 5,500 ft. lower and it was getting rather warm. The forecast called for possible afternoon thundershowers and by the looks of the sky, the clouds were building and the sun was soon to be tucked away behind the clouds. Due to the heat, I was not complaining one bit about the chance of a little rain.

Our smaller group of four which consisted of Clark, Michelle, our friend Steve and myself decided to get moving. We had determined prior to our arrival that we would climb the Bright Angel Trail. Others in the group left the decision to be made on the trail. While they were deciding, we headed out as the rain looked likely and Clark and I really wanted to swim or at least soak our feet in the river.

Our bridge across the river.

We crossed a very impressive suspension bridge that was erected to support a water pipe across the Colorado River that feeds all the water needs of the South Rim. They were nice enough to build a platform on top of it with good handrails for us hikers to cross and reach the other side. The Colorado River was flowing quite rapidly and our idea of swimming in it was not looking so good. We would have to find a very sheltered location along the river for a swim or else our hike might end with Clark and I reaching Lake Mead!

The view upriver from the bridge.

Once on the far side of the river we found a nice rest stop with a wonderful fast flowing creek shortly up the Bright Angel Trail. We stopped here as Steve needed to do some foot repair and the rest of us wanted to soak our feet in the cold water and put on a fresh pair of socks. We took the opportunity to rehydrate and cool our feet before continuing onward. We all knew the route from here was up and the three I was with had done this section of the trail back in February. About this time we heard a loud clap of thunder which told us that the predicted weather would soon be upon us. This was all the motivation we needed to get our gear packed back up and hit the trail.

Michelle breaks out the rain jacket.

One of the great views behind us as we reached Indian Gardens.

As expected, a light rain had begun. We also reached a fairly steep switchback section as we climbed up out of the river gorge. The rain would come and go and only Michelle put on a rain jacket only to find that was too hot and the rain not heavy enough to worry about so it came off shortly thereafter. Every now and then we had to remind ourselves to stop and turn around as the views behind us were magnificent! The trail traveled a fairly open area and wide vistas of the belly of the Grand Canyon were before us. Before long we encountered more greenery and trees indicating were near Indian Gardens, a popular destination for many hiking down from the South Rim.

Steve poses by one of many signs
telling you to never go from the rim
to the river and back in a day. Hahh!!

Our arrival at Indian Gardens was one of mixed emotions. We were that much closer to our ultimate destination, only 4 1/2 miles to go, but it also meant that the peace and tranquility we had enjoyed all morning was coming to an end. Indian Gardens is a popular destination for day hikers. There were quite a few people there wearing jeans that looked completely unprepared especially considering the return trip back up to the rim. We took a quick water and snack break and were on our way. From here on to the rim there are water and bathroom stops every mile and a half. We carried little water knowing that the next stop was not far ahead to reduce the weight on our backs during this final steep section of trail.

About halfway up the switchbacks looking across the canyon.

The switchbacks got steeper, much steeper and the rim was visible but I got a cramp in my neck looking up so high to see it! We all stuck together up to the three mile to go point where I chugged some additional water and had some electrolytes. I had a small amount of water on me as I had drank my fill at the rest stop. I set out on a solid pace, quicker than the others wanted to go. We had decided ahead of time that we would all hike our own pace to finish out the hike. I wanted to finish in under 12 hours and kept my pace accordingly. I hiked right past the final rest/water stop as I felt as if I stopped I would never get going again. As I neared the top of the rim the trail was loaded with Asian tourists as if several tour buses unloaded them and sent them down the trail. While others complained that they blocked the whole trail and they had a hard time getting by I did not experience this. While the trail was loaded with people, I think the combination of my 6'5" size, speed and certainly smell parted the visiting tourists as I sped by. I reached the top of the South Rim at 4:45PM, 11 1/2 hours after starting that morning.

I was very happy to be on the South Rim!

Reaching the rim was fantastic but now I needed to find my parents so I could get into my room. Flashbacks of finishing the Rosarito to Ensenada bike race went through my head as I finished the race in just under 3 hours and then spent the next three hours trying to find my parents in a foreign country! Lucky for me, I quickly spotted my Dad and son Eric sharing an ice cream cone in front of the Bright Angel Lodge. I staggered over to them and gave them both a big hug. I had a seat and devoured what was left of the ice cream. I told them the quick version of the days adventure while we waited for the rest of my immediate group to complete the hike. After about 15 minutes I decided I would head back to the end of the trail to keep an eye out. I discovered that I could barely walk! I stretched out my very sore muscles and regained my ability to walk.

Right on the 12 hour mark from when we started the rest of our immediate group appeared at the top. Michelle headed directly to get checked into her room while Clark, Steve and I staggered around a little along the touristy South Rim area before stumbling over to our adjacent rooms. We got cleaned up and headed over to the El Tovar Lodge to make our 7:30 dinner reservation that Michelle had optimistically placed over a month prior. We once again enjoyed a fantastic dinner and appreciated the fact that we did not have to cook it on a backpacking stove. We learned that a few hikers from our group were just finishing as some had opted for the shorter, yet steeper South Kaibab trail. Many missed their dinner reservations or were just to darn exhausted to make it to dinner. We spotted Gayle on our way back to our rooms that night. She had a bag of ice and was going to take and ice bath to relieve her tired muscles. She claimed it worked well but I much prefer the warm bath I took to accomplish the same thing!

With the whole hike complete we had a chance to compare our thoughts. We all agreed that the trip was just too short, 3 days in total, and we would much prefer to spend lots more time here exploring the area.The North Rim was an awesome experience and would have been a great place to spend a full day to really soak in all the beauty. The hike itself was not really that difficult as elevation was not a big factor. The final three miles were difficult but out of 25 miles to have 3 uphill strenuous miles is a small price to pay. The logistics of this trip were very complicated including lodging, transportation and car/gear shuttling. I cannot begin to fathom the logistical nightmare of a Himalayan expedition including flights, gear requisition and transportation and everything else that goes along with it. We just travelled to an adjacent state and it was a difficult task!

We all agreed we would do it again. Our planning was good and our equipment worked perfectly. We seem to be getting better at this stuff as we go as we are learning fewer lessons the hard way. A multi day trip through the canyon would sure be fun to explore all the other trails that are down there. They will just have to wait until we return.

Click here for the full set of photos from our trip.

Three Fourteeners in Five Days: We Were Crazy!

2011-09-07T20:36:00.000-07:00


Camp in the Palisades Basin

With no California fourteeners under my belt for this year I was feeling a little behind on my goal to climb them all. My spring attempt on Split Mountain as detailed in a recent blog post led to failure due to deteriorating weather conditions that would have been disastrous had we pushed onward. To attempt to redeem myself I hatched a plan to attempt three of the fourteeners in the Palisades region of the Sierras in a single 5 day trek. To pull it off would be a trifecta on some of the most remote of the big peaks.

The master plan was to summit Thunderbolt Peak (14,003 ft.), North Palisade (14,242 ft.) and Mt. Sill (14,153 ft.) on consecutive days. The approach would be from the western side of the range by starting at South Lake in the Sierra's above Bishop, CA. The route would take us over Bishop Pass and then Thunderbolt Pass before dropping into the Palisades Basin to make base camp. From there we would complete Thunderbolt and North Pal before as well as a 6 mile out and back day excursion to Mt. Sill after crossing over Potluck Pass. A grand plan for sure.....why wouldn't it work?

As Thunderbolt and North Pal include class 3,4 and possibly a little class 5 climbing, I would need a few people with rock climbing skills far better than mine on the team. I put the word out to round up some friends that meet these requirements. Unfortunately, one by one I kept getting responses from them that they already had plans for the Labor Day weekend I had obtained a permit for. One of the best prospects I had, I lady named Heidi whom I had met a year ago while climbing Mt. Tyndall, reported that she would love to join us but had broken her foot a month prior and was awaiting the doctors OK to proceed with her major rock climbing agenda. Unfortunately the OK did not come and her grand plans of climbing big rock walls were on hold for a little longer. My good adventure pal Jason was onboard early on and he has been doing quite a bit of climbing lately. Between the two of us we figured we could handle the tough stuff but would be happier with a more experienced climber on the team. We had a couple other regular hiking friends decide to join us, Aleshia and Alex who had no plans on climbing the 2 hardest but thought by the sound of it that Mt. Sill would be possible for them. We had a solid group of four of us ready to go and the trip was on!

Alex was so excited to get out on a backpack trip that he had his food purchased and his bag packed three days in advance. The day we were to depart I got a call from him, and he sounded concerned. Apparently while working out at the gym on the day of our departure he developed a major hernia. The pain was manageable but a quick visit to the doctor told him what he already knew, he was not going to be able to join us. Once again I was faced with plenty of group leader anxiety and issues and we had not even left home yet!

I shared the news with the group and everybody was sad to hear the news but also affirmed their commitment to the trek. We were still on and heading out in a matter of hours.


Starting off at the Bishop Pass Trailhead.

We arrived at the Bishop Pass trailhead near South Lake around 12:30AM. We quickly got to sleep, one in the cab of my truck and the other two of us in the bed. We planned it this way so we could at least acclimatize at 10,000 ft. at the trailhead before heading out in the morning. The day would have us climbing as high as 12,400 ft. over Thunderbolt Pass so we could use all the time at high altitude before we started as possible.

Hanging out with Kurt Wedberg. Aleshia and Kurt look very happy!

By 9AM the next morning we were ready to go. We headed out on the Bishop Pass trail which is one of the most beautiful areas I have hiked. The trail follows along a series of lakes in a wooded valley with grand views of snow laden ridges and peaks all around. After four rather easy miles we reached the switchbacks heading up Bishop Pass. Just about this time while we had stopped to take a break we came across a couple other guys on the trail. Jason looked at them and said, "Kurt, is that you?" It turns out it was Kurt Wedberg who runs Sierra Mountaineering International, an accomplished mountain guide, instructor and two time Mt. Everest summiter. Both Jason and I have taken courses with Kurt and his operation including Snow Travel, Crevasse Rescue and Snow Anchors as well as the Avalanche Awareness Level 1 course. He was leading a client to climb North Palisade on this day. We shared that it was one of our destinations and discovered that we were planning to camp in the same area as them. They were on their way and we told them we would see them that night most likely.


At the top of Bishop Pass.

The climb up Bishop Pass to nearly 12,000 ft was difficult. It would not have been so bad except Jason and I each had all of our climbing gear. This consisted of about 20 additional pounds of stuff each including a rope, helmets, ice axes, numerous slings and carabiners plus all the climbing protection devices including cams, tricams and stoppers. We reached the top of the pass and took a well deserved break. Aleshia was doing extremely well, especially considering that this was only her second major backpacking trip and her first time at such a high altitude. We ate a quick snack and began to proceed onward to Thunderbolt Pass.


Thunderbolt Pass way off in the distance, the low spot on the ridge.

This next section of the trek was much more difficult than I had imagined. The route to Thunderbolt Pass is entirely off trail, class 2 as it is known. We could see the pass far off in the distance as a low spot on a ridge adjacent to the Palisades. The difficulty is that we had to traverse 3 or more miles along rocky cliff bands and boulder fields. It was very slow going and involved a little backtracking from time to time. The final boulder field and snow traverse were difficult as was late in the day, the going was slow and meticulous, and the snow crossing had to be done carefully. Not only was this traverse physically difficult but it was also mentally taxing. We finally reached the top of the pass and could look down to where we would camp. We carefully picked our way down about 400ft. through more boulders and rock ledges before arriving at what looked like a good spot to camp with several nearby creeks and tarns and a few flat spots for tents and dining. We had arrived at last. The sun had already set so we quickly set up our tents to get some much needed rest after our arduous day.

One thing you look forward to on a backpacking trip is food. We had worked out a plan that each of us was responsible to come up with something really special for dinner to feed all three of us. This would cover our first three dinners and we then planned a personal dinner for the last day. Jason wasn't thinking this was a great idea until I told him it was his loss as Aleshia would be testing a new recipe that included filet mignon, blue cheese crumbles and loaded mashed potatoes. He laughed at first but after I convinced him I was not pulling his leg he was in full support of this plan!

The dinner, as advertised, was nothing less than awesome. After such a grueling day a wonderful meal was well deserved. Aleshia had precooked the filet and all that was needed was hot water to warm it up. It was a single freezer bag meal so the prep was simple and it was fantastic. We ate by headlamp as it was now dark, not quite a candlelight dinner but very close!

While enjoying our romantic dinner for three we discussed our plan for the next day. We initially planned on doing Mt. Sill together but the thought of doing a long 6 mile off trail hike that would take something like 10 to 12 hours to complete sounded like a bit much following the long trek in. Jason and I thought we would do Thunderbolt Peak which was just above our camp. It was projected to take about 6 hours and we daydreamed of visiting the lake below camp upon our return for a swim.

The morning came and we were in no hurry to get up. Aleshia had worn everything she had to bed to stay warm. She had on about 4 layers top to bottom and still was cold despite a 30 degree rated down bag. She asked Jason and I how we did, she was shocked to find out we both were sweating and had opened up our bags to stay a little cooler! I was in a tent and Jason was outside in his bivy sack! While my bag was rated for 10 degrees F and Jason's was rated down to -20F we wore minimal clothing to bed. More on this topic later.


Jason and I ready head up the chute above us.

Jason and were ready to go at just before 9AM. Aleshia saw us off and she was going to head down to the lake below to enjoy a rest day. Jason and I told her we would back around 3-6PM most likely but not to worry until after 7PM. We also advised her that if we did not return that she should wait out the night and not to leave until the morning for help if we did not return. I think she was a little overwhelmed with how casually we spoke of such an event but a plan must be in place no matter how unlikely it might be.

Jason and I, adorned with climbing harnesses, helmets and other climbing gear, headed off towards the Thunderbolt Southwest Chute #1. The approach is rather steep on large rock that slowly narrows and becomes small VERY loose rock. We followed the climbing guides we had read so many times and etched into our brains from Secor as well as Burns and Richins. A short way up the chute, Jason about 20 ft. ahead, dislodged a soccer ball sized stone. He appropriately yelled "ROCK!!!" to alert me to the issue. I watched it pickup speed as it neared me. It was tumbling down about 5 ft. left of me provided it stayed on the same trajectory. I was on high alert watching for any deviation that would send it my way. Fortunately as it neared I took a solid step away from it to gain distance and it harmlessly sped by. We took this as a sign to stay close together so that any rocks we might break loose would not have a chance to gain sufficient inertia to cause mass bodily harm like the last one.

Jason leads the way on the ledges.

We reached a point in the chute where it was advised that we climb some class 3 rock on the right side of the chute to get around a chockstone that blocked the route ahead. We found one of the series of ledges that can be climbed and started up it. While it was rather exposed, the handholds and footholds were plentiful and made for easy climbing. We continued moving upwards and the bypass led back into the chute a little later. By 11:30AM we had reached the top of the chute and all that stood between us and the summit was a few hundred feet of nearly vertical rock. A little class 4 climbing and we would be on the summit provided we could find the easiest route. To our surprise, we saw a few climbers who had gotten a much earlier start than us descending this wall of rock via a rappel. When the first climber reached our location we realized it was Kurt's client and Kurt soon followed. They has informed us that they attempted North Pal but diverted to Thunderbolt as there was too much snow and ice in the chutes. We knew from a prior discussion that they planned on using the same route we did (the LeConte variation) and if a two time Everest summiter thought it was too risky for his client that we would benefit from his vast knowledge and scratch that from our plans as well.

Kurt descends the vertical wall to the summit.

It was now noon. We broke out the rope and all our slings and other climbing gear from our packs. We looked straight up and could see what we thought was the summit but were not sure. All the climbing guides mention finding a crack and ledge system to follow around to the other side where there is easier climbing. We made fairly quick work of about the first 100 ft. and Jason set up an anchor and then top rope belayed me to his position. We both looked around and it seemed the best way was straight up. Jason proceeded to explore up above us while I belayed him. After attempting several different routes Jason had figured that this was not the correct way. All this time I was sandwiched in a narrow crevasse, anchored to the rock, watching him as I belayed. He finally down climbed back to my location and set off on a different direction to explore and hopefully find the way. While freezing in my shaded crevasse, I kept hoping to hear him shout out that he was on the summit and I would then be close behind. Unfortunately the time kept rolling on, him searching, me freezing with no way to get warm as both my hands had the most important climbing job between partners, maintaining a belay so that if he slipped I would arrest his fall.


The sun finally hits my foot as I belay.

While sitting there for what seemed like hours, my clock/altimeter was in my pocket and I could not reach it, visions of the movie 127 Hours went through my head. While I was not physically trapped with no escape, I was in a location that was cold and shaded with no real way to move until my job as the belayer was over. The sun had moved such that I could occasionally put my foot or elbow out enough to get a little of the sunshine which was a great feeling. I expressed my situation to Jason who was out of sight that I would really appreciate it if he could set an anchor and belay me over to somewhere sunny. While I was wearing long pants, a shirt plus a down jacket, the long exposure to the shade plus the fact that I had not had food for what seemed like hours was taking it's toll on me. Jason had to be near exhaustion as well from all the climbing and route finding so it was time to regroup.

Jason and I meet up again on a rather exposed ledge.

Jason belayed me up to a very exposed perch he had anchored at. The views were incredible and the summit appeared to be just above. We were both convinced that we were now on the correct route as mentioned in our readings. He asked what time it was and I was almost afraid to tell him. I had watched the progress of the sun and I knew many hours had passed. He thought it was about 1PM and I shook my head. The time was 4PM! It had taken 4 hours to make what really amounted to about 100 vertical feet of headway towards our goal. We both realized that to continue onward was foolish and might very likely mean spending the night on the mountain which neither of us wanted to do. It was very hard to come so far and have the summit in sight just 100 ft. above and have to turn back but no mountain is worth your life, especially for a couple of family guys. We did agree that we needed to eat something before beginning our retreat back down and we enjoyed the view while we ate a small snack, our first since breakfast that morning.

Jason raps down to the chute.

Our attention now turned to our first major obstacle, we needed to rappel back down to the chute where we could put the rope away and travel on the easier (note I did not say easy) ground we had traveled up in the chute. It took awhile to find a suitable anchor to sling for our rappel. We finally found one and I volunteered to go first. I love to rappel even though it is the most dangerous roped climbing activity because all your trust is in the anchor and the rope. When climbing these are just there in case you slip, on a rap it is all you've got! I made it down without incident and Jason soon followed.

Once in the relative safety of the chute I looked down it. I could not believe what I saw. The route up the chute which seemed steep but secure looked absolutely frightening from this angle! I was awestruck that we actually came up this like it was no big deal. We headed back down and enjoyed the warmth and relative safety of the chute. Not out of the woods yet by any means but we were much happier than the exposure we were facing just a short while ago. The next big hurdle was still below us as the chute would reach the chockstone and go vertical. We diverted as before and had a difficult time finding a good route down. The way down always looks harder than the way up and this proved to be no exception. It was getting late, near 7PM, and we both worried about getting down before dark plus we were concerned for our friend Aleshia who was waiting for us down below and we certainly would not be back by even our late return estimate of 7PM. We spent a lot of time trying to find either a good route to downclimb around the chockstone or a good anchor point to put a sling on and rappel back into the chute. We were not having much luck finding either. Finally Jason spotted what looked like a route down and we proceeded to downclimb it all the way back to the chute. Upon reaching the base of the downclimb we both breathed a sigh of relief. The last major obstacle had been surmounted and now we just needed to not dislodge a rock in the steep chute and we should be home free! We got within view of camp and called out for Aleshia and waved our arms so that she could see two people descending to help relieve her of any anxiety she must have been feeling at that time.

Completely exhausted both physically and mentally we rolled into camp and met up with Aleshia. She congratulated us and asked us how we did. I told her to give me a minute and stumbled closer to her, literally dropped my pack and asked for a hug. I then apologized for being late back to camp and causing her to worry about us. We told our stories of our climb while she shared her adventure to the wonderful lake a short hike below camp.

It was Jason's turn for dinner and he made chicken stuffing with a twist. He had cooked up some chicken at home and kept it cold on a snow bank near camp until now. Our chicken stuffing had fresh chicken, some additional spices and was topped off by some fresh celery he had brought. It was a simple meal but boy was it good. We were both extremely hungry after our day out and we ate every last bit.

Over tea that evening we discussed our future plans. Jason and I had already given up on North Pal due to the reports from Kurt on our route. Neither of us were that excited to do a 6 mile off trail trek to Mt. Sill over loose rock quite probably facing the same type of conditions we had just encountered in the chute. Aleshia was not keen on that either so we decided that the next day would be a lazy day exploring the lake below camp. Before bed we suggested that Aleshia who was freezing the night before might want to use her space blanket under her sleeping bag to help insulate her a little better. I did offer her a spot in my tent if she was too cold as Jason and I have discovered on our winter trips that our tent stays quite nice inside with the two of us in it. We all went to bed and once again Jason and I sweated while she froze, I never heard a knock on my tent door either.

Upper Barrett Lake below me.

We lazily got up for day three and were in no hurry to do anything. We set off to explore the upper of the Barrett Lakes in the Palisade Basin a little below camp. Once we arrived at the lake we found a beautiful meadow where we could wade in the water, swim and have a fine lunch while soaking our feet. Jason was the first daring one to jump in the lake. It was cold but he said it felt good. I broke out a mozzarella, prosciutto and basil roll and sliced it up and served it on crackers with a little Grey Poupon, but of course. What a contrast to the day before!

Aleshia and Jason show off lunch.

Upon finishing lunch we explored the lake. Fish were supposed to have been eradicated from this lake as they were not native here. The Forest Service was trying to bring back the yellow legged toad which originally lived in these lakes but had been eliminated with the introduction of trout. Jason was extremely upset to find out that there were a few trout in this lake. He was upset not because of the fish but rather that he had left his fishing pole at home! Before we left the lake we all decided to take a Sierra shower, a cold dip in the lake, and dry out before returning to our camp.

Back at camp it was my night for dinner. We were all happy to be able to enjoy an earlier dinner than the last few nights that would not involve headlamps. Aleshia was the first to notice that the clouds we had observed earlier to the west were now dumping rain. It looked like those on the John Muir Trail far below and to the west were getting soaked but the clouds did not appear to be moving our way so for now we were safe. My recently developed trail tacos recipe was on that nights menu. We had all been looking forward to it as we had sampled it on the Bridge to Nowhere hike where I have detailed the recipe. We enjoyed our dinner and I was proud to be awarded the best group dinner. All of them were good but this one not only tastes great but also is very visually appealing with fresh avocado, cheese and salsa completing the color palette.

My award winning Trail Tacos.

Since Aleshia was cold the last two nights, we asked a few more probing questions as by our estimations, she was doing everything right and it did not make sense. I asked her if her air mattress was insulated.......no was the reply. Eureka! I think we just discovered the issue. As I had been roasting the last few nights I gladly offered to swap her my insulated air mattress for hers. I had to assure her that I would be fine to get her to take it as she did not want me to be cold. That night was great, I finally zipped up my bag so my temps were just right and she wound up stripping off several layers of clothing as she was finally too warm. A good lesson to be learned there for sure.


Looking back towards Bishop Pass from our final camp.

We had decided the night before that rather than trying to hike out in a single day that we would enjoy ourselves and hike back in two days. We packed up in the morning and and began the long off trail hike back over to Bishop Pass. It took us until a little after 1PM to get to the top of of the pass despite using a much better high route on our return. We had spotted some beautiful lakes from the top of the pass and settled on making camp somewhere near Bishop Lake just below us at the bottom of the switchbacks. We set up camp and goofed off all afternoon. Now the fact that Jason had not brought a fishing pole was really eating at him as the fish were taunting him, leaping out of the water just in front of him. We all took another Sierra shower and explored. I opted to sleep out on this final night as we were lower and the bugs were not too bad. Without a group dinner officially planned we all ate what we had left in our bear canisters and consumed the remaining beverages we had. I had a great time taking pictures both before and after dark. It would have been nice to have a tripod but I made do with rocks to get some low light and night shots before heading to bed. I traded air mattresses with Aleshia again so she would be warm and I would be comfortable as well.


Peak 12689 eclipsing the moon above camp.

The morning came and it was time to make a quick packup and head back to the truck. We wanted to have lunch in Bishop and only had 4 miles to hike out so this was to be by far the easiest day yet. We got on the trail at 9AM and planned on being back at the truck at 11AM. The hike out was lovely and gave me time to reflect on the trip. Doing three fourteeners was perhaps overly aggressive. The long hike in was much more than I had expected especially with the difficult off trail portion. I was disappointed to have not summited even one of the fourteeners. At the time I was descending Thunderbolt I know I was ready to throw in the towel on the whole idea of climbing the California fourteeners. It is painful to think about going back to just complete the last 100ft. but with the knowledge I now have I think it would be much easier, especially if we have a little more rock climbing experience under our belt.

Within the last two miles of the trek we came across a group of people hiking up the trail. It appeared to be some teenage kids hiking out front, the parents in the middle and their grandfather pulling up the rear. It reminded me of how fortunate I am to have been hiking with both my boys, my sister and my parents as recently as a week prior up in Mammoth. I thought to myself that I only hope I am so lucky as to be brought along on the trail by my boys with their families in another 35 years to share in their experiences on the trail. The thought of this brought a tear to my eye much as it does even as I write this. Perhaps they will be taking me to complete that fourteener that evaded my grasp so many years ago.

For the full slide show of this trip please click here.


Alpenglow on the Palisades. Thunderbolt Peak left of center and North Palisade right of center.

Backpacking the Bridge To Nowhere

2011-08-17T10:08:00.000-07:00


The Bridge To Nowhere

With the record year of rain and snowfall, the local mountains have been full of water in the creeks and rivers late into the summer. The East Fork of the San Gabriel River is a popular spot for many hikers, gold panners and day adventurers as they are drawn to the cool and refreshing waters of this river that are so easily accessed in the mountains above Azusa, CA. The most popular hiking destination in this area these days is the Bridge to Nowhere, a bridge built in 1936 deep back in the canyon of the East Fork. The history on this bridge is quite interesting but in summary it was built to complete a road that got washed out and was later abandoned in 1938 leaving a bridge, in the middle of nowhere, that dead ends into the side of a mountain. A very strange sight to come across in the middle of the wilderness indeed!

A group of eight of us headed back to overnight somewhere near the bridge. It has changed a lot since I did this when I was around 19 and mountain biked/hiked my way back there with a few friends. Back then we wore backpacks and rode our bikes mostly on trail but a little on portions of the old road. Back then we slept on the bridge itself. Today there are only vague traces of the fact there was a road there at all as most has been washed away. Amazing what 20 years of erosion has done this area since I was last there. The bridge is also now overrun by bungee jumpers and us hikers are allowed to cross but not loiter on the bridge. Back when I went there on a mountain bike the three of us on the trip were the only people that made it to the bridge that day, now nearly 100 people are gathered on it on the weekend.

Jason's piece of driftwood points the way.

The trip back to the bridge is not necessarily difficult but does require a little determination. The trail in areas can be hard to follow and multiple use trails and river crossings make this task more difficult. It can get rather warm during the summer but the cool water is very refreshing, in fact we looked forward to the water crossings as an opportunity to cool off.


Upriver exploration

Jason and I practice our rock climbing technique and anchors

Mike enjoys our swimming hole adjacent to camp

The great news about this rather popular and heavily traveled area is that once you pass the bridge and continue hiking up the river into the narrows, the crowds nearly disappear! Our plan was to pass the bridge and find a suitable camping location to make camp at and then do whatever each of us felt like doing. Between a half mile to a mile past the bridge we came across numerous camp sites, some occupied, others available but to small, and finally one that met our requirements. It was big enough for all the tents, and nice rocks to sit on and a great swimming hole and cascade in the river next to camp. We quickly set up camp and immediately afterward proceeded to go swimming. After a few hour swim and sunning session we broke up and went different ways. Several headed up river to explore, Mike stayed around camp to test his luck gold panning, while Jason and I practiced our rope and anchor systems for an upcoming trip to the Sierras where we will likely need to place anchors and use a rope for protection on some class 4 routes up a few fourteeners. The afternoon was hot and the rock we were climbing was scalding our hands at times but we all accomplished what we wanted and rolled back into camp around 6:30.

Clark's chicken quesadillas, always a great appetizer

Our evening was just a giant food fest! Clark kicked it off with making some chicken quesadillas complete with fresh avocado. Others had some store bought freeze dried meals, tried and true freezer bag meals and Jason cooked up some peppers, onions and sausage. I had worked up a new freezer bag meal to test for making burritos and tacos on the trail as we had commented on a recent trip how much we would like something like that. The taco meat portion of the meal was perfect but I had brought some fresh grated cheddar that did not hold up to well in the heat of the day. Thankfully Clark had some extra store bought grated cheese that has proven to hold up on our Catalina trip so I used that to finish of the soft tacos along with a little left over avocado and our group favorite, jalapeno salsa from Chick-Filet. I had plenty of taco fixings to share and everyone who tried it agreed that this is a must do meal on our future trips. What is the recipe you ask? See the end of this entry for the details.

We all ate so much at dinner that the only dessert that was shared was some astronaut ice cream. The fresh popped pop corn and cheesecake would have to wait for another trip. We opted instead to drink more fluids to replenish ourselves, hot tea, electrolytes, San Peligrino and lime, and even a little wine. Just before going to bed a few even decided to go for a swim by headlamp. Apparently the headlamps really are waterproof! Under a full moon, we all headed to bed around 11PM.


Heading out through the Narrows in the morning.

The following morning was a simple get up, packup, eat a quick breakfast and head out. It seemed much hotter than the day before. We rolled out of camp around 10AM. I wanted to look for the tunnel that was being blasted into the rock that was to meet up with the bridge. I went into the tunnel 20 years ago but just a little. I figured this time we had way better headlamps and more of them. Unfortunately erosion and time have had there way and I could locate where the tunnel entrance once was but it is now covered in dirt and rock and is buried.

A bungee jumper takes a leap of faith!

Our group photo on the bridge.

Plenty of people were once again at the bridge for bungee jumping. The guys running this operation have figured out how to make more money out of this canyon than the miners ever did! There were plenty of people lined up to jump and during our hike back we came across a line of nearly 50 of them hiking up to the bridge. As was expected, there were plenty of people once again as we returned back to our cars.

All in all it was great, relaxing trip with lots of fun. I liked it better in the old days with far fewer people but at least they are getting to enjoys it as well. This is definitely a great hike for intermediate hikers looking to have fun in the water and enjoy playing in their surroundings.

Trail Tacos:
Serves 3

1/2 cup freeze dried ground beef
1/2 cup taco TVP
1/4 cup freeze dried corn
1/4 cup instant black beans
1 T taco seasoning
1 T dried onion
2 C boiling water

Flour tortillas (about 7) or hard taco shells or Fritos (you figure out how you want it!)
Store bought grated mexican cheese blend , 8 oz. (holds up well on the trail)
Favorite salsa or hot sauce packets (Chick-Fil-A Jalapeno Salsa is our favorite)
Avocado and or fresh tomato if desired

Place all above dry ingredients in a 1 quart Ziplock freezer bag. Add the hot water, seal the bag and place in an insulated cozy for 20 minutes. Remove and stir and spoon into tortillas, place over Fritos, or for low carb just eat it out of the bag. Use cheese, salsa, avocado and tomato if desired. I get the meat, TVP, corn and beans from Shelf Reliance.

Trans Catalina Trail, Hiking the Island

2011-06-13T11:12:00.000-07:00

Well summer has arrived and what better way to celebrate than spending 4 days in the Channel Islands off the coast of California. Our destination was Catalina island to hike the fairly new Trans Catalina Trail (TCT) that was officially opened back in 2008. My friends wife Michelle has been wanting to do this ever since she had heard about it so this was her trip to coordinate. What she discovered is that since this trail has really only existed for a few years, there is not much information floating around out there about it. Our goal was to not only do the hike but also document it well enough that this blog posting will serve as a great reference document for future hikers of the TCT. Our backpacking group consisted of Michelle, co-workers Mike D., Clark and I as well as a good friend of Clark and Michelle, Mike Y.

Officially the TCT is just over 37 miles and stretches from just south of Avalon to the northwestern point of Starlight Beach. Since you cannot easily get dropped off or picked up at either end of the trail, a little extra hiking and backtracking is involved which made our hike a total of 52 miles with about 9,000 ft. of elevation gain and we planned on covering it in 4 days. Three of those days would be used to complete the TCT and the last day was to get ourselves back to a port we could catch a ferry home from. More on that later. How can a hike on an island with a high point of 2,010 ft. have 9,000 ft. of elevation gain you ask? Simple, there is NO flat trail on this island!

The island of Catalina sits about 26 miles off the coast of California. It is mostly managed by the Catalina Island Conservancy. The Conservancy was responsible for completing the trail and appear to be the promoters of this route. What we found when researching the trip is that apparently few people have actually hiked the whole thing and even fewer have it done it in a contiguous manner. Most who had done it before complained of difficult navigation and it being a very strenuous route.

The planning stage was rather difficult for the above mentioned issues. We decided we could get away fror 4 days to complete the route. We were able to view some of the camping locations and to do the route in 4 days we planned on day 1 from Avalon to Blackjack, 15 1/2 miles, day two Blackjack to Two Harbors, 13 miles, day three Two Harbors to Starlight Beach and back to Parsons Landing, 16 miles, and day 4 Parsons Landing back to Two Harbors via the coastal road, 7 miles. Michelle booked campsites online for Blackjack, Two Harbors and Parsons Landing with the Catalina Conservancy.

Michelle informed me that I was in charge of maps and navigation. Well I have not gotten any of us lost yet so I accepted the job. Finding maps proved difficult. Since the TCT was only officially completed in 2008 you will need a fairly recent map. I checked for maps at the usual places and had no luck. Some have said that you can get a map of the trail at the Catalina Island Conservancy located in Avalon but I really wanted this information long before I got there. I finally found what I was looking for after poking around the Catalina Island Conservancy website where they have a great collection of maps as pdf files available for free download. With the maps in hand and some additional information on the trail segments from the Conservancy I was ready to do my research and get a feel for the route. One of the best maps they provided had the full trail shown along with the elevation profile. I realized quickly that this was not going to be a flat hike! They even have a smartphone app to help but since I NEVER rely on electronic devices on the trail I ruled that out.

I had been to Two Harbors to camp in the past and Clark, Michelle and Mike Y. had been to Parsons Landing to camp. We all knew what to expect at those locations. Two Harbors has everything, food, water, bathrooms, showers, store, the works. Parsons is primitive. They have pit toilets and your campsite includes a bundle of wood and 2 1/2 gallon jug of water in a locker. You can purchase additional water/wood if needed ahead of time and get a key for additional lockers. Blackjack was to have water and pit toilets and again a locker with a bundle of wood came with the site.

Michelle had made our ferry reservations. We utilized Catalina Express out of San Pedro as they had the earliest arrival times in Avalon and also serviced Two Harbors. We boarded the early boat which got us to Avalon a little after 9AM. Once we arrived we had to find the location to check-in and get our hiking permit and locker key. This location is known to change so it is best to get that info directly from the Conservancy when you place your reservation.

The street to begin our hike in Avalon.

We were finally ready to begin the hike.I had to look over some instructions provided by the Conservancy about the actual start point as the TCT does not begin in town. It officially begins about a mile and half south of Avalon at the intersection of Wrigley Rd. and Renton Mine Rd. which you can easily view on Google to figure out how to get there. The road to get there starts off with a good climb out of Avalon. I was happy to have lightweight gear on this trip. My pack was only 26 1/2 lbs with 4 days of food, fuel and 3 liters of water. Less food and water it would have been 15 lbs!

Official start point of the TCT.

The views as you climb up along Wrigley Rd. are great. You can really get some nice photos of Avalon as you make your way to the official starting point of the TCT. As Wrigley Rd. begins to descend you will quickly reach the start point on your right clearly marked with a sign showing the Trans Catalina Trail and pointing up Renton Mine Rd. From here you are heading up a dirt road that is only accessed by hikers and bicycles. They did do a good job at keeping the TCT free of vehicles. While a little over half of the entire route is road, you will not see cars as they are not allowed on these sections.

The TCT leaves the road and transitions to trail.

Our first day was long and rather warm. We were relieved to discover that shortly after the TCT left the road and transitioned to trail that you reached Haypress Reservoir where you can fill up with water from the tap as they have a small picnic area there. The trail continues next to the playground and I missed it. Fortunately the others in the group spotted the TCT trail sign and we were back on the trail. The trail gets fairly faint intermittently for the next couple miles or so and you really need to keep an eye out for the little brown markers that say TCT next to the trail. We had no problem following the trail but then again we had five sets of eyes to spot the markers in the difficult sections. It is also nice that every mile on the TCT they have a short wooden marker showing your mileage.

Some of the buffalo herd brought to the island by the Wrigley's

The first nights destination was Blackjack campground and after looking at the map we realized it was adjacent to the highest point on Catalina which is 2,010 ft. with the campground maybe 200 ft. below that. The transmitter on the summit had been our marker all day as it had been in sight off and on throughout our hike. It was finally getting closer but not without yet another descent then climb back up to our final destination. We reached Blackjack around 6:30PM and all were exhausted. We are used to climbing mountains but the constant up and down is not what we typically do. We gained about 4,000 ft. of elevation on the first day and had clocked 15 1/2 miles. We were happy to see that there were outdoor cold showers at Blackjack. We had a nice campfire, ate dinner and retreated to our tents early as it had been a long day as we had been up since around 5AM to get to the port that morning.

See the little people on the ridge?

The happy crew at the airport.


Waterfront camping at Two Harbors.

Our second day was to be easy. Only about 2,000 ft. of elevation gain and a short 12 1/2 miles. We finally headed out of camp around 8:30AM after tending to blisters on Michelle and Mike Y. Our first destination was the airport. We arrived there in about an hour and enjoyed the shade, store, flush toilets, warm water and hospitality. There is a cafe there but we were too early. Snacks and beverages were available. We then headed down and easy road that descended all the way to the coast at Little Harbor. This was a campground as well and had a very nice beach. Some people were surfing in the the adjacent Shark Harbor and it made a great picture spot. We had lunch at a picnic table right on the beach and made use of the bathrooms and fresh water that was also available here. If we planned the hike again we all thought this would be a great place to add an extra day and finish day 2 here. That was not in our master plan so after lunch we were off to Two Harbors. Remember the 2,000 ft. of gain I mentioned? Well here it comes and most of it in the first two miles. The climb up out of Little Harbor was tough but the views off the ridgeline we were on were stunning. The trail finally dropped down into Two Harbors 5 miles later where we had all the amenities of a small town. Everyone frowned when they learned that camp was just over a small hill 1/4 mile away. Once at camp we set up our tents and cleaned up. A few spent the big bucks and walked back to town for a hot shower, 90 seconds of water for 50 cents, while the rest of us took semi-cold showers at the campground. We all met up back in town for buffalo burgers and a few fermented beverages were consumed.


Michelle's foot patched up for day 3.

Michelle and I near Silver Peak with clouds rolling in.

The view from Fenceline Rd. down to Parson's

Day three involved some tough decisions. It was to be our hardest day yet, 16 miles and 4,500 ft. of elevation gain. Two in our party had decided they were not up to uphill/downhill and opted for the shoreline road out to Parson's Landing. Three of us, including Michelle with her blistered and swollen feet were off to tackle the big hill between us and Parson's where hopefully we would all meet up for lunch and then figure out who was going on to Starlight Beach. This is a section of trail that is easy to follow on the map but not very well signed. You have to head back to the trail you came into Two Harbors on and continue to the right. I never saw a sign pointing you left toward the north side Catalina Harbor. We turned where I knew we needed to based on the map and followed the dirt road along the north side of Cat Harbor where we finally came across the mile 27 marker indicating we were headed the right way. Miles 28 and 29 will leave you cursing! They are steep and hot. Soon after you reach Fenceline Rd. which descends STEEPLY down towards Parson's Landing. This is the official TCT. In our opinion, it would have been better to route the trail onward to Silver Peak and down to Starlight Beach which would save several miles overall and in looking at the topo maps would save you from some very steep sections. Since we planned on doing the full TCT start to finish we followed the trail along Fenceline Rd. which was noted by others as being very steep. At first I wondered what all the fuss was about, it was steep but not that bad. After a awhile the trail really showed it's ugly self and I would rate it a 10 out of 10 on the black toenail scale. If you don't know what I am talking about, you really don't hike long, steep downhills do you?

The final trail to Parson's Landing just ahead.

Clark at the terminus of the TCT, Starlight Beach.

The view of Parson's below me as we return from Starlight.

As we neared Parson's Landing we met up with the others in the group. We all arrived at Parson's for lunch which was yet another stunning beach to enjoy. We ate and Michelle was thinking hard if she would continue. Her feet were in bad shape and we knew we had 9 miles and 2,500 ft. of gain left in the day. The Catalina Conservancy information is very deceiving at times and it lists the elevation change at 666 ft. for this section. They only list the total difference from the highest to lowest point, one way and leave out the fact that you will gain it several times....each way! Three of us left Parson's together but Michelle turned around about a 1/2 mile out of camp. She wanted to make the end so bad but realized she also had to get back, not just to camp, but back to Two Harbors the following day. It was a very difficult decision to make and in hindsight it was the best one. Clark and I continued on to the end at Starlight Beach and the so called trail had some exceptionally steep ups and downs that would have torn her feet up even worse. Clark and I finally made it to Starlight and took our pictures and put our feet in the ocean for the first time on the trip. We both wanted to swim as we were rather hot from the strenuous hike out here but didn't have a towel and feared the hike in wet clothes would be rather destructive on our already worn out bodies. It was great to make it to the end of the TCT but sad we could not all finish it together. We left Starlight and kept a brisk pace and returned to Parson's with our one way time at and hour and a half. It was now 5:30PM and the breeze was blowing and I was cold once I stopped hiking. Clark still went in the ocean, I needed to but did not want to freeze so I put on some dry clothes I had washed the evening prior. I nearly fell asleep in my tent as laying down felt so good after the exhausting day that included the completion of the TCT.

Great sunset at Parson's Landing.

Mike Y. serenades us with his didgeridoo.

Clark & Michelle's tent and the Big Dipper.

That night we used up most of the food we had left, had a raging campfire and Mike Y. who had carried his didgeridoo on the whole trip played a little for us fireside. The sunset view at Parson's is unbelievable and we all took a few photos of the event. I headed to bed a little ahead of everyone else who played a marathon game of UNO that lasted over an hour for a single hand. I did wake up as they were going to bed and grabbed some nice shots of the stars before I was done for the night.

In the morning we all wished we had an extra day. Michelle felt she could have gone to Starlight that morning after having a good rest. We had a boat to catch back in Two Harbors at 4:15PM and only 7 miles of flat trail/road separating us from our destination. We lazily packed up camp and headed out. The final hike back to Two Harbors was very scenic, following the coastline the whole way. We walked past a couple of the Boy Scout camps on the island, Emerald Bay and Cherry Valley as well as several other camps. The sight of Two Harbors brought joy to all of us. Our feet were tired and we were hungry. We did not plan a lunch for the last day as we would enjoy what the town had to offer. More buffalo burgers and fermented beverages were consumed. We limped around town with all the other folks there. We even met some guys with a ukelele that were playing some lovely island music who took interest in the didgeridoo. I said they need to work up a duet for the two instruments, jokingly I thought. These guys used the WiFi access and looked up one and had a little jam session there at the bar. A strange combo of instruments indeed but plenty fun none the less.

Cherry Valley BSA camp.

The boat ride home was calming and drew to an end yet another incredible adventure. We discussed what we would do differently if we did it again. Adding two days would be great. One extra day to stay at Little Harbor and another at Parson's Landing would be ideal. It would let you alternate hard days with easy days and provide more time at the end of every day (except the first) to play in the ocean while it is still warm and the afternoon winds and clouds have not developed. We also would have preferred to not taken Fenceline Rd. and instead head from Two Harbors directly out to Starlight Beach and then back to Parson's. We still are not sure why this is not the official route of the TCT. We also all agreed that the published information from the Catalina Conservancy is a little misleading. While they post elevation gain for each segment of the trip, they do it by only comparing your starting elevation to finish elevation for that segment. This leaves out all of the ups and downs along the way of which there are many. The most grossly understated elevation change is the final trek from Parson's to Starlight as I had mentioned earlier. This was a strenuous hike and this is coming from us who have hiked numerous peaks and logged hundreds of miles climbing the highest points in California. For an island with a high point of 2,010 ft., the TCT's elevation gain will kick your butt!

Our final view of Two Harbors as we approach it for the last time.

This adventure was a major change from my recent snowbound journeys in the Sierra's. I will admit, I prefer the mountains over the beaches but that is my personal preference. Perhaps growing up and working in Huntington Beach for all of my 41 years has filled my enthusiasm for beaches. With that said, if there ever was a beach journey to take, the TCT should be at the top of your list.

The full collection of pictures can be viewed by clicking here.

Exploring the San Mateo Wilderness and Doing it Ultralight!

2011-05-04T09:12:00.000-07:00


Clark and I enter the San Mateo Wilderness.

It is now the end of April. I was supposed to be headed to Mt. Whitney for a multi-day climb of the Mountaineers Route this weekend. After my Split Mountain adventure I headed up to Mammoth and again was faced with heavy winds, blasting snow and cold days. Upon my return from that trip I laid a good coat of summer wax on the skis and informed my winter friends I was done for the season. My mind had moved on to warm weather excursions, ATV riding and summer backpacking at Catalina.

As a prep for our upcoming Trans-Catalina Trail (TCT) we needed to get out in some warm weather at low elevation with short but steep inclines. While we are always doing local day hikes we figured an overnighter is what we needed to shake down some new gear and try some new concepts on the trail. We decided upon a 2 day backpack trip within the San Mateo Wilderness in the Cleveland National Forest straddling the Orange/Riverside County line just south of the Ortega Hwy. Our route would start at the infamous Candy Store (Bear Canyon Trailhead) and take us south to Tenaja Falls and Fishermans Camp where we would overnight and return via a different trail following a ridge the next day. The total loop was to be 22 miles and evenly split between the two days.

I have been doing a really good job at lightening my pack on my recent winter trips. I have removed a lot of stuff that I have not touched all season and have done a much better job at not bringing too much food. So many trips ended with a bag full of uneaten food amounting to several extra pounds. With this trip heading out on a weekend with daytime temps in the 80's and nights at 50 it seemed like going light, or ultralight, seemed like a good idea.

Clark's pack on the left, mine on the right at 14.8 lbs!

My major items would be a sleeping bag (Mountain Hardware Phantom 45, 1lb), sleeping pad (Thermorest NeoAir, 1lb), alcohol stove system with fuel (10 oz.), my new ultralight tent (AppyTrails Mark III, just under 2lbs with Tyvek groundcloth and stakes), 3L Camelback bladder and my REI 18L Flashback to stuff it all in. Yes I had my first aid kit and ten essentials as well but it was a lightweight version. My personal clothing consisted of an extra pair of underwear, socks, long sleeve shirt and a backpacking towel. No jacket on this trip, I would just double up my shirts. I did splurge on a 2.3 oz. backpacking pillow as I had no jacket to wad up for that purpose. I also left the camera at home as hauling a 2.2 lb. digital SLR camera kind of goes against ultralight packing. I would rely on Michelle to take pictures on this trip. Without food or water I was at 8 1/2 lbs.! With food loaded up and 2 liters of water I had 14.8 lbs total to put on my back. This was a new record for me! I even wore a lightweight pair of trail shoes rather than the leather boots I have always worn in the past. My friends traveling with me had differing tactics. Michelle went lightweight while Clark made up for all of us and traveled heavy. He claims it was the lightest his pack had ever weighed at 40 lbs. which was true, at least this time he did not carry a TABLE strapped to the back of his pack! Even their dog Ranger was required to carry his own load.


Strolling through the woods on our way to the falls.

The trip from the trailhead down to Tenaja Falls was very scenic as the whole area was very green from the abundant rain we had this year. While we did not have grand views of mountains and lakes we did have very nice scenery and enjoyed walking through fields of wildflowers and oak covered trails with small creeks still flowing everywhere. We reached the falls, 8 1/2 miles into the hike, around noon. They were crowded as they can be reached via a much shorter route (less than a mile). We enjoyed lunch at the falls and put our feet in the water. Clark decided he would submerge himself in the rather cold water which wasn't a bad idea as it was warm day.


Michelle, Ranger and I at the top of the falls.


More hanging out at the falls.

We left the falls and headed towards our evening destination, Fishermans Camp. When we arrived there we discovered a Boy Scout Troop of about 20 people had descended upon it before us. Not only were all the descent camp spots taken, we were there to enjoy nature and get away from it all, not camp on top of somebody else. We decided to head down the trail another mile to our next scheduled trail junction and look for a better spot along the way. This proved to be a great choice because once we reached the junction of the San Mateo Creek Trail and North Tenaja Trail we discovered a beautiful camp location complete with a sandy beach along the creek, a babbling brook, shade trees and numerous flat tent areas. We were happy to have found such a secluded location with all the amenities. This location was far superior to Fishermans Camp so the crowd really did us a favor.


My new ultralight tent, big enough for 2 adults.

Now it was time to test out my new tent. Up to now, my ultralight travel had gone very well. The small pack performed perfectly although I did need to lash the tent to the outside of the pack. I had practiced the setup of the tent a few times at home in the backyard to make sure I had it down and had already rigged it with the appropriate cord. I used my trekking poles as the tent poles and had the tent set up rather quickly. Because it must be staked out I did have to hunt for a less sandy location so that my tent stakes could really hold. With the tent set up I moved in my stuff and was very impressed with how much room this lightweight tent had in it. To save weight, the tent does not have a floor. I had ordered and cut a sheet of Tyvek to make a footprint for the tent and used that. The tent was good enough to keep flying bugs out but not good enough to stop the crawling type. No big deal to me if it means shedding 3 or more pounds out of my pack!


The new tent was very roomy given the low weight.

Clark broke out the radio and the camp chairs, water filter, the cooking pot and heavy liquid fuel stove. I grabbed my iodine tablets and meager alcohol stove and we commenced on dinner. I noticed that a strange thing occurs when multiple people are travelling with different concepts or ideas. Even though Clark had a water filter, I wanted to prove I did not need it and purified my own water. Clark refused to leave his heavy stove behind and just bring a few ounces of alcohol for mine. He wanted to check his new large pack with a heavy load. Michelle's new pack was really cutting into her shoulder even with her light load. I offered to swap packs with her but she decided she got herself into this and was going to get herself out of it. I am not sure if this is a common phenomena or if we are all just the most stubborn people on earth!


Clark, Michelle and Ranger at our lovely camp.

After dinner we sat around and enjoyed the radio along with a few games of Uno, our favorite trailside pasttime. Clark whipped up a batch of popcorn that I was more than happy to eat even though there is no way I would carry a pot or enough fuel to cook it! We finished up our game of Uno and headed to our tents. The frogs were really going off that night. These were not your typical croaking frogs, these were frogs that made very long groaning sounds. With about 3 of them near my tent I was serenaded ALL night long!

Having travelled ultralight I had skimped on a jacket. In the middle of the night that was looking like a bad idea. I was cold and shivering. I pulled my thin backpacking towel out of my pack and wrapped my head with it. It may not sound like much but that was all I needed to be comfortable for the rest of the night.

I was pleased to find that when morning rolled around that I had no moisture buildup in the tent. It was a dry weather pattern we were in but with a single wall tent that was zipped up all night you never know what will happen. We made our breakfast and packed up and rolled out of camp later than we would have liked at 9:30.

Our final picture overlooking San Mateo Creek.

Our first 1 1/2 miles were tough as we climbed 1,300 ft. to gain the top of the ridge behind our camp. The remainder of our hike was very beutiful as we were hiking along the ridgeline for most of the way back. We had views of San Jacinto, San Gorgonio, Baldy as well as the ocean. With temps in the upper 80's and only 2 liters of water in my pack I was hoping to finish before I went dry. We did as we finished a little after noon. We bypassed our optional Sitton Peak side excursion as it was just too hot and we were all ready for a good lunch.

Over a great lunch back in San Juan Capistrano we discussed our experiences. Michelle will return her new pack and go back to a smaller one she has used many times before. Clark the pack mule really liked his new even bigger pack even though he carried the lightest load ever, about 35-40 lbs. I was very pleased with my results on going ultralight with a new pack and tent. The pack was very small and I really had to plan ahead to keep the things I would need at lunch either at the very top of the pack or in my pockets. I just cannot fit anything else in the little pack and will have to use something bigger for Catalina as I will need to carry a little more food, fuel and clothing. If I can keep the Catalina weight to around the low 20 lb. range I will be extremely happy. I think I gave ultralight backpacking a really good try and did well. I am intrigued to see what other tricks are out there to not necesarily reduce weight but rather bulk so that I can get everything in my little 18L pack and even have a jacket next time! The learning never ends.

Backcountry Ski Trip to Split Mountain

2011-03-15T20:39:00.000-07:00

Split Mountain, 14,053 ft.

Having done some reading on the California Fourteeners, I thought a winter trip to Split Mountain on skis sounded like a good idea. I want to reach all of the fourteeners in the state and having recently acquired backcountry ski gear I am always looking for an opportunity to get out and use the stuff! My friend Jason was on board before I even finished telling him the plan. Like me, he is always up for a winter trip where skiing or splitboarding is a possibility. We tried to get some others to join us but had no luck. Once again, it was just the two of us for another backcountry adventure.

Split Mountain is located along the spine of the Eastern Sierras between Independence and Big Pine. The typical driving route to the trailhead is supposed to take 1 to 1 1/2 hours on some rather evil dirt roads as you leave Hwy 395. After doing a little research we found an alternate route that may cross private land, but may not and SHOULD not have any locked gates. It is rather tricky to navigate unless you are very good with a map, and fortunately we both are. We made it from the Hwy 395 to the trailhead in a half hour and wondered what everybody was making such a big deal about. No other cars were parked there as this is a rarely used trail even in the summer, let alone the winter!

Jason points the way up the canyon.

Is it rather odd to start a backcountry ski trip when you are standing in the high desert. Dry brush surrounded us and it was warm. We would be heading up the South facing side of the canyon where there was no snow until we got up another thousand feet. Surprisingly the other side of the canyon had a thin layer of snow nearly down to where we were parked but it looked too thin to travel on so we hiked. Having learned how uncomfortable long approaches are in my backcountry boots, I brought a light pair of tennis shoes to start the hike in. I figured I would just leave them alongside the trail when I transitioned to my boots and recover them on my return.

We didn't transition to skis until we were about a mile or more in. The trail to this point is just as others had described it.....crappy! This trail has probably not seen maintenance since the Great Depression and it showed. The lower sections are rocky and often lead you into a thicket of bushes near the creek. When we finally had reached snow it was so soft that were postholing yet it was not continuous enough to ski tour. When we finally reached the point to transition to skis we were both relieved. We did notice that on the other side of the canyon (north facing) the snow ran much further below us. Because of this we decided we would descend on that side which meant we would not be coming back the same way. This forced me to carry my lightweight hiking shoes on up the mountain.

Jason lays down a fresh skin track on virgin snow.

The ski tour was very nice for the next mile or so. Gently climbing and following easy terrain was a joy. Unfortunately one look up told us the story of what was still before us. There was a large climb to the top of the canyon and from our maps it looked like we needed to go to the highest point. We began the long climb up, kickturning our way up the steep slope. As we neared the top it was getting late in the afternoon and the sun had dropped behind Split Mountain. This meant that the snow was now cooling fast and quickly went from a soft, easy to traverse slope to an ice crusted face. I needed to lead as it is easier for me to edge with skis than it is with Jason's splitboard. He followed my track on up.

We finally made it to the top and saw that we needed to do a long traverse along a very icy surface with a slope around 35 degrees. As I had been edging for over the last hour I was getting tired of this. I pulled out my ski crampons from my bag of tricks. Like crampons for boots, these are designed to provide metal spikes along the side of your skis when traveling in icy conditions. I had never used them before and was very glad I had them now! I headed out and was silly how easy these made this. I wished I had been using them for the last hour! The only downside was that they sound like a cowbell as they make contact with the ice. All I could think about was the Saturday Night Live skit with Christopher Walken calling for "more cowbell!" We needed a little humor to keep going this late in the day and that provided it.

We arrive at camp and view our goal, late!

We finally rounded the ridge on our traverse and saw what we had been waiting for, the headwall of Split Mountain. This meant we had arrived at the area we planned on camping, Red Lake. It was totally snow covered so we set up camp where we had some trees for a little wind protection and most importantly, a flat spot for the tent. Jason was not very perky and was ready to get camp set up. We got the tent set up quickly as it was already 5PM and darkness would be upon us within two hours tops. We got that done and anchored the tent very well with my homemade snow anchors, a tip I picked up from Jason. Jason then asked me what my thoughts were on having a fire? We were within the area we could have one, just barely, and it sure would make the cold more tolerable. I said I thought it would be great and he instantly got to work building a nice fire pit on an snowless patch just 15 feet from the tent. Before long we were getting water going on my stove and enjoying the warmth of a fire. There was plenty of wood around which was surprising with all the snow but we came up with enough for the evening without much trouble.

A campfire to lift our spirits.

It was finally time to take it all in. We were surrounded by immense beauty. Split mountain jetting up from Red Lake right before us and we were the only people up there to enjoy it. With a fire to warm us, we stayed up until a little after 9PM, fairly late considering we had up since 2:30AM to make the drive up. We did not want to start the climb from camp up Split Mountain too early in the morning as we needed the sun to work it's magic and soften the icy surface on the snow to make travel easier; and safer.

The night brought some fairly gusty winds but our well anchored tent did perfectly. The forecasted temps for this elevation were to be 10 degrees at night and 29 during the day. That night might have been that cold outside the tent but with both of us in the tent it was running in the high 20's which was not so bad. We both slept fairly well and awoke to a sunshine filled morning and light wind. We got ready to head out and were heading for the summit by 8:30AM. We wanted to let the snow soften yet still allow us ample time to reach the summit and return under good snow conditions.

Me at the top of the false saddle with the true saddle and summit behind me.

The initial travel was a long gradual traverse heading toward the false saddle above Red Lake. The conditions were very icy as the sun had not yet hit this area. Jason was still using his crampons with his board on his back while I was making good progress with my ski crampons. As we started to climb the final leg toward the top of the saddle the weather had turned for the worse. High winds were blowing down the icy slope, clouds covered the sky and the peak and the surface was wind scoured and very icy. Jason was doing OK in full crampons and my ski apparatus was at it's limit. I made my way over to the side of the slope where I could safely transition to full boot crampons and put my skis on my pack. I made it up to the top of the slope to join Jason. From the top of the false saddle we could see the path to the true saddle on the ridgeline before us. It looked even worse than what we had just done. Ice was now blowing with the wind gusts and pelting any exposed flesh. The clouds continued to build and no sun was anywhere in sight. I looked at Jason and said, "I'm done.....".

Jason was a good sport and said, "I can turn around at any time..... I just didn't want to say it first." Fortunately we both recognized the danger in continuing onward. It was already around 11AM and there was still plenty more to go. Getting caught on the summit in what would surely be extreme winds and very icy conditions is not what we had in mind. The descent back to camp was not going to be that great as the sun never softened the snow and it would be another long, icy adventure. We took some pictures and wind readings. The wind was gusting to 40 MPH and the windchill was hitting -8 F. With the wind transporting large amounts of ice crystals I felt like I was inside a snowcone machine! Jason walked up to the 12,000 level next to the mountain for a picture before we packed up and headed down.

Back at camp looking toward the summit.

The downhill portion was a little scary as the slope was extremely icy. I locked the front bindings on my skis as I figured if one came off it would travel 1,500 ft. below to the frozen lake as ski brakes don't work well on ice. While making a turn on the icy slope I had a wipeout. I slid for at least 50 to 75 ft. before coming to a stop. My knee was in great pain. Here I was, in the middle of a steep, icy and windblown slope with my knee in extreme pain and not knowing if I was going to stay put or begin to slide again. I laid there for several minutes. Jason was below me and stopped. I could barely hear him ask if I was alright over the wind. I moved a little to let him know I was not totally incapacitated. I managed to get my skis situated and continued on over to meet him.

My knee hurt but in the binding it was not too bad as it limited the amount of movement. We made it back to camp just before noon. The sky looked even worse up high on the mountain as it was now covered in clouds clinging to the summit. I took off my ski boots and put on my down slippers to limit the weight swinging on my knee. I took some pain meds and settled in for what looked to be a pleasant afternoon by the fire. We collected wood, made meals and melted snow and drank plenty of fluids for the rest of the day. I was upset we did not summit but relieved to be back at camp really enjoying ourselves.

Clear night on Split Mountain.

The campfire once again provided hours of warmth and entertainment. Heating liquids and drying gear was also made much easier with our blaze. As night fell the winds picked up again. We ducked inside the tent again around 9 or so. Many fears ran through my head that night. Would my knee swell up or be in such pain that I could not make it out in the morning? Would the sun come out tomorrow and soften the slope or would it be another hair raising experience as we either downclimb or ice skate our way out with the wind gusting and blowing us around with full packs. In addition, the winds that night were very strong and woke us up multiple times. There were occasions where the wind was actually blowing under the tent. We stuck the anemometer out one of the vents and recorded winds at almost 40 MPH but we had also had worse ones. We stopped as the ice being blown along with the snow was coming in the tent and that was not good. Jason made a very profound statement, "Our lives are in the hands of a couple paper thin layers of nylon and Chinese stitching." We both got a laugh out of it but it was true. Without a tent we would be screwed! We both were exceptionally pleased at how well the REI Arete ASL 3 tent held up to a full side-on wind. We did not even run all the guylines out, just the basics and it still held.

Clothing break on the way down.

Morning came and with the sun came the change in the wind pattern we were hoping for. The gusts were less frequent and much milder. We got up and were pleased to see lots of sun! We were not in a hurry as we needed to let the snow soften so we casually packed up and got our gear ready. We tore down our fire pit and put the black sides of the rocks down. We headed out around 9:30AM. The snow conditions were great and my knee was a little better, certainly no worse than the night before.

We enjoyed 4,000 vertical feet and nearly 4 miles of skiing back toward the truck on untracked snow. This is what backcountry skiing is supposed to be! I did have a few wipeouts as I am not accustomed to skiing with a full pack and I was a little timid on the upper, steeper slopes due to my knee but I finally got into a good rhythm. We skied all the way back to within a 1/4 mile of the truck taking our gear off and hiking the remainder. I started the descent with 4 layers on top including a down jacket. We stopped a little over halfway down and stripped down to t-shirts as we were roasting! What a difference a few thousand feet and some sun make. I was so happy to see the truck after all the bad thoughts I had the night before. I was also rather tired from the long ski back down and did not bother taking off my pack for my first rest. I just opened the tailgate and laid face down on it and it felt so good!

The end of a great adventure.

I'm tired, I will rest right here!

Every trip is a new learning experience. Most of my backpacking has been where fires were prohibited but I must say that I will seek out more locations where this is allowed as it makes the time around camp much more enjoyable. In the future I will also stake out my tent better even if the wind is not blowing at that time as things change, quickly! Jason and I also discussed that perhaps our trips should be day tours to higher elevations and ski back down to the lower areas for the night. This will mean less wind, warmer nights and perhaps even some steaks on the bbq for dinner! All good lessons learned. I am eager to get out for more. I have a guided backcountry ski trip coming up in 2 weeks and I am sure I will learn plenty on that. At least on that trip we will be staying in a condo so no more frigid nights!

Click here for the complete set of photos for this adventure.

Skiing the Baldy Bowl

2011-02-10T14:58:00.000-08:00

With the less than harsh January weather of Southern California, my friend Edd figured it was time for a Brunch on Baldy hike in the 70 degree weather. It is not often we get to climb up Mt. Baldy in the snow with such pleasant temps in January so we figured we would head out and get it done before the weather changed.

As I now have backcountry skis this would be my first ascent on Baldy carrying my skis up and then carving turns down the bowl rather than glissading as I have done in the past. The dilemma I was faced with was what to wear? Sounds like my feminine side coming out I know but as a skier and a hiker I am sometimes put at odds. The main issue I was wrestling with was the boots. Backcountry ski boots are designed to be walked in but typically that is for on snow and not all that far. While they have settings to make them flex and you can buckle them loose to make them more comfortable for walking they are still no comparison to a good pair of regular boots for comfort. I thought about just bringing some lightweight hiking shoes for the approach and then switching to the boots for the climb up past the ski hut. This sounded great but that meant I would have to pack my heavy ski boots in my backpack. Problem is they will not fit in my new ski mountaineering pack and I would have to bring a bigger pack not designed for skis. To simplify things I just went with the ski boots for the whole trip.

As this was a brunch hike I planned on having a really nice meal at the top. I had planned a menu with my friend Jason to include carne asada omelets with jalapeno-muenster cheese, fresh onion and green peppers and topped with fresh tomatoes and avocado. I had also recently rigged up a device for toasting English muffins over my stove and we would have those as well. We were both to bring stoves as I would heat water for tea and then toast the muffins while Jason cooked up our omelets on his stove and pan. I am getting hungry just writing this!

We were to be on the trail by 6:30AM which meant a very early wake-up to get ready and meet my friends before driving up to the trail head at Manker Flats. I had a voice mail on my phone and unfortunately Jason could not make it as he had been out hiking the desert over the last two days and just home at 1AM the night prior. Bad news for me as he was to have the fry pan and stove for the omelets! Fortunately I made a quick phone call and arranged a new carpool and borrowed some time on my friend Edd’s stove with fry pan as my new stove will not fit anything other than a pot.

We got to the trail head in the dark and met up with the others in our group. We set out at about 6:45AM, with me in my ski boots. The hike up to the ski hut was not too bad but my pack was heavy with food for two (except only I would be eating it) and all my ski and avalanche gear. The avalanche danger was exceptionally low but there was evidence of some recent slides so it was better to be cautious.

Making our way up the bowl.

We reached the ski hut in a few hours and the snow below it had slowed us down as we kept stepping through it. We put on our crampons and helmets and grabbed our ice axes and were ready to head up the bowl to the summit. Due to the soft snow the trip up the bowl was very difficult. We sunk quite deeply with every step and had to kick step all the way up. While I had the largest feet and sturdiest boots by far, I also weighed more than anyone else, especially with all my ski gear. This made the climb up rather difficult, but those behind me really appreciated the gigantic platform steps I left for them. We all took turns leading to share the burden of kicking in the first steps.

We finally reached the summit at 12:30PM. I can’t say I was starving (that takes about 3 weeks with no food) but I was extremely hungry! My English muffin and a granola bar I had 7 hours prior was not much to go on for such a climb. It was windy on the summit so we dropped off the top and found some shelter in a tree well nearby. It was finally time to get down to the brunch portion of the brunch hike!

My backcountry English muffin toaster.

I got out my avalanche shovel and made a nice seat to start. I then passed the shovel off to my friends. It is amazing how such a simple tools is so valuable in the snow. I then proceeded to melt some snow and make hot water for tea. With my new MSR Reactor stove, this was done with lightning speed! If you read my blog on my Mammoth ski trip you will understand my frustration with waiting for hot water from snow melt. I then prepared my apparatus for toasting English muffins. It was nothing more than some stainless steel wire I fabricated into a circle with a tail that I could attach to the handle of my pot. A little positioning of the stove to obtain the ideal distance of 8 inches between burner and muffin (determined the day prior in the comfort of my kitchen) and I was toasting. I shared the toasted and buttered muffins with the group as we all share on these adventures. Edd finished with his stove and I proceeded to cook up my feast. With the fresh tomato and avocado topping off my breakfast scramble I easily won the best looking breakfast award! I did share some but my stomach kept me from sharing too much.

Geared up on the summit for a quick descent.

With brunch complete it was time to head down. I mounted my skis while others prepared for the glissade. The snow was soft as it was so warm out. This is nice for glissading the steep slope but not so good for skiing. As we descended I enjoyed the upper sections greatly. Wide open snow fields were great for making big sweeping turns. It felt great even though the snow had the consistency of mashed potatoes! As we neared the ski hut I had a hard time navigating through the rock and bushes on the line I had chosen. Fortunately the others did not see my wipeout as my path narrowed and one ski went over top of a bush mostly covered by snow. Not only did I fall but I broke through the snow and landed in the bush on my back. I felt like a poor turtle turned over and had to jettison my skis and get myself out of the hole I was in which was made more difficult by my pack. I walked the remainder of the way to the ski hut, a few hundred yards.

Back at the ski hut we put away all our ice gear and prepared for the walk back down. Some were complaining of cold feet. I on the other hand had the reverse problem. My boots worked great at keeping my feet warm in Mammoth in near zero degree weather but at that moment in the 70 degree heat my feet were soaked from sweat! I guess it is hard to make a breathable ski boot that works well at zero as well as 70 degrees.

The hike back down from the hut to the trail head always seems twice as long as it was on the way up. I was tired and my feet were now beginning to hurt. I could feel I had a few spots rubbing and they were completely wet. Back at the car it felt so good to remove my boots and let my feet breath. Putting on my tennis shoes was so rewarding as I felt like I was walking on air!

I always learn something on these trips. Long walks in backcountry ski boots suck! My new stove was awesome and could melt snow better than anything else I have ever used. My toaster apparatus worked great and I really enjoyed the hot English muffins on the trail. As always I learned more about the wildly different experiences you can have on snow based upon the current conditions. In the summer this is typically not an issue. It is going to be dirt and rock, just like the last time. In the winter you can have powder snow, warm soft snow, slush, ice, corn snow and you can even have all of these on the same trip! Now throw in the variable snow depths and quickly changing weather patterns and you can see why this is a challenging environment even for the most experienced winter adventurers. I will keep at it and build my skills in a slow and safe manor so I can continue doing this for a long time to come.

Kick Turns and the Crystal Crag

2011-01-04T14:18:00.000-08:00


Base camp below the Crystal Crag

What do you think of when you hear about two 40 year old guys heading off for 4 days to live it up? A couple of balding guys in a big red Cadillac convertible heading to Vegas to enjoy wine, women and song perhaps? Well how about we trade out the Cadillac convertible for a 4x4 pickup, we make the destination Mammoth instead of Vegas and we lose the wine, women and song and trade that out for backcountry skiing, mountaineering and snoring and farting in a tent. And by the way, only one of us has male pattern balding and it’s not me!

Once again my friend Jason and I are off to enjoy the snow. We have done Baldy and Mt. Shasta together in the past with me enviously looking at his split board as I have had to walk back down the mountains and he snowboarded the whole way back to the car. Well this Christmas season I decided it was time to do something about it. I researched exactly the gear I wanted, sold a kidney (you don’t really need two, right?) and proceeded to spend my riches on what I thought would be the perfect backcountry ski setup. My wife appreciated that she had to do no shopping for me at all. Boxes would arrive at the house and I just told her to give it to me for Christmas. If only shopping for her was this easy!

I am a pretty good resort skier so the backcountry ski concept seemed like a great way for me to enjoy my love of hiking, mountaineering and skiing all at the same time. I read up on the unique attributes of backcountry skiing of which there are apparently many. Skinning, or skiing uphill, kick turns to facilitate such an endeavor, use of ski crampons and setting a skin track were all new concepts to this downhill skier. My family must think I am nuts for putting on my ski gear and skis in the front room of the house to practice all these new skills I will need. After wiping out the manger scene my wife had set in front of the Christmas tree with my ski tails multiple times I had figured out how to do a kick turn. Now if doing these maneuvers on the snow is as easy as it is on the carpet, I am a master! As I was still a little rusty on my rope handling skills I had learned while taking a snow travel course 6 months prior, I also brushed up on those including butterfly coiling my new rope and making a kiwi coil for travelling in a roped up scenario. Easy to do in the comfort of my home in front of the fireplace, I just hope it translates well to the cold environment on the snow covered slopes.

With just a couple days until our departure the weather at our destination, the Mammoth Lakes area, turned for the worst. Heavy snow and winds gusting up to 75MPH were in the forecast. As I had learned on Mt. Shasta, it pays to be flexible when planning trips in snowy environments. We opted to delay a couple days. The new days had some partly sunny days and light snow in the forecast with minimal wind for the first two days and no wind report for the final two. The temps would be cold with our first night at -5F and the high on the last day of 20F with the rest somewhere in between.

We departed home at 3AM and got up to Mammoth at a reasonable time. We had noticed that my fuel bottle for my 25 year old stove was leaking so we headed into our favorite gear shop in town, Mammoth Mountaineering, and got a new and improved fuel pump for the old reliable MSR XGK and headed over to get our permit. All went well at the Forest Service office and they reminded us of the high avalanche danger (this sounds like the Shasta trip all over again) and off we went to our trailhead.


There's a first time for everything!

As we arrived at the trailhead where they stop plowing the Lake Mary road we looked for a parking spot. The roads were plowed but still snow covered. I saw a spot that looked like I could park in and headed in. Unfortunately as I pulled forward into the snow bank my right front tire dropped off the road and sank about a foot. I tried reverse but my 4x4 with well worn tires better designed for dirt, sand and mud wasn’t going to get me out of this one. Out came the shovel and Jason and I started digging. We tried multiple times but no luck. I always carry a tow strap and after asking a couple people I found a guy willing to give me a tug to get out. I reparked in a much better spot that had become available. This was the first time I had ever had my truck stuck so it was a humbling experience. Already worn out from digging and sweating in the 15 degree temps, it was time to get our gear ready to head out.

We finished packing up our monster size backpacks which consisted of two packs for each of us. Our main pack to haul all our gear to our base camp plus a second, lighter and smaller pack for our ski mountaineering day trips. To use a phrase my Dad has accused the family of on many a vacation in the past, we looked like “Hannibal crossing the Alps!” Unfortunately for us, we had no elephants to carry the load, just us!

The great news is the couple mile trek from the trailhead to Lake George, our intended base camp area, is accessed via a groomed road. Unfortunately, it is all uphill! With the sun shining upon us and our monster top heavy packs on we put the skins on our skis and headed on up the groomed road. If either of us tipped over along the way we would have looked like a turtle flipped upside down, and been just about as coordinated as well!

We arrived at Lake George and set up base camp. Jason instructed me on the fine points of setting up camp in the snow such as stomping out a tent platform to compact the snow and then getting off it for at least a half hour to let it firm up. We positioned the tent to avoid wind blowing in the door and set up a kitchen area complete with snow couch with a great view of the Crystal Crag, a prominent rock feature on the far side of the frozen lake. We enjoyed the sun while we had it as it dropped behind the ridge at 3:30PM. We started with some prosciutto and mozzarella on parmesan crisps complete with Grey Poupon (but of course) that led into an early dinner and hot beverages while we worked on making camp improvements like walkways as the snow was so deep you would sink up to at least your knee if you stepped off the beaten down paths we were making.

It was an early night to bed as we had been up very early that morning. Since the forecast for the night was -5F we needed to do some extra prep before bed. We both had 2 sleeping pads to insulate us better from the snow. We put our water bottles in insulated containers and kept them close us all night to keep them from freezing. It turns out that the homemade cozy for my alcohol stove fits a 1 liter Nalgene bottle perfectly and was put to great alternate use on this trip. Prior to the trip I contemplated my situation as my lowest rated sleeping bag is good to 10 degrees F. I have a silk liner that might add 5 to 10 degrees of comfort but that is still cutting it close and I hate to be cold all night. The solution came to me a couple days before our departure. I also have a 45 degree summer bag that weighs just over a pound and packs down super small. I would bring both bags and put my cold weather bag inside the summer bag and combine the warmth of both down bags. Combined with my new down booties which I wore to bed it worked out perfectly and I not only survived my coldest night in the outdoors, I enjoyed it.

We awoke to a lovely sunshine morning. We fired up the stoves and found Jason’s to be running at no more than a simmer. Apparently it was in need of some maintenance. Why did we both bring stoves you ask? Well if one fails you always have a backup and it was looking like that was a really good idea. We melted snow to fill up our water bottles for the day, Jason cooked up some sausage patties and we worked on more camp improvements and packed our gear for the day. It was forecast to be about 11 degrees that day and with the sun shining it felt good. When we finally set off to ski up a nearby ridge bordering the lake I was down to a long sleeve t-shirt on top as I knew we would be heating up during the climb.


Awesome fresh powder and the Crystal Crag


Me at the top of the ridge above Lake George.

The uphill ski touring was strenuous but not overly technical. The snow was soft as the powder snow was at least 10 feet thick. We made our way through the trees following the path laid down that morning by a couple on snowshoes. We had selected the route that morning based on the relative slope and safety of the ridge from avalanche danger. We reached the top of the ridge and sat down in the sun for a snack. The views were incredible and even our base camp was in sight as you could see the orange tent although it appeared as merely a small speck in this grand view from high atop the ridge. We removed the skins and converted our gear into downhill mode and I prepared for my first real powder run.

Jason having a rest at the ridge top.

Me taking in the views before our first ski down.

Back down to the lake after our first run.

Heading down the ridge in the deep powder was a learning experience for sure. As this was the first time since I have had good ski skills to encounter such an environment and I found it challenging. My legs got so tired on the trip down I had to stop several times. This was primarily due to the fact that I was going too slow given the conditions and I was having to work very hard to make the turns through the trees. I did not realize how slow deep powder can be and took a very cautious approach for this first run. We made it all the way down to the frozen lake. We had stayed off of the lakes the day prior and that morning as were not sure if they were safe to travel on. While up high on the ridge we had seen several people cross a few of the lakes in the area and figured if we stayed near the edge we should be fine. We made our way back to camp to enjoy another early dinner in the sunshine.

Jason shows off our quesadillas.

By the time we reached camp, the clouds had moved in and blocked the sun we were hoping for. We had plenty of time to cook and whipped up some pork loin and jalapeno muenster quesadillas for an appetizer while sitting on the snow couch enjoying the view. Since refrigeration was not a problem we were able to bring some tastier items than we normally might. We did discover that heating them from rock hard frozen can be an issue. We would rotate between cooking and doing camp improvements to keep warm and be properly fed/hydrated until about 8PM when we decided it was time for bed. The nights are very long and the days short so we had plenty of time in the tent for conversation and prepping gear for the following day. This was our exciting New Years Eve in the backcountry!

In the middle of the night the wind had picked up, Happy New Year! By early morning we could hear it snowing on the tent. When we finally got our of the tent it was breezy and snowing. Our camp improvements were almost entirely covered on snow that had blown in. The tent had a fair accumulation of snow around it as well. Out came the snow shovels and we started digging out. I had to dig down to the kitchen area and then uncover the stove. By leaving it out I let snow and ice build up in the jet and had to bang it a little to clear out the crud. With Jason’s stove relegated to simmer duties only this could be a crisis. I tried to prime the stove and the fuel just bubbled out of the jet rather than squirting like it usually would. I figured the jet had iced up and hoped that a larger amount of priming fuel would be all that it needed to warm up enough to clear. Fortunately I was right and I got the stove humming along and melting snow.

Heading up the ridge in a blizzard.

After a simple breakfast we both got our gear ready for the day. With snow falling and the breeze turning to a wind we layered up a little more than the day prior. We headed out to enjoy the same ridge again as it had proven to be safe and very fun. The track we had laid down the day prior was nearly invisible as the snow that night had filled it all in. We skinned up the ridge into what was turning into a blizzard with visibility down to 50 yards at times. When we hit the top we quickly converted to ski mode and flew back down. This time I carried more speed and the powder skiing was much easier. We made our way down to the very exposed lake and were greeted with wind gusts reaching about 40MPH! As quickly as we could we converted back to ski touring mode and made our way off the lake to seek some shelter and eat a snack. After that we did the same route all over again completing our second “lap” for the day, a first for both of us.

We skinned back to camp in a blizzard. Once again, all the work of the morning dig out was almost completely erased by the snow that had blown in. All I wanted to do was fire up the stove and make hot beverages but we realized we needed more wind protection from the 40MPH gusts driving the snow at us. Jason laid out a new plan and we started by making a snow wall near the vestibule of our tent to protect us. We were initially planning on cooking in the vestibule while we were inside the tent and in our sleeping bags. While building the snow wall Jason realized the tree adjacent to our tent was doing a great job at blocking wind and reduced the blowing snow. We decided to dig out yet another kitchen and snow couch and take advantage of both our snow block wind wall and tree. It proved to be a much better location but lacked a view. I guess you just can’t have it all. We finally fired up the stove nearly 2 hours after returning to camp to finally get a hot beverage. Due to the cold windy and snowy conditions we made this a very quick liquid and soup dinner and were in the tent for bed by 6:30PM. We both hated to go to bed this early as we knew it was going to be a VERY long night but the conditions warranted the action.

We both awoke at midnight and were wide awake. We shared in the joy that the wind had stopped but the snow was still falling. Jason had brought an ipod he could watch a movie on. I normally would be disgusted at the thought of bringing such an electronic device on a trip to the backcountry but I was the student and Jason the master. He knew how long and boring a night in the tent can be in the middle of winter so we watched a movie on the 2 inch screen and shared a pair of earphones, one ear for each of us. He went back to sleep and I paid the price for getting two great nights of sleep by laying there awake for the next four hours or so. To occupy my time I conceived every possible way I could cook the egg, sausage and cheese breakfast croissant sandwiches I had brought along with the available gear we had. In my mind I fashioned a steamer with a blend of the pots and lids we had with us. With my stomach rumbling from our shortened dinner the night before my focus on the cooking task before me was hyper focused.

At first light I had enough of the tent. I sprung out of it to find that I needed to get out the shovel again the dig out the minimal amount of snow that had accumulated in our walkway and kitchen. Having learned from the night before, I left my pot turned upside down over the stove so snow and ice did not accumulate in the burner. I had it fired up in no time. First a hot cup of cocoa and then the breakfast croissants! I cannot begin to tell you satisfying sound my stove makes once lit. I think it is a blend of the smell of white gas burning and the jet engine sound it makes that brings instant warmth and happiness to my soul. This was repeated every morning on this trip but none as sweet as this one, our final day on the four day adventure.


Breakfast croissants at last!

While the water boiled I dug out our tent which was covered in snow on the sides to a depth of between 12 to 18 inches. Light snow was still falling but the wind had finally abated which made the morning even better. I poured us both a cup of hot water to make our morning drinks and got to work on my boiler for cooking the much anticipated croissants. It did not work out exactly as planned but it worked well enough and within 15 minutes we were both enjoying a wonderful breakfast. Funny that at home this would be no big deal at all. Pop the silly thing in the microwave for 90 seconds and done, but not here!

We packed up camp during the light snowfall. Jason informed me it was good backcountry etiquette to fill in the major holes we had dug so we made quick work of that. We threw the monster size packs on our backs and headed out. While it was mostly downhill it still wasn’t easy. The slope was not quite steep enough to ski so it took awhile to make it back to the truck. We had been wondering how snowed in the truck would be given that it has snowed the last three days. Fortunately there was only about a foot surrounding it and it was quick work. Starting my diesel truck was my next worry as it had cold soaked for 4 days and never saw a temp over 10 degrees F. I had treated the fuel so it should be OK. It turned over ever so slowly at first. It started rather quickly but ran so rough and sounded so loud you would have thought you were standing next to a stamp mill in a gold mining town. After about a minute it smoothed out and all was well.

The trip home was most enjoyable as it snowed from Lone Pine all the way down to the 14 and 5 merge. Seeing Ridgecrest, Palmdale and Lancaster in the snow was a really new experience. Given the weather conditions, we did surprisingly well on our return.

I learned so much on this trip. I discovered that you do not need to buy a super cold rated sleeping bag if you have two semi cold rated bags. I found a new use for my cozies from my alcohol stove. The new tent I had purchased for this trip worked out perfectly and was just right for the two of us and all our winter gear. I learned that while hanging out at camp and cooking sounds fun, it is darn cold and your body wants to just get it done. Both of us hauled home at least half of the food we took. I have read plenty of stories of guys on Everest and that about all they eat is soup when they are up high on the mountain. While we were nowhere near the conditions they face, I think I have begun to understand what they are going through. My new backcountry ski gear worked flawlessly which is great as it was the first use on most of it. I discovered that the short days make for long nights in the tent, and that sucks! In the future I plan on getting a stove I can operate inside the tent which can at least make those first morning beverages a little easier as well as offer the ability to retreat from really bad weather and cook inside the tent. I discovered that my wool gloves were great around camp and actually do keep you warm even when wet. Most importantly I found they can be dried by keeping them in your sleeping bag all night! I also learned that I should have left my rope, harness, carabineers, amateur radio and ski and boot crampons behind and saved about 10 lbs. of stuff I never touched!

While learning and discovering new things on this trip, the most important one I think I figured out is that this would be more comfortable if done in the spring when the days are longer, the sun shines more often and the temps are milder. With that in mind I am planning on a springtime trip to Split Mountain to complete another California fourteener. Until then, I will keep practicing my winter skills and hope for good snow but also some warmer temps to enjoy it in!
Click here for the pictures from the whole trip.

Laboring on Mt. Langley, 14,026 ft.

2010-09-08T16:09:00.000-07:00


Mt. Langley viewed from the Cottonwood Lakes

With summer coming to an end it was time to try to squeeze in the last backpacking trip of the season. A friend who had done Mt. Whitney with me the summer prior had been wanting do Mt. Langley at 14,026 ft. ever since. A few of us at the office chatted about it and figured the Labor Day weekend would be a nice chance for us to sneak away for a 3 day backpacking trip to another of California’s fourteeners.

Getting our permit proved a little difficult. We had planned on taking the Cottonwood Lakes trail and doing an out and back in either two or three days. When we called for a permit they could not accommodate our group on our selected weekend. It just so happened I was heading by the ranger station in Lone Pine the following weekend so I stopped in to talk with them. They confirmed that we could not reserve permits for the Cottonwood Lakes trail that weekend. I then asked the magic question, “If I wanted to climb Mt. Langley on Labor Day weekend what other route might I take to do it that does have available permits.” Funny how a “no” becomes a “yes” so quickly as I was advised I could head out on the Cottonwood Pass trail and approach Langley from the western side, cross over and exit by way of the Cottonwood Lakes trail. It would be less populated, more scenic, and most importantly, we would be descending the eastern side of the Army Pass rather than going up it which would be much easier. Needless to say, I reserved the permits immediately!

Our group ultimately consisted of coworkers Mike and Clark as well as Clark’s wife Michelle and another friend of mine, Kevin. We had all done Mt. Whitney together the year prior as a day trip and were looking forward to a 3 day backpack trip up another of the easier fourteeners.

Clark and Michelle headed out on the Friday afternoon prior to our start date to pick up the permits in Lone Pine before the ranger station closed at 6PM. They got the permits with no problem and headed up to Horseshoe Meadows to get a couple campsites for the night. I headed up with Mike and Kevin later that night and arrived about 1AM. We all wanted to spend a night at the trailhead to acclimatize as it is at 10,000 ft.

Leaving the Cottonwood Pass Trailhead.

Morning came and we all packed up our stuff. We decided what we had duplicates of and left some things behind. One water filter was all we needed (more on that later) and we trimmed down on a few other small items. By 9:30 we were ready to go and hit the trail.

The first issue on our hike happened less than a mile in. I always bring my big Canon digital SLR camera on trips up fourteeners as the views are so incredible that I hate sacrificing the picture quality with a lightweight point and shoot. Unfortunately my camera began misbehaving and electronically locking up. I debated running back to the truck and dropping off the 2.2 pound millstone hanging from my yoke strap. Fortunately we made a stop and I removed the battery and memory card and reseated them and all was well.

A little foot surgery for Michelle.

Not too much farther along as we were climbing the Cottonwood Pass, Michelle needed to stop for a foot issue. She had gotten a blister on her foot two weeks prior walking around the Del Mar race track while playing the ponies. It had acted up a week before on a conditioning hike as well. Fortunately we had the technique down and out came some blister bandaids as well as some duct tape to keep them in place. Patched up, we moved on.


Wildflowers at Chicken Spring Lake.

We crossed through the Cottonwood Pass and the huge valley between the Western Sierra ridge and Eastern ridge was before us. Big Whitney Meadow was due west, down in the bottom of the valley and it looked wonderful. We stayed high on the ridge and travelled north to Chicken Spring Lake, our lunch and water stop.

Kevin's pizza masterpiece!

The lake was beautiful and we were all ready for lunch. We dropped our packs and prepared our feasts. Kevin had the most interesting lunch consisting of a fresh made bagel pizza topped with some fresh tomato he sliced up right there. We all agreed that if we had an extra day, spending the night here would be great.

Our first view of Mt. Langley.

We proceeded on, traversing along northward toward Rock Creek and the Soldier Lakes. Our official destination was lower Soldier Lake but from the map it looked a little past our trail we would be taking in the morning up Rock Creek so we decided if Rock Creek had water, we would camp there instead. Having passed on filling up with water at Chicken Spring Lake to keep our pack weight down, we were all running low. Before we had made it to Rock Creek we all went dry. The last 45 minutes or so to Rock Creek were tough as we were all tired due to the 11 mile long hike and we were thirsty!


Michelle cools her feet in Rock Creek.

We arrived at Rock Creek not only to find a wonderful little meadow and the creek flowing but also to discover a great place to make camp just off the trail. We dropped our packs and headed down to the creek to drink plenty of water to replenish our depleted bodies. We all took the opportunity to cool off and put our feet in the water as well.

Big Dipper setting over Joe Devel Peak.

We had a fun evening cooking up different meals, playing a little Uno and finally heading off to bed. We were not looking forward to the elevation gain in the morning but we all were excited to summit. The weather had been great so far and the forecast called for clear skies, little wind with nights around 30 and days just under 50 degrees. The clear skies meant excellent night skies and the stars were plentiful. I set up my tent hoping to get a picture of the Big Dipper setting over Joe Devel Peak later that evening which I was able to get just before falling asleep.

The morning was cold as expected but we were all up by 6:30. It took us awhile to get going and we rolled out of camp at 9AM. Surprisingly the trail up Rock Creek to the Army Pass was not as bad as any of us had anticipated. Bt 10:30AM we had made it to the top of the pass where we would stash our full packs and transition to lightweight summit packs as there was no need to carry stoves, tents and sleeping bags up and back down.


Kevin on a class 3 section.

I had estimated that morning that it would take about 4 hours from camp to the summit of Mt. Langley. We headed out along the ridge leading to the steeper climb up Mt. Langley. The route was easy to follow although no official trail exists. As we approached the steep section, Kevin and I had pulled away from the others. We have all found it best to just hike our own pace at these high elevations and regroup at the summit. We were all faced with a decision, what route to take. Faint use trails were everywhere and you could see people both ascending and descending on numerous different paths. Kevin and I picked one and went for it. We did need to pack our poles away as at times we needed our hands for some easy class 3 work. Before long we were through the hardest part and looking for the highest point ahead of us.


The crew on the summit.

Unlike Mt. Whitney, you do not see 50 or more people hanging out on the summit. Kevin and I headed for what looked like the high point but we only saw a couple people there. We figured it must be it as they had their packs off. We finally arrived, 5 minutes ahead of my SWAG (Scientific Wild A** Guess) figure of 4 hours to the summit. Here we were at 14, 026 ft., my fifth California fourteener and third this season. The altitude has certainly slowed us down but we both felt good and had an appetite. We ate lunch and celebrated and kept an eye out for the rest of crew who were out of sight.

About an hour later the rest of the crew arrived. They too were very hungry and quite tired, just as Kevin and I were an hour ago. They ate, signed the log book, got pictures taken and were ready to head down by 2:30PM. The wind had picked up considerably from when we had first arrived and lots of smoke was blowing in from the Central Valley from a fire over there. Kevin made a SWAG on our return time to our packs at the top of the pass. When everyone arrived at the packs, his prediction was dead on!


Army Pass. Glad we came down it rather than up it!

We had met some very nice folks on Langley that day. A really nice guy by the name of Dave asked us where we were headed to. We told him we were going to overnight at the Cottonwood Lakes at the bottom of the Army Pass. He laughed and said, “Well the good news is that you only have to go about 20 ft.” We walked the 20 ft. to the top of the Army Pass and understood exactly what he meant. The pass is a darn near vertical wall with one of the lakes at its base. It was hard to envision there was a trail that would take us down this but there was. It was very steep and blocked by some rock falls in a few places but we managed to make our way down.

We had spotted the lakes below earlier in the day and had a good idea where we were headed to camp. We finally found a prime spot near the largest of the Cottonwood Lakes and made camp. We were all hoping for a swim but the sun dropped over the pass about 10 minutes after we arrived at the lake and I did not want to be wet and in the shade. Clark however went for it and fully submerged himself in the frigid lake. His speech was temporarily impaired as the cold water played tricks with his facial muscles.

Back at camp we set up a perfect little kitchen complete with granite counter top and comfy granite chairs. As this was our last night and we did not want to pack out any extra food, we really had a feast. Clark got things going with some freshly made chicken quesadillas that he shared with everyone. We all made our individual meals and did some sharing of those as well. I had brought a raspberry crumble dessert that was a favorite on a recent Cub Scout backpacking trip and all agreed it was great. The coup de grace was when Clark cooked up some fresh popcorn on his backpacking stove. We ate for over two hours that night and capped the evening with another game of Uno.


Clark's Cranberry biscuit.

The morning came and it was time to pack up for the final hike out. Clark made some cranberry biscuits that morning that were quite good. The water pump had developed an issue the day prior and made water purification a little difficult. I had opted to go all natural on this trip and filter nothing while everyone else relied on the filter and later on the purification tablets we had brought as backup. We boiled water as well and topped off our water bladders for the trip out.

The hike out made us appreciate the location we were in that much more. It was so beautiful in the Cottonwood Lakes basin with numerous lakes and wonderful meadows. I would enjoy hiking back into this area just to spend time exploring and playing in the lakes and fishing. It was about 7 miles or so back the parking lot and our cars. In total the trip was around 27 miles. We all got to spend some great time on all new trails for us and are inspired to explore this area in the future.

Full album of pictures from this trip are available here.

Organizing our first Webelos Backpacking Adventure

2010-08-25T10:39:00.000-07:00

The Den pointing the way.

While many of my adventures are on big mountain peaks, I also enjoy spending time in the backcountry with my kids. As a Webelos Den Leader for my son’s Cub Scout Pack I get to spend time with kids and help educate them on the outdoors and hopefully get them engaged in outdoor activities.

I asked my Den parents if they would be interested in an overnight backpacking trip. They knew I enjoyed this sort of thing and they were supportive of the idea. To help prepare the boys for future outings we had built alcohol stoves as a Den project early in the year so that they all at least had a good backpacking stove. We begged and borrowed enough gear to get the small group of Webelos Cub Scouts outfitted with the appropriate gear for the trip.

In preparation for the trip, we held a couple of Den meetings to discuss backpacking. We covered appropriate clothing for hiking, backpack fitting and packing, sleeping bags and pads as well as cooking and water purification. I did my best to emphasize that the lighter your pack, the more fun you will have.

As you may recall from prior posts like Taking Your Child on Their First Backpacking Trip, I want to make the trip fun to encourage future participation in hiking and backpacking. I have found that shorter, flatter hikes with some feature or cool destination seems to be the key to making a trip fun for kids. I also like to have water available when I get there to minimize the weight that must be carried and it makes for good playtime as well. Cooler temperatures found at higher elevations are also a must for a summer hike to avoid wearing out these youngsters.

Making our way to camp.

With these requirements for a location, I have to look long and hard for somewhere local that meets my expectations. I was fortunate enough to find what I was looking for in the San Gorgonio Wilderness. I have backpacked and day hiked there several times in the past but they have been trips to the high mountain peaks. Fortunately there are also some great hikes there that met our needs for this trip. We would start at the Forsee Creek trailhead at about 7,000 ft. The temps in the summer are mild at this elevation and our forecast was for days in the mid 70’s and evenings in the mid 50’s. Perfect hiking weather! Our destination was John’s Meadow, a 3.9 mile adventure along a very slight incline.

We gathered the group at the trailhead. We had three of our Webelos, our Boy Scout Den Chief and his older brother, a Boy Scout, plus three adults including myself, all leaders. We would have an additional Scout and his much older brother joining us later in the day. We headed out on the trail after emphasizing proper hydration and trail etiquette.

Looks heavy but he is carrying less than 20 lbs.

The hike starts out going uphill which fortunately did not generate too many complaints. We arrived rather quickly at our first trail junction and took the opportunity to go over the topo map I had distributed to all the boys. I made sure to point out where we started, where we were at currently as well as what features to look for along the trail to help identify exactly where we were on the map.

We made surprisingly great time getting to camp. We took a couple or rest stops and snack breaks and made it to John’s Meadow just a little after noon. The boy’s were very excited as they discovered a wood fort in camp which we decided to use as our kitchen area. We all ate lunch and set up our tents. Now it was time to goof off!

Adjacent to camp is Foresee Creek. The boys were heading there to get water and I tagged along as I wanted to get wet. What started as a quick trip to the creek turned into a 3 hour visit with splashing, soaking and for some of the boys, full on submersion in the frigid creek. We filtered water and drank plenty while we were there. It was great to see these boys having such a great time doing something as simple as playing in a creek. It was nice to see kids entertained without a Nintendo or any other electronic device. Our last Scout and his older brother hiked in and met us at the creek as we were about to pack up. We all headed back to camp together and our Den Chief broke out a couple Velcro paddles and a ball and the boys proceeded to play catch for at least another hour. It was so nice to see Scouting in action!


Cooling off our feet in Forsee Creek.

Den Cheif shows the boys how it is done!

Great view up Foresee Creek

Wood fort we used as our kitchen.

Pumping water with our filter.

Brothers on the trail.

Our late arrivers join us at the creek.

Around 6PM or so we decided to begin our dinners. I left meal planning up to each parent/child combo as I cannot predict who will like what. I also like to see the boys involved in choosing their meals based on some of the guidelines we had taught them in our preparation meetings. Most of the boys used their homemade alcohol stoves to heat their water and prepare their dinners. For a treat I had brought along a couple backpacking desserts I picked up at REI the day prior. We whipped up a dark chocolate cheesecake as well as a raspberry crumble and shared them. The raspberry crumble won the taste test unanimously.

Dinner time. Alcohol stove in center of picture.

As it was getting dark we all broke out our headlamps. There were a few more orders of business to attend to. We had all the boys brush their teeth and then put all their smellables in the bear canisters we had brought. We discussed why our kitchen area was away from our tents and the importance of rounding up all of our smellable items and keeping them in this area. The final order of the day was a few games of Uno played by headlamp using a bear canister as our card table. By about 8:30PM we called it a night and headed off to our tents.

Packed up and ready to head out.

We rose early the next morning. The boys were really getting the hang of camp life out on the trail. Again the alcohol stoves came out and breakfasts were made. We picked up camp quite quickly and were back on the trail heading out. We had our Boy Scouts lead and the Webelos followed. For a first backpacking trip for many involved it was wonderful to see them all doing so well. We made it back to the trailhead in about 2 hours and all headed nearby for a nice lunch. While there I was able to ask all the boys if they had a great time. I was very pleased when they all answered “yes!” I then asked the most important question, “would you like to go backpacking again?” Fortunately I got the same reply!

It would appear that I have created a few new backpackers along with the help of my fellow Scout Leaders. We would like to get more of our Den involved and are already thinking of where and when to go out again. If you know a youngster in need of a first backpacking experience, please get them out on the trail. It not only gives them a great experience but also will reward you in ways you can only discover for yourself.

My Quest on California's Fourteeners, Mt. Tyndall, 14,025 ft.

2010-08-17T16:35:00.000-07:00

Mt. Tyndall, 14,025 ft.

While sitting at the office about a month ago an email came in from one of my hiking clubs, the So-Cal Hikers and Peakbaggers, for a weekend hike up Mt. Tyndall. I instantly recognized this as one of California’s fourteeners, peaks exceeding 14,000 ft., and proceeded to check it out. There was only one spot left so I quickly called my wife at home and had her check the calendar and she confirmed the weekend was free. I explained why I “needed” to do this hike and she gave me permission to go. I clicked the RSVP button online and I was in!

At this point I read a little more about the mountain and the hike. The route just to get to the base of the mountain would not be easy. We had to go up Shepherds Pass, a grueling adventure that takes you from 6,000 feet where the desert meets the Eastern Sierra outside Independence, up to 12,000 feet. The worst part is that the trail descends about 500 ft. along the way making it a 6,500 ft. climb in about 11 miles which was our goal for day one. On top of that, Mt. Tyndall has no trail to the top and is a class 2-3 rock scramble depending on your route. More on that later.

I left home on the morning of the climb at 2:30AM to make it to the trailhead by 7:00AM. I prefer a night in my own bed as well as avoiding the traffic if I was to head out the night before. I arrived at the trailhead, tucked back away on some dirt roads right on schedule and met four others that I would be joining. Another couple had headed up the day before and we would meet them at the top of Shepherds Pass.

Shepherds Pass on the low horizon on the right.

We got off to a good start. The morning was still cool and we were in the shade. The trail quickly began to climb out of the canyon we were in to a ridge. The uphill grind spread our group out a little. After several hours we had reached the first of three saddles we would cross that day. Unfortunately the trail now descended for over a mile taking us down about 500 ft. The sun was now also upon us having left the shelter of the North side of the ridge and crossed over to the Southern side. We could now see the top of the pass way off in the distance. We knew we still had plenty of work to do! Up and up we went on our way to our lunch destination, Anvil Camp, where trees and shade awaited us. At a little after noon we were almost at Anvil Camp but found a great patch of shade and opted to take lunch there and give ourselves a break.

Shepherds Creek

Approaching Anvil Camp.

Back on the trail following lunch we rolled through Anvil Camp. The trail crossed Shepherds Creek here which we were able to see below as a lovely cascade fell just below this location. We filled up with water and moved on, enjoying the short respite from the sun as we travelled under cover of pine trees. It wasn’t long before we had left the cover the trees and found ourselves in the familiar lunar landscape so common to the Sierra’s over 11,000 ft. where vegetation is sparse. Back in the sun we soon came to the view of the pass once again. It looked ominous and the people we could see ahead of us looked like ants telling us we still had plenty of work ahead.

Shepherds Pass in view.

The final push up the pass was exhausting. The trail became less packed dirt and more loose rock and scree. At times it looked more like a goat trail on the side of a cliff than an official trail. Fortunately as we neared the top we got into some shade. As we were approaching 12,000 ft., the air was getting thin and our rest stops more frequent. We knew that a lake was just over the crest and we would be at camp soon. This motivation pushed us onward and over the pass.

At the top of the pass Mt. Tyndall is visible.

As we reached the top of the pass, Mt. Tyndall at 14,025 ft. was finally viewable. It was an awesome sight as it stood there looking alone and isolated. It was now obvious why this is known as the most remote of the California fourteeners. A short FLAT walk from the pass lead us to the sign indicating we were now in the Sequoia National Forest and the lake we planned on camping at was just a few hundred yards off the trail.

I don’t think I have ever been so relieved to drop my pack. I took it off at the first flat spot I found to pitch my tent and then just enjoyed the feeling of not having the weight on my back. It is not that my pack was that heavy, probably around 30 lbs., but after the exhausting 11 mile climb that started at 7:00AM and now just finished at about 4:45PM I was ready for a long rest. I scouted out a better tent spot complete with rock ledge to provide some shade and a wind break and set up my tent.

As soon as my camp chores were complete, I headed down to the lake not only to drink some much needed water but also to soak my feet in the cool water. The lake itself was gorgeous with a snow bank along one edge and Mt. Tyndall in the background. I must have spent at least an hour down there and before long our whole group had collected there. We also ran into the other faction from our club that chose to do this as a single day hike. I like a challenge but 18,000 ft. of elevation gain/loss over 25 miles including a fourteener is where I draw the line!

We had asked just about everyone we came across that day that climbed Mt. Tyndall what route they took. The popular books on the topic all suggest taking the Northwest Ridge and claim it is the easiest and all class 2. Everything we had read from people who had done it as well as every person we encountered on the trail said the North Rib was the best route and that the Northwest Ridge lead to some very exposed class 3 territory. While all agreed the North Rib was the way to go, everyone varied the route slightly. “Stay to the right of the rib on the slabs and go to the notch on the right”, “travel directly on top of the rib and veer left at the top”, “stay on the left of the rib and then cross right at the top”, and “take the rib up and it will be obvious where to go.” With great directions like this who could possibly get confused, right?

We made dinner a little after 6:00PM. My body was suffering from not only the exhaustion from the climb but also a little altitude sickness along with dehydration. I kept drinking lots of fluids and electrolytes and made my dinner. While I needed the calories my body just said no. Eating was a chore and I only managed to eat about a third of my meal. Going from near sea level to 12,000 ft. in a day along with the strenuous day was a bit much. A night at the trailhead would have helped but it was too late for that now. Most of us headed to bed shortly after dinner, around 7:30PM as we needed an early start in the morning to climb the 1 ½ miles and 2,000 ft. to the summit and return in time to pack up and head out.

My tent had never felt so good! My sister had gotten me an ultralight insulated air mattress for my 40^th birthday and I must say that currently it is my most bragged about piece of gear. It has transformed sleeping on the ground from a painful to a pleasurable experience. That combined with my slightly heavier 10 degree down sleeping bag made for a wonderful night in the 35 degree air. I fell asleep rather quickly and awoke around 3:00AM. All the hydrating I had done the evening before had caught up with me. The moon had set early so it was a black, star filled sky outside the tent. I played with my camera and managed a great 30 second exposure of Mt. Tyndall silhouetted by the stars.

I was up just before 6:00AM as nature called again. I felt great and was hungry! I ate my breakfast (all of it this time) and got most of my gear packed up in my tent. By 6:45AM we headed out for what would be a 5 hour round trip summit excursion.

The North Rib visible above me to the right.

We headed for the North Rib as planned, still not sure exactly what variant of the route we would take. As we approached Mt. Tyndall, Mt. Williamson came into view. This is another fourteener but not on our itinerary as it is in the protected sheep zoological zone and has a limited window of entry. Probably for the best as I was not up for a second fourteener on this trip. It will have to wait for another day.


Scrambling up the rib.

Once at the base of the North Rib we slowly began climbing up. The rib itself was loose rock which presented a hazard travelling in a group. One loose rock could easily take out a climber below. We stayed just right of the rib on a mixture of loose rock and granite slabs. As we approached the top we went right as our fellow club members had said they did. Either we went too far right or they were hallucinating from their long journey as we hit the summit ridge and found it impassible towards the summit without major exposure. We traversed below the summit ridge left toward the peak and found a better spot to make the summit ridge. This looked much better but we still felt there was an easier way to try on the way down.

Mt. Williamson

Me on the Tyndall summit

We made our way along the rocky summit ridge. We dropped over to the Southwest side and found it easier to make our way along. Finally there was no more up! We had reached the summit! The views were incredible as expected. We signed the register and took in the beauty before us. We spent a good half hour taking pictures of each other to document our accomplishment. It was cool up top as a breeze blew fairly strong. It was now time to head down. At this time I packed up my camera to avoid damaging it on the descent as I usually do.

Hanging out on Tyndall!

We progressed to a notch just Southwest of the North Rib. We headed down this and quickly traversed over to the top of the rib. We travelled down this all the way to the bottom. This was by far the best (easiest) route. If heading up our directions would be to stay on top of the North Rib and about 75 feet below the ridge traverse left and up through the notch on the left of the rib to reach the summit ridge.

We made it back into camp around 11:45AM and had lunch. We quickly packed up our stuff and headed out by 12:15PM. Heidi was staying an extra night at Anvil Camp so we said our goodbye to her and headed on down. Mike and I kept a fast pace down the trail. We both dreaded the uphill portion we knew was coming. We cooled off at one of the creek crossings just before the uphill section. I took the lead and thought it was not going to be that bad as I could see where we had to go. Unfortunately, that point was just one of three identical looking points along the trail going uphill. We finally crossed over the ridge and began to descend. We both began to wonder how the trail got longer since we had done it the day before?

At 4:45PM we had made it to our cars. What a great sight they were. We cleaned up and headed down to Independence for a much deserved soda on ice! Funny how something so simple can mean so much.

It was a great trip. To sum up the experience I would use two words, rewarding and brutal. I now understand why Shepherds Pass is known as one of the hardest trails in the Sierras. Mt. Williamson still beckons me but I am going to look hard for a different route as the thought of doing Shepherds Pass again is not at the top of list.

For the full online slide show of the trip please click here.

Taking Your Second Child on Their First Backpacking Trip

2010-08-06T10:58:00.000-07:00


Bishop Pass Trailhead

Having successfully taken my 10 year old son on his first backpacking trip several months prior as I had chronicled in Taking Your Child on Their First Backpacking Trip, it was time to introduce my 5 year old to the activity. I knew the timing was right as when I got a new small summit pack for my recent birthday and my 5 year old put it on immediately and thought it was for him. He proudly wore it around the house for almost an hour, blowing the whistle built into the yolk strap buckle I did not even know it had. He had seen his brother pack and return from his backpacking trip and assumed he was next.

I wanted to strike while the iron was hot. It wasn’t long before we had a planned boy’s trip to Mammoth with friends. We would take a few lazy days exploring and camping on the way up and then stay with our friends in their condo once in Mammoth. Our friends had to be home on a Friday but I saw no reason to rush home and thought this would be a good opportunity to fit in a backpacking trip for both of my boys and I. After speaking with my friend Edd about it, he suggested a great location he had taken his niece for her first backpacking trip near South Lake in the Sierras outside of Bishop.

With the location now selected the trip was nearly set. I needed to obtain a wilderness permit for our overnight stay. These can be reserved for $5 per person in advance or obtained free after 11:00AM the day prior to entry into the backcountry. As I was trying to show my boys on this trip that you do not have to pay to camp I opted for the free, walk in option. We visited the ranger station in Mammoth and obtained our permit with no problem.


The trail above South Lake

The following morning we arrived in the South Lake parking lot and found the trailhead for Bishop Pass which was the trail we would be hiking. The itinerary took us from South Lake up to Long Lake, about a 2 mile hike with about 500 ft. of elevation gain. We would enter the John Muir Wilderness about halfway into our route. The altitude at Long Lake was around 11,000 ft. but the boys had been acclimatized at Mammoth so the elevation was not much of a factor. We got our packs ready. My 5 year old carried my ultralight sleeping bag and his clothes. My 10 year old had his own gear plus a stove and the tent poles while I carried the rest. After a quick lunch near the trailhead overlooking the beautiful South Lake and a quick gear check, we were off.

The hike starts by climbing up and out of the South Lake basin. The views were incredible but the trail was uphill and it was early afternoon. My youngest, Eric, needed frequent breaks and said his legs were tired after only a ¼ mile or so. I let him know that there was plenty more hiking but that we would take breaks regularly. We slowly made our way along the trail, stopping to talk to other hikers who were most impressed at the efforts of my two boys.

Gregory points out a waterfall to his brother.

Eric started to get fairly tired at about the halfway point. His older brother Gregory did a good job encouraging him but it was not enough. I remembered that my parents always kept some high energy (sweet and sugary) snacks to motivate my sister on hikes so I figured I would give that a try. I offered him a chewy granola bar which he gladly accepted and he devoured it in no time. Within about 15-20 minutes it was quite apparent that it was working. We got to a short section of switchbacks and he started running up them! His brother and I laughed at the transformation. The trail soon leveled out and I informed the boys that this meant we had climbed out of the South Lake basin and would soon be arriving at Long Lake.

Eric evaluates a creek crossing


Arriving at Long Lake


Chocolate Peak in the background

While the thought of reaching our destination was appealing, mosquitoes began to appear. We quickly put on some bug repellant and stepped up the pace to get out of that area. Not too much further brought us to the first views of the lovely alpine Long Lake. The lake sits nestled between two mountain ridges with some of the best scenery you could ever imagine surrounding it. Tall craggy peaks and ridges contrasted by white snow and glaciers filled the upper elevations. The area around the lake was a mix of granite and pine trees mixed with a few meadows. We saw a few people hiking and fishing but they all looked like they were packing up to head back down. We proceeded to a secluded camp location that my friend Edd had informed me of. As this is the backcountry, there are no designated camps. You need to be 100 ft. from lakes, creeks and trails and follow the Leave No Trace guidelines. After a little searching we found the exact location my friend had suggested.

The boys and I set up our tent and put our gear inside. Our food was packed in our bear canister and we located that and our stoves about 100 ft. from our camp. The lake was calling us so down to the water we went with our water filter in-hand. Gregory just wanted to take pictures but Eric and I took off our shoes and socks and put our feet in the cold water. We pumped water through the filter and cooled off. Since we had the entire lake to ourselves I suggested skinny dipping to the boys. Eric took me up on it and he and I stripped down. Eric got about waist deep before he decided it was too cold. I got in about as far and he was right, but went on in anyway. Brrrrrrrrrrrr! I guess those glaciers we could see above us were melting directly into this lake. I lasted about 10 seconds in the water and it was time to get out. We dried off, pumped some more water and decided it was time to start dinner.


Trail alongside Long Lake

Our dinner consisted of one of our homemade freezer bag meals and a store bought freeze dried entre. Our freezer bag meal, chicken stuffing, was far superior to the store bought beef enchilada. It further confirmed my opinion that we can make better tasting meals than the experts. We heated our water on our homemade alcohol stoves and enjoyed our dinner in the last direct sunlight of the day before it dropped behind the ridge to the West.

With the sun down it was time to think about getting our stuff ready for the night. I wanted to pump enough water so that we would have all we needed for the morning and the hike out. The visit to the shoreline was an experience. The mosquitoes had been thickening since the sun went down. The worst time for mosquitoes is in the early morning or early evening, when there is no wind and especially near swampy areas or standing water. Guess what the conditions were like at that time at waters edge? You guessed it, prime time mosquito happy hour. While pumping water I had both my boys swatting them off of me. Despite the bug repellant, the mosquitoes descended upon us like gold panners to the American River upon the discovery of gold at Sutters Mill. After pumping water we headed back to our camp area.


Our mosquito free refuge!

The mosquito issue was not improving so I took the boys on a short hike to get a few pictures along the lake. We returned to camp in about 20 minutes and still the mosquitoes were horrible. While it was only 7:30PM, I decided it was time to crawl into our only safe haven from these vampires! Into the tent we went. We exterminated the few blood suckers that snuck in with us and began to enjoy this bug free zone. Since it was early we needed something to do. Unfortunately, we brought nothing in the form of entertainment. We began by reading every word on our wilderness permit. That lasted about 15 minutes. The boys then wanted me to tell them stories. I told some past tales of my childhood which put Eric to sleep. After almost an hour of story telling I had Greg tell me a story and that put me to sleep. He was on his own but he did not last long after me, he says.

The boys and I on our way out.


Our final view of Long Lake.

I awoke early and delayed getting out of the tent until at least I could see a slight change in the color of the sky so I knew the sun would be up fairly soon. I rousted the boys out of the tent by 7AM and we made our oatmeal breakfast and had cereal bars. We got all packed up and on the trail by 8AM. To keep Eric motivated I informed him that the sooner we finish the sooner he would get to see Mom. It had been just over a week since we left home and both boys were excited to get back home to tell Mom all about their adventures. We got back to the truck by about 10:00AM and cleaned up. We headed on down the highway to Lone Pine for some lunch. After backpacking I let them know that they could have anything they wanted for lunch. Thinking they were getting away with the crime of the century they both ordered a cherry coke with their lunch as I kept them on a no soda diet for the last week.

Over that lunch I asked Eric what was his favorite part of his first backpacking trip. He replied, “putting my feet in the water.” Not what I had expected to hear from him but it certainly helps me understand what a 5 year old enjoys. I will make sure that future backpack trips with the boys include stops along creeks, rivers and lakes for plenty of time to soak their feet, and perhaps a cold swim for Dad!

Sunrise on San Gorgonio, Highest in SoCal at 11,500 ft.

2010-06-21T09:10:00.000-07:00

While I tend to write about my most recent trip, there is one that stands out from the recent past that I think needs to be shared. Not every hike is worth writing about, it is the one’s where you had to overcome adversity however that are worth telling.

Several months after my return from my second trip up Mt. Whitney I was in need of something memorable. While looking at the scheduled hikes for the several clubs I belong to I found one that peaked my interest with the SoCal Hikers and Peakbagers. The hike was titled “Full Moon Hike to San Gorgonio Peak” which by itself sounded quite interesting. I read on to learn that it was scheduled to depart at 1AM to reach the summit to watch the sunrise. Rather ambitious I thought given that we would be climbing up 5,500 ft. in less than 9 miles to the highest point in Southern California at 11,500 ft. but it sounded like something I had to do.

I talked a few other friends into joining me and we carpooled out together. We opted to get to the Vivian Creek trailhead around 9PM and sleep there rather than driving out in the middle of the night. We had checked the weather before going and it was going to be cold up top, near freezing, and the wind would be blowing. How much wind was not clear from the reports but around 30MPH was what we were hearing.

We arrived at the dark trailhead and as promised it was illuminated by a full moon. There was a slight breeze but nothing major. We all went to sleep rather quickly and planned on a 12:30AM wakeup. When we woke up we saw some activity in the parking area. This turned out to be the rest of our crew. We got our gear ready and headed out a little after 1AM with the full moon and our headlamps to guide us.

The morning temps were not too bad. I had a couple light layers on and was doing fine. Hiking under the full moon was a great experience. It is odd to see such prominent shadows cast by the moon. Very early into the hike our organizer took a break and said she was going to turn back as we were all too fast for her. We encouraged her to stay with us and that we could adjust our speed to accommodate. We later discovered she had never made it to the top despite 2 prior attempts. Both prior times the elevation had gotten to her as she had become sick and lost all energy to continue.

We pressed onward, briskly, as we were trying to reach the summit to watch the sunrise. My friends and I planned on cooking up a brunch up top and watching the event so the timing was critical. We made good time following the trail bathed in the light from the moon. Shortly after High Creek Camp, one of the trail camps along the way, the wind began to pick up. I put on my fleece and windproof shell and got out my warmer gloves. My fleece headgear and goggles were also put in my pockets so I was ready. We were climbing up to a ridgeline and I knew it would be colder once there as the wind would intensify.

Reaching the ridge brought the expected wind. It was actually a little more intense than we had anticipated. A little further and we had left the treeline and were now completely exposed to the winds and the cold. It was just getting light out, not yet sunrise but getting close. I stopped to take a few pictures and I put on my facemask, ski goggles and beanie to keep warm. I pretty much had everything I brought for clothing on me at this point and it was all zipped and buttoned up. Four layers on my top was doing a good job at keeping my core warm. The thin nylon pants left my legs a little cool but not that bad.

I had been drinking all the way up the mountain from my Camelback bladder but after adding the additional clothing at my last stop had been unable to get any more water through my drink tube. I figured I had kinked the hose when I got stuff out of my pack. We were close to the summit, just a mile or so more so I did not worry about it.

The final stretch to the summit was a little overwhelming. We had strung out a little as some of us were hurrying to make the top for the sunrise. The problem we were encountering, in addition to the cold temps, was that he wind was now blowing at about 40MPH sustained with gusts to over 50MPH! Walking was becoming difficult as the wind would push our legs and trekking poles in all different directions. We basically looked like a bunch of drunks staggering home from the bar.

We arrived on the summit to just catch the sunrise. The full moon was setting at our backs which was a really nice scene if we just had one eye on the back of our heads so we could see both simultaneously. The sunrise over the lunar landscape up top looked very surreal. We had hunkered down into a rock windbreak that was up top. We shopped for a better one and collected ourselves together. It was unclear where everyone in our party was since to poke your head above the windbreak meant a face full of wind and possibly being blown over! I got out my stove and so did my friend. In the intense wind even in the windbreak we could only get my 25 year old MSR XGK stove to light. My three friends were freezing and I was the only one who was moderately warm. We decided that brunch up top was a bad idea but all agreed that some warm beverages would be great. I got water ready and had some hot chocolate. I found out I was not the only one with an issue with their Camelback, all of us were suffering the same problem as the water had frozen solid in the drink tubes and bite valves. Sitting there was only getting us colder so after drinking a little it was time to pack up and get off the summit.

As we stepped out of the windbreak we were again greeted with the full force of the wind. The ladies with us were very cold and took off like sprinters to get down. My friend Jason and I kept a brisk but more appropriate pace. Shortly off the peak and along the ridgeline leading to the summit we came across our hike organizer heading back down as well. The ladies had gotten to her first and realized she was in need of help. Her insulated hat had blown off which was the first sign of a problem. She was nearly delirious, disoriented and was unable to coordinate movement and barely able to speak. She was also feeling rather sick and upset stomach was how it manifested itself. What was worse was that she did not seem to realize the trouble she was in!

As soon as Jason and I arrived on-scene our two ladies made sure we had it handled and dashed off to get out of the wind and into warmer weather below. Jason immediately offered up his fleece headcover and put that on her. We asked if she had anything warmer in her pack and she could barely reply but the answer was no. She wanted to stay put as she felt awful but we knew we had to get her down and out of this wind. Jason and I both worked at zipping her jacket up tight and getting her as warm as possible. I firmly put my arm around her and told her (nearly yelling to communicate over the wind) she needed to walk with me in my wind shadow. I escorted her off the ridge with Jason right next to us to also help block some of the fiercely cold wind that was striking us. Slowly the three of us progressed together.

After getting out of the wind and descending about 500 ft. we stopped to take a break. She still felt terrible but was beginning to come back to life. Her stomach was still upset and we insisted she drink some electrolytes. She thanked us and told us we could go ahead. Jason and I immediately informed her that she was stuck with us for awhile and in no way would we let her fall behind us. We gave her a little more time to collect herself and moved on. We let her take the lead as she was now feeling better after warming up once out of the wind and getting lower. This was her third attempt to summit and by her description, altitude sickness kept her from it the last two times. She made it this time, but at what price?

Jason and I discussed this at length while descending and we concluded it was a blend of AMS (acute mountain sickness) and the onset of hypothermia. We have studied both of these conditions in our wilderness first-aid courses and seen some of the symptoms before but never in combination. The conditions were certainly right for both.

We met back up with the ladies who were sunning themselves like lizards several miles off the peak. They had decided this would be a great place to have brunch. Our hike organizer opted to head on down at her own pace and let us catch her later as we were faster. She was doing much better now and had teamed up with another in our party so we let her go on her way. We prepared a wonderful meal of chicken sausage, peppers, onions, cheese and eggs. It might not have been while watching the sunrise but at least it was warm.

We made our way back down and caught up with our hike organizer. We finished out the hike together and she thanked us for all the help we had provided. It was hard to believe that this person before us now, bubbling personality and full of energy, was in such dire straights less than 4 hours prior.

The hike was fantastic. The additional drama made it all the more memorable. I finally got to put some of my first-aid training to use after years of study and practice scenarios. I got some of my favorite hiking photos that day as well. It pays to know those around you and what issues they have at elevation. Had we known before, we would have kept someone with her at all times. My next trip up this mountain will probably be even colder. I think a winter ascent will be next on the list. At least then I will be better prepared for the cold.

Additional trip photos are available here.

"Over the Hill" Birthday Spent on a VERY Big Hill: Mt. Shasta, 14,179 ft.

2010-06-03T14:55:00.000-07:00

How do you celebrate your 40^th birthday in style? Vegas, big party with a band, or doing something worth remembering? I chose the later as I had been planning and preparing for a trip up Mt. Shasta with friends for several months to celebrate this milestone birthday event. As luck would have it, our itinerary happened to have our summit day exactly on my birthday. This was my kind of birthday party!

Mt. Shasta is one of California’s fourteeners, peaks exceeding 14,000 ft. I have already summited 2 others, Mt. Whitney, the highest in the 48 states and its nearby brother, Mt. Muir. Both of these have been summer trips not requiring any special equipment other than gear for a long day hike. Mt. Shasta is a dormant volcano and is covered in loose rock. For this reason, it is safer to climb the mountain in the winter with proper equipment as the snow and ice works like glue to hold the mountain together.

I needed some preparation and new skills for such a trip. I covered most of this in my blog under the heading My Foray into Snow, Ice and Mountaineering and in addition to that I purchased some avalanche protection gear such as an avalanche transceiver, avalanche probe and avalanche shovel. This of course was added to the collection of stuff I already had been using including mountaineering boots, crampons, ice axe, helmet and snow shoes.

As the day got near for our trip, the weather at Mt. Shasta had taken a turn. Our summit day was to be May 29^th and the weather leading up to that day included cold temps and snow. Our group of 5 whittled down to just two, my friend Jason, an experienced mountaineer with quite a bit of training under his belt, and me, the new guy at this.

We arrived on May 27^th in the town of Mt. Shasta with plans to begin our climb the following morning. We cruised the town and decided to visit the Forest Service office in town where we could get our climbing permits rather than use the self register system at the trailhead. This proved to be a VERY wise decision. While there, we were greeted and queried about our route. We informed them we would be taking the Avalanche Gulch route to the summit and that my friend Jason had done it before. They made us aware of the high avalanche danger due to the recent snowfall and the warming temps that were expected over the next several days. They also advised us on a slight variation of our route that would keep us out of the major avalanche runout areas and we were most appreciative. They then shared the wind data with us for our planned days. According to their data, our summit day had 40+MPH sustained winds along the ridgelines we would be travelling and gusts at the peak exceeding 50MPH. Jason and I had both climbed San Gorgonio Peak before under very similar conditions and did not wish to repeat that. They advised us that if our plans allowed for starting a day later that we would have much better weather for our summit.

We headed to dinner in town and discussed our options. Shifting a day meant I would not summit exactly on my birthday but I would rather make it to the top than have to turn back. We opted for the one day delay. We had brought a motorcycle and an ATV to play around on the day after the climb anyway so we just did that the day before instead. We both felt better about this decision and we both knew our families would be happier with our choice to delay.

The night of May 28^th we headed up to the Bunny Flat trailhead at 6,950 ft. where we found it to be covered in about 10 ft. of snow. As this was a Friday night, lots of others with the same idea were there as well. We set up our tent, prepped as much of our gear as possible and went to sleep. The morning came and it was my 40^th birthday! The skies were blue and there was no wind. One look up high on the mountain however told the story that we were warned about. Spindrift was blowing off every ridge rising hundreds of feet into the air. It was very windy up there and we were happy to be under sunny skies with zero wind down below.

We did our final packing up and made sure we each had our critical gear. I had debated the carrying of my big SLR camera as it weighs several pounds and was planning on just taking my wife’s point and shoot. It was so beautiful out and I wanted to be able to capture this with the best camera I had. When I consulted Jason on my dilemma he said I should take the big one. “Easy to say when you are not the one carrying it” I told him! I made a deal. If he would carry the point and shoot and take pictures of me then I would take the SLR camera. He was sold on the idea and the heavy camera got clipped to my pack.

We headed out, me on snow shoes and Jason on his split board. We were headed to Helen Lake, which due to the expected conditions, is nothing more than a place where a lake would be when not covered in 15 feet of snow and ice. It wasn’t long before we were shedding layers due to the heat. Now it may have only been in the 30’s but when hiking uphill with tons of reflected sunshine off the snow striking us it got hot. Before long we were both down to our t-shirts and were unzipping the legs of our pants for ventilation. It was a very long haul with heavy packs in snow that was becoming softer due to the heat. While the distance was only 3 ½ miles that day it sure felt like 15 or more. We could see where several small avalanches had released on both sides of the path we were taking but we followed the advice from the Forest Service and stayed on the higher ground up the middle. While plenty of people were headed up, they were all down in the avalanche danger area on the main route through Avalanche Gulch. Only one other person was on our route that day and it turned out to be a Forest Ranger who knew the dangers well.

I finally arrived at Helen Lake at 10,500 ft. Jason had been ahead of me most of the way as his split board appeared to be a faster method of travel under these conditions. It was 2PM and I was very hungry. I dropped my pack, got out my stove and proceeded to heat water for a hot meal. I gave Jason my half of the tent and he got started setting it up. Normally we would each have a tent but as I did not have a 4 season tent which can be needed to handle high winds and snow loading we opted to share and reduce the weight we each had to carry.

Once the tent was up and I had eaten and replenished lost fluids, Jason headed on up the hill to get in a good snowboard run on untracked fresh powder. I gladly stayed behind to melt snow for water and improve our camp. I took a stroll through the area to view all of the other tents and shelters and camp improvements. After surveying, I decided I was going to make a couch out of snow that would be the envy of everyone in camp. With my avalanche snow shovel in hand I went to work. Within about a half hour I had a real piece of snow furniture to be proud of. Our couch was complete with insulated foam pad to sit on and a tarp on the back to keep from getting wet when leaning back. It was big enough for three so we could invite a guest over and even had drink holders built into the arms. I made a snow table for the stove in front of it and proceeded to take of my boots and socks and laid down on the couch to watch for Jason’s snowboard descent.

Jason spent at least and hour if not longer making his way up the steep snow slope in front of us headed toward the Red Banks at the top of the bowl named for the reddish colored rock that remains exposed. As soon as I saw him I grabbed the point and shoot camera and took video of his run. He was down in less than a minute and had a huge smile etched on his bearded face. I think it was a combo of a phenomenal board run down and the view of my snow furniture masterpiece he was about to enjoy. We grabbed a seat on the sofa, brewed up some tea and enjoyed a little rest before starting our dinners.

About this time one of the Forest Rangers came by to check on our permits. He was full of great information including the avalanche conditions, routes to the summit, expected weather and average ascent and descent times. As expected, the avalanche danger would be greatest in the late afternoon as the snow softened and we were informed that we should plan to be back to camp no later than noon to avoid the greatest avalanche hazards. We were told the average ascent time is 4-6 hours to make the trip up almost 4,000 vertical ft and 3 ½ miles to the summit at 14,179ft. The descent time is typically half of that.

We worked out the math and decided we wanted to leave around 3AM in the morning which meant an early bedtime. We pre-packed our smaller summit packs and put our water in the tent to keep it from freezing overnight. We crawled into the tent before dark. I didn’t get to sleep until about 10PM and woke up at midnight. My mind was too busy thinking about what laid ahead of me and the full moon shining upon us probably did not help.

Jason’s alarm went off at 2AM and I basically sprang out of the tent as I had been awake for the last few hours. I got the stove started and began melting more snow for our breakfast. We needed to hydrate before leaving camp as we were only taking 2 liters of water each and no stove to make more. The full moon was an awesome sight as well as the string of headlamps already heading up the bowl towards the Red Banks. While waiting for the snow to melt in our pot, I grabbed my camera to take some photos in the near darkness. I had to keep the battery near my body that night to keep it from freezing. I got a few great pictures before starting in on breakfast. We knew we needed a good hot meal to get us going as we would burn energy like crazy on the ascent.

We rolled out of camp at 3:40AM. Later than the 3AM we had planned on but we had factored some extra time into our equation. We joined the long serpentine of headlamps climbing up the bowl towards the Red Banks. Enough people had headed out before us to kick in some rather nice steps in the snow. The climb from camp to the top of the Red Banks is like climbing the stairs up the Washington Monument just over 4 times! I took pictures of the line of climbers ahead and behind me along the way. I even got a shot of the shadow of Mt. Shasta cast across the valley behind us. By the time I reached the chute at the top of the Red Banks I had consumed half of my water and took the opportunity to eat some nuts as I was hungry.

Unfortunately once you make it above the Red Banks all you see is another big uphill climb. Jason and I made our way up that. Once you reach the top it flattens out for a very short stretch and you then reach Misery Hill. At this time the sun had nearly disappeared and the wind had picked up to about 20MPH. Jason who had summited before decided this was the end of the line for him. The snowboarding is no good above here due to exposed rock on these wind scoured ridgelines. He made sure I was OK with his decision and I was as there were many people heading up both ahead and behind me. We both added some extra layers at this time as the wind was sucking the heat right out of us. We said our farewell and agreed to meet back up in camp.

I began heading up Misery Hill. At this point the altitude was beginning to take a toll on me. I had energy but the thought of eating seemed unappealing despite my need to replenish the energy I had already used. I opened a Cliff Bar and took a bite and shoved it back in my pocket. I even tried to drink but just a sip or two was all I could handle. Up Misery Hill I went, wind blasting me and stomach not feeling so good. As I neared the top of Misery Hill I observed something very strange. Nearly ¾ of the people in front of me turned to head back. I was not sure if they saw something ahead that made them turn or what. I did notice that as they were heading down they seemed very happy and quite talkative. I however was not sharing those feelings at this point. I continued to climb onward. I did notice that those who were continuing on all seemed to be wearing helmets, had avalanche shovels, probes and beacons, and all appeared to be well prepared for the weather we were currently facing. I was proud to be equipped just like the others heading up the hill. Nearing the top I suddenly was overcome in pain as my left leg cramped very badly. I thought to myself, "is this really what is going to keep me from the summit?" I stretched it out as best I could and hobbled onward.

At the top of Misery Hill it flattens out again for quite some distance. This was a welcome sight. Just a little further ahead two wonderful things happened almost simultaneously; the summit came into view and the wind stopped. This was a great feeling. I could see people on the summit and by their size I judged the summit was not as far off as it first appeared. Just a little further and I would be there!

The final climb takes you up the rather icy spire to reach the summit. Along the way the smell of sulfer is rather noticeable as there is a fumarole very near the peak. John Muir writes of spending a horrible night on the mountain being frozen on one side and baked by the fumaroles on the other. I thought of his words as I passed. I paused for one of my emotional moments, saying a prayer and thanking all of those who helped me make it this far. I rounded the corner on the spire and finally the peak was before me! There were about a dozen people up there and the sun was beginning to shine upon us once again as the clouds cleared out. Everyone up there had the same feelings as we cheered for each other. We shared cameras so everyone got just the picture they wanted. I signed the log book making sure to thank everyone who supports me through these journeys. My time from the bottom to the top, 5 hours on the nose.

After 20 minutes on top, it was time to head down. It is amazing how easy it is to go down and the joy that overcomes you after reaching the peak. Euphoria is the best word I can use to describe it. As the sun was now shining it made for much better pictures. I took a few on the descent, still having to pull the battery from pocket each time as 10 minutes was about all it would last in the cold. I ran across a group that had camped next to us the night before and I gave them some words of encouragement. I rather quickly descended to the bottom of Misery Hill where I needed to adjust my layers and take a sit down break and eat as my appetite was back. I finished the Cliff Bar started several hours earlier and consumed some electrolyte before putting on my ski pants for the glissade below the Red Banks.

Upon reaching the Red Banks I was happy to see a glissade path that started at the top. I removed my crampons and tucked them away. I was ready to see how far I could slide on my rear back to camp. I hopped in the glissade track and picked up speed. Due to the soft snow conditions and the fact that the path had only been made at most a few hours ago it was not all that fast. Instead of using my ice axe as a brake I found I was using it more as a paddle. What had taken several hours to ascend that morning was clocked off in minutes. The glissade path gave out about ¾ of the way back to camp so I just plunge stepped my way down from there and returned to camp at 11AM, a 2 hour descent from the summit. (Update: We later learned that a natural avalanche was triggered that afternoon and nearly reached camp at Helen Lake. Good thing we planned on getting out of there on the early side to avoid just such a problem!)

I met Jason who was enjoying a rest on the couch. We had planned on having a hot lunch but neither of us were that hungry. We quickly took down the tent, replenished our water supplies and ate a quick snack. I was ready to be done as I was now back to baking in the sun. Jason let me get a head start as I was heading down on foot where he would be able to snowboard all the way back. I left at noon and never stopped until I got to the parking lot. I returned at 1:30PM and Jason had gotten there about a half hour ahead of me as he stopped to rest once he returned to the tree line in the shade. We both cracked open some beers I had packed in snow back at the truck. I was thrilled to have made the top and equally happy to have reached my truck. The beer you drink after reaching the summit of a fourteener is the best beer in the world!

I learned plenty on this trip. Jason was a great resource for information on snow travel. I learned first hand that you can sunburn the underside of your nose and inside your nostrils. I discovered a day later that you can also sunburn your tongue! Don’t ask me how, I just know you can. Since I am a skier I am thinking that the next trip like this will probably be done on backcountry skis as hiking down something I could have skied makes no sense to me.

Once again I have been asked what’s next. How do I top this 40^th birthday trip? Well I am not sure what is next but I do have a Rim to Rim Grand Canyon trip planned for Sept. 2011 already. I will surely do plenty in between now and then so check back here for my future reports.

The full photo journal of this trip is available here.

Fabricating Your Own Alcohol Stove System

2010-05-11T14:19:00.003-07:00

So you want to build an alcohol stove do you? Well I was faced with this same question a little over a year ago after my son won a Pepsi can alcohol stove at a Scout Fair. I was impressed with the weight but it lacked what looked like any type of self contained useable system so I began to research the topic. For a great resource I would suggest Zen Stoves.

I will save you hours of searching for a stove design and all accompanying items that make the stove a useful tool. It is not just the stove but also the pot, pot stand, windscreen and other pieces that make the system I will describe into a complete cook system. I have used it many times on day hikes as I got tired of eating a sandwich at the summits and wanted more. I have taken it on 4 day backpack trip as my sole cooking setup and been very pleased. When combined with freezer bag cooking you have an ultra reliable and ultra simple system. Best of all, your complete stove and cooking set will weigh in at about 5 oz!

I want to stress that I did not invent any of this. I have taken many peoples different ideas and refined them into this stove system. I have spent hours in my garage on rainy days testing different ideas and concepts to develop this system. There are plenty of ideas out there that sound good and even look impressive but when tested fail miserably.

The Stove and Fuel:

After much research I chose the Super Cat alcohol stove for my design. Please view this link as it provides everything you would want to know about the stove, how it works and excellent instructions on making one. I have used them with holes made from a hole puncher at ¼ inch as well as ones with holes at 3/16 inch from a Whitney punch as described. Both work just fine but I prefer the 3/16 holes as my testing proved a faster boil and less wind interference. While several variants are discussed I just use the basic supercat. I chose it because it was simple to make, does not require a pot stand or priming pan and you can easily see how much fuel you have added to it. Make sure to use the 3 oz. Fancy Feast or potted meat can as the flare fits the pot I recommend perfectly. He also provides lots of great information on fuels. I just stick with SLX Denatured Alcohol from Home Depot but I have used the Ace Hardware house brand and had identical results.

The Cookpot:

There is plenty of info out there to overwhelm you. While you can spent over $60 for a lightweight titanium mug to cook in I have found that a $3 25oz. can of Heineken works perfectly, and you get to drink the contents as well! This can is better than the large Fosters can as it is more sturdy due to the shape and the bottom fits the supercat stove better when built with the Fancy Feast cat food can. All you need to do is use a side cutting or safety can opener and remove the top of the can. It can be a little tricky and some openers work better than others. Save the top you removed for a lid or a little heavier but a great fitting lid is the top from an Altoids Citrus Sours can.

One of the reasons this pot/stove combo works so well is that the thin wall pot absorbs heat all the way up the sides giving a much larger surface area to conduct heat through. There are many people out there that like to wrap their pot with fiberglass wick or other non flammable material to keep from burning their hand when grabbing the pot. I have wrapped one with a fireproof blanket I trimmed down to cover a 2 inch wide section of the middle of the pot and as I had expected, my boil times went way up. While the fireproof material is cooler to touch, it takes away pot surface area that was transferring heat. My suggestion is to either wear a glove or use a handkerchief to keep from burning your hand on the hot pot.

Windscreen:

The alcohol stove has a drawback in that it performs very poorly with any type of wind. To counter this you need a good windscreen. For lots of background on windscreens and other wind devices visit here. One can be easily fabricated from thin aluminum roof flashing available at your local home repair store. I use some stuff I picked up at Home Depot although I had to buy a 25 ft. roll. I get the 8 inch wide roll as it covers both the stove and pot. To fabricate, simply cut enough off the roll to form a 4 ½ diameter circle with about a ¾ inch overlap (about 16 inches of material). A good pair of scissors will cut this just fine. Slightly round the corners once cut.

Along one of the long sides of the flashing you will need to punch some holes so your stove can get air to keep burning. Get out your hole punch with ¼ holes and proceed to punch holes on ½ inch centers all along one side about ¾ inch up from the edge. I tested many different openings in calm and wind conditions and found this to be the best based on shortest time to produce a boil.

Now you need a way to hold this in its circle shape as it wants to spring flat. To make this easier you need to remove the temper in the metal itself. Use some old wire (with no insulation) and make a circle with a 4 ½ inch diameter, twist the ends so it holds shape and slide it over your rolled windscreen. Place this in your oven in your home and heat to 400 degrees F. for 45 minutes and then turn off the oven and let it cool with the oven closed. When done it should keep its new curved shape fairly well.

To finish off the windscreen you need a way to hold it together to maintain the proper shape. The wire worked for the oven but needs to be improved upon for field use. I tried combinations of hardware and special slots and folds when I stumbled across a write up for the windscreen beltbuckle. This rather simple device solves the problem and weighs nearly nothing. Cut a strip of flashing about 9 inches long and ¾ inches wide. Slightly round the corners and lay it along the side of your circular windscreen from top to bottom where the windscreen overlaps. You should have about a ½ inch of overlap on top and bottom. Simply fold over the top and bottom to form a clamp and squeeze to pinch the windscreen and hold its shape. Holes can be punched in the buckle to reduce the weight if desired.

The first few times you use the windscreen it will give off a little smoke and smell funny as a coating on the flashing burns off so don’t be alarmed. It will also discolor a little and look burnt. This is normal.

Cozy:

The final item to manufacture is the pot cozy. This is the item that will help your pot retain heat once you have heated your water and keep you from burning your hand when you drink hot beverage from it. This is made from a material called Reflectix and is held together with aluminum tape or duct tape. The aluminum tape is more durable and looks more professional but duct tape can be used. For the background I have provided additional information here under Mods for your Mug, see Mod 3.

Fabrication of the cozy is explained fairly well under Mods for your Mug. You will need an 18” long piece of the 16” wide Reflectix product. Cut a 13” long piece of the aluminum tape and apply half of it to the thin, non bubble section along one edge as shown. Fold the non bubble section over and tape down. Measuring from the folded tape edge, come down 5 ¾” and cut out a piece that is 5 ¾” by 13”. You should now have a rectangular piece with the tape along one side. Fit this to your pot and trim as needed so that the edges just touch, there is no overlap and the pot can easily slide out. The pot will expand slightly with heat so a slightly looser fit is OK. Follow the same instructions to make a second one to go around the first but this time use a 14 1/2” strip of tape and cut a piece that is 14 1/2” by 5 ¾”. Complete the bottoms as shown in the link. Make sure you make the bottom on the end of your circular cozy that does not already have tape on it.

When complete, the smaller cozy will fit the pot and larger one can be either doubled up on the bottom cozy or used like a cover to slide over the top of the pot and smaller cozy to make an insulated chamber.

Accessories:

You now need a few little items to complete the whole package. You need a fuel bottle to store your fuel in. I use a flip top 4 oz. bottle from REI or Sport Chalet but any bottle with a flip top that will fit inside your pot will work. A silicone wrist band (like the Lance Armstrong yellow bands) is another item you need. This is used to place around the mouth of the pot to prevent you from burning your lip when drinking from it. You need a way to light this thing so either matches or a flint and steel (my preference) goes in the pot. Lastly, you need an eating utensil. A plastic spoon is OK but I have broken and melted a few so I now carry an aluminum spork.

That sums up the making of the ideal cook kit. I have provided instructions for the packing and use of your new stove system below. I hope you enjoy it and get as much use out of yours as I have mine. I have had my Cub Scout Webelos Den make these and the kids were very excited. You have never seen a child so excited to boil water! They also make great gifts for your backcountry friends.

I am considering offering the materials in a kit. Please contact me if you are interested.

Alcohol Stove Operating Instructions:

This stove is a complete cookset if used as described below. No additional pots, pans or other cooking items other than your preferred eating utensil are required ( I use an aluminum spork).

Fuel:

Use denatured alcohol from the hardware store. There are other alcohol based fuels out there and you can read up on those but denatured alcohol is the most consistent from my tests. NEVER USE WHITE GAS OR GASOLINE!!!

Setup:

Remove all items from the complete stove set. Set the stove (the small catfood can with the two rows of holes) on a non flammable flat surface. You may want to carry a piece of aluminum foil to place under the stove to protect the ground but that is optional. Next you need to get the windscreen ready so open it up to form a 4 ½ circle. You should just have about ¾ inch of overlap when formed correctly. Use the long metal strip to pinch the windscreen at the overlap to maintain the correct shape. Add an appropriate amount of water to heat in the Heineken pot and place lid on pot.

Getting it started:

Add alcohol to the stove. The appropriate amount depends on many factors including water temp, air temp, wind, quantity of water and desired finish temp. When boiling 2 cups of water in cool weather I would add fuel right up to the lower set of holes in the stove. You may be able to use less but this is a good start point and will let you see how long your stove will run for. If only boiling a cup of water with no wind you may be able to get away with half as much fuel or even less. You will need to experiment to work this out as each stove is a little different.

With the fuel added, light it and observe. The flame is nearly invisible during the day so use your hand to determine if it is lit by feeling above the stove for heat. You need to let the stove burn until you start to see little bubbles in the alcohol forming near the edges of the stove. This priming phase takes less than 30 seconds typically but may take longer in cold conditions.

Add your pot with water and lid on it to the top of the stove and make sure the silicone lip guard is removed. I would suggest wearing a glove when doing this as some flame does come up the side of the pot as you place it on the stove. With the pot in place slide the windscreen over the pot to protect everything. Make sure the row of holes around the windscreen is at the bottom. Sit back and wait for steam to come out around the lid. If you are going to heat a foil packet of meat or a can of chicken you can place it directly on top of the lid for the stove unopened. It will get warm but not too hot to damage the packaging.

Finishing up:

As this stove is very hot while running, it is suggested you let it burn out before removing your windscreen and pot. Remove the windscreen when the stove has run out of fuel and remove the pot and place in the smaller cozy (the metalized bubble wrap) that snuggly fits the pot preferably with a glove on. Once in the cozy, you no longer need a glove as the pot will be well insulated. If you are making a hot beverage, mix it directly in the pot and place the silicone wrist band around the lip of the pot to make a lip guard so you do not burn your lip on the metal pot while drinking. To keep the fluid warm for a longer period of time, add the larger cozy over the top to seal the pot inside.

Storing:

When finished and it is time to pack it up, make sure the pot is dry. You will first roll up your windscreen and slide it into the pot. Next you need to put the stove into the pot, open end up, and slide it to the bottom of the pot with the windscreen touching the outside of the stove as you slide it down into the pot. Then place your fuel bottle, matches, spork and silicone wrist band into the pot. Place the lid for your pot on top of the windscreen that extends out of the pot. Place the pot lid on the top of the windscreen extending from the pot with the lip of the lid facing down to cover the top edge of the windscreen. Place the smaller cozy over the bottom of the pot and the larger one on the top covering the windscreen and you are all set.

Tips:

My typical use of this setup includes boiling water, pouring some into a freezer bag meal I have created (adding a can of chicken I heated on top of the pot) and sealing it and placing in the bottom of the large cozy. I will then place the pot with small cozy on top of my meal to trap it between the two. I will them make a hot beverage in the pot while I am waiting on the meal to rehydrate and warm. I will add the lip guard and drink with the whole setup in my hand. Check out freezer bag cooking or FBC as this method is particularly well suited to this type of stove.

I do not claim to be the inventor of any of this stuff, I just came up with a slick way of incorporating several peoples different ideas into one handy setup. If you like it, share it with a friend. For instructions on building one of these please see my blog at http://hikingandscouting.blogspot.com

Taking Your Child on Their First Backpacking Trip

2010-05-11T13:40:00.001-07:00

I still remember my first backpacking trip. My Boy Scout Troop headed to the back hills of Malibu to a place called Circle X. My Dad was on the trip as well so this was our first Father/Son backpacking experience. The weather was hot, my cheap backpack did not fit well and was heavy and it was 5 miles into camp, uphill! Needless to say, I was not very excited about backpacking and it was quite a few years before I did it again.

I love day hiking and have just recently started to backpack. My boys don’t necessarily like to hike but they do enjoy going to remote waterfalls or lakes to fish in. It is all about the destination for them, not the means by which we get there. Being a Scout leader myself and having attended every training course available for a Cub Scout Leader and even some Boy Scout ones, I think I have good platform on how to put on a fun first backpacking trip.

Planning this great day started over a year ago. The family knew I wanted to get my 9 year old son a good backpack. They gave him a gift card for REI for his birthday and said it was for he and Dad to use to pick out the perfect pack. Now his name is Gregory and I happen to really like the backpacks made by…..Gregory. What kid would not appreciate a pack with his name all over it! I selected one of appropriate size for him for a big daypack or light overnighter, about 35L capacity. Now he had a pack just like Dad, although his was a little smaller.

Over the next year, we went on some day hikes and he was proud to wear his pack. The family always talked it up at how impressive it was when he wore his backpack. He did a 7 mile day hike up in Mammoth to Rainbow Falls which was really impressive. He really liked it when we went about a mile to arrive at an alpine lake we had all to ourselves. He carried his own fishing pole and gear and was rewarded with a fish. This made for a perfect day hike and really showed him the fun that could be had on the trail.

We camp all the time so the outdoors are nothing new to him. He has camped in rain, wind and cold, fortunately never all three at the same time. The Spring seemed like the right time of year for our trip as the weather would be mild. I wanted to find a place for our first backpack trip that was a short hike, a mile or two at most but still remote. I needed a place with a water source nearby so we did not have to carry much water and if this place had something fun to do once we arrived it would be even better.

My coworker Clark and his wife Michelle told me about a first backpacking trip they were going to do to Tenaja Falls and Fisherman’s Camp in the San Mateo Wilderness of the Cleveland National Forest. They would do a longer hike than what I wanted but would be visiting the falls and a wilderness camp area that sounded appropriate. I would have joined them but I was in Mammoth that weekend for a snow and ice class.

They gave me their report on the trip and the conditions at the office the following Monday. I looked at the map and figured out how I could combine a short 1.4 mile roundtrip day hike to the Tenaja Falls with a 4 mile roundtrip backpack to Fisherman’s Camp. The whole trip would be following a flowing creek and the waterfall had a great swimming hole. I faxed off my application for an overnight permit and got it back approved. The trip was on!

I invited some friends and Gregory’s Uncle Jeff. They both have dogs and my son enjoys being around dogs, just not picking up after them which is a reason we don’t have one. Our friends would join us for the first part of our trip, the day hike to the falls and back. Gregory and I were on our own after that.

Two nights before the trip I had Gregory sit with me as we both loaded our packs. He got out his clothes. Before putting them in his pack I explained to him that we are not out there to smell good or impress the girls with our good smells and clean clothes. We ditched about half of the clothes he had selected. We would be doing freezer bag cooking so both headed to the kitchen to assemble our meals, some of which we created ourselves and others from some recipes I had recently used myself. He carried his sleeping bag, clothes, ten essentials, alcohol stove he had made, snacks, a deck of cards and mini chess set. I carried the rest. His pack was around 15 lbs. and mine was, well……more.

After a very scenic drive we arrived at the trailhead to the falls. We all headed up the short trail and enjoyed the falls. The dogs played in the water, I jumped off the rocks into the swimming hole and Gregory enjoyed wading and laying on the rocks. We packed in a hearty lunch and enjoyed about 3 hours goofing off. We headed back to the car and said goodbye to our friends. As they drove off, Gregory and I put on our packs as it was time to start our first backpack adventure. It was about 3:00PM and I figured we could cover the two miles in about 1 ½ hours tops, at kid speed with plenty of breaks.

The hike to Fisherman’s Camp was gently downhill. The trail alternated between sun and shade and several creek crossings needed to be done. We even came across a family we had camped with before on the trail, the only other people we saw on the way into Fisherman’s Camp. We took frequent rest breaks and drank plenty of water. Since I had all the water, I was happy to drink it as it meant a lighter pack for me. We had great Father/Son chat and enjoyed our hike together.

We arrived at Fisherman’s Camp a little after 4:00PM. Other than another father/son group about a ¼ mile away, we had the whole camp to ourselves. As the following day was Mother’s Day I guess this was not a popular weekend. We saw what looked like the perfect camp site. Before pitching our tent we evaluated it under the Leave No Trace principles and deemed it to be an appropriate location. Camped out under a nice oak tree with a log for sitting on and a couple of flat rocks to use as a table with a small meadow surrounding us, we were ready for the evening.

We headed to the nearby creek (100 ft. away of course) and pumped water with our water filter to purify it. We headed back to camp and began our dinner prep. We figured out how much hot water we needed for our meals. We were trying a new experimental recipe we developed, stuffing with chicken. We also had another favorite, chicken gravy rice. We boiled our water in homemade alcohol stoves. I have been using one for sometime now but Gregory made his when I had his Webelos Den make them as a project to earn their Craftsman Activity Pin. We boiled our water and poured it into the freezer bags with our dinner. We waited for them to hydrate properly and dug into them. We both agreed that our new chicken stuffing creation was the best of the two and that with some dried apples tossed in it would be even better the next time.

We played some cards and Gregory did some whittling. I taught him how to tie some new knots. We decided to brew up some hot cocoa for dessert. Out came the alcohol stove for more hot water. We enjoyed our hot beverage consumed from our Heineken beer can we use for a pot with a silicone wrist band at the top to keep from burning our lips. I asked him if he was having a great time and he enthusiastically replied “Yes!” It was now about 8:30PM and time for bed as we had an early morning start ahead of us. We had promised Mom we would be home as soon as possible on Sunday and should be home for lunch.

Upon crawling in the tent I discovered that the old insulated air mattress from 20+ years ago had a hole and provided about nothing for comfort. Gregory had a ½" closed cell foam mat that I had been using lately but I decided to carry the heavier “more comfortable” air mattress that now did little for comfort or insulation. It was a cool night and Gregory got a little cold but I had him put on his fleece jacket and we snuggled a little closer and went back to sleep.

By just before 7:00AM we were both up and I was getting water going for our quick oatmeal breakfast. By 8:00AM we had camp packed up and checked to make sure we left only footprints behind. We headed out on our 2 mile trip back to the truck. We took some pictures and talked about the fun we have had on this trip. The time passed quickly and I could tell he was ready for this. We got back to the truck at 9:15AM and took our packs off. I asked him if he would like to do more backpacking similar to this in the future. I was full of joy when again he replied with an enthusiastic, “Yes!”

My master plan had paid off! It was nearly a year in the making but I now have a child who is happy to go backpacking with me. We discussed possible locations for future trips and instead of the usual frown when I mention hiking I was seeing a smile. Now I just have to repeat this in a few years with his younger brother and I am set! We even made it home by 10:45AM for Mother’s Day and all went out to lunch together and off to my Sister’s for a family gathering that evening. If anyone knows how to get Mom to join us in all the fun let me know as I have not figured that one out yet?

Please click here for our pictures of the whole trip.

My Foray into Snow, Ice and Mountaineering

2010-05-07T11:33:00.000-07:00

As my day hiking adventures continue, I have discovered there is a whole new world out there awaiting me, snow and ice. I made my New Years resolution for 2010 to get more involved in snow and ice adventures other than skiing. I celebrated this by ringing in the new year by climbing San Jacinto Peak on snowshoes on New Years Day. Unable to stop at just that, I needed a new goal.

Over the winter I did plenty of local skiing and even got in a trip to Mammoth. While there I found a few opportunities to cruise the local golf courses in my snowshoes to get more familiar with them. I made a few trips into the local mountains of Orange County during our cold winter and found some snow up there but nothing that required anything special.

I had added new gear to my collection over the past year to prepare for what was ahead of me. I picked up mountaineering boots, crampons (spikes for your boots), snowshoes, mountaineering helmet and lastly, the icon of mountaineering, my ice axe. With all this gear comes plenty of learning. I did not want to be the guy who bought all this stuff only to die on his first trip out as he had no idea of how to use it. I needed some experience and some professional training.

A good friend of mine, Edd, who I met through the Orange County Hiking and Backpacking Club, was already a regular in the winter sports. Edd is an instructor for the Sierra Club’s Wilderness Travel Course and was willing to invite me to join him and some other mutual friends on a trip up the Mt. Baldy Bowl. After reading up on winter mountaineering skills and bringing my mountaineering boots, crampons, helmet and newly acquired ice axe we headed up for one of Edd’s famous “Brunch on Baldy” hikes which he tends to host year round. I learned a lot of the basics that day. The glissade down the Baldy Bowl was incredible (sliding on your rear using your ice axe as a brake) and I practiced self arrest, the act of stopping your fall through the proper use of your ice axe and body position. It was a great introduction but I realized I wanted….and needed more.

The beginning of May I attended my first professional instruction. I headed up to Mammoth to attend a course put on by Sierra Mountaineering International, or SMI, headed by two-time Everest summiter and worldwide mountaineering guide Kurt Wedberg. On day one, seven of us were joined by one of SMI’s experienced instructors for the Snow Travel course. This gave us instruction and lots of practice with using our ice axe in self arrest, ice axe travel across snow and ice covered slopes, roped travel with and without running belays and other general topics relating to travel in snow conditions. I chose to stay on for the second day which covered snow anchors and crevasse rescue techniques. When I asked how many other students would be staying for day two I heard nothing but silence. I was informed that it was just me and that Kurt himself would be teaching the class.

Day two was incredible. It is not every day that you get private instruction from a mountaineer as recognized as Kurt. We built different snow anchors all morning and set up crevasse rescue systems all afternoon. I learned a lot. I can comprehend plenty when I am interested in the topic and Kurt crammed in all the information I could hold. He was nice enough to take a few photos to help me remember but we were so busy with just the two of us that pictures were again not a priority.

You must be thinking by now, “Glenn must have something up his sleeve to put in all this training and effort”, and you would be correct. My plan is to summit Mt. Shasta, the northern most fourteener in California on my 40^th birthday. I have made such a transformation in my lifestyle over the past 3 years. If I am going to have my “over the hill” birthday then it had better be a hill with a 14 at the beginning of it!

Keep an eye out for my future report on a first timers trip up Mt. Shasta.

Havasupai, Grand Canyon

2010-04-30T08:51:00.000-07:00

Havasupai Backpacking Trip, April 2010

While on a recent visit to one of our clients we got sidetracked onto the topic of hiking. I shared my Mt. Whitney stories and she shared that she enjoys an annual trip with her daughter’s church group to the Native American reservation of Hualapai. This is commonly know as Havasupai and is located in the Grand Canyon. I have heard from others about this mystical place as it is famous for its’ waterfalls and lush green Garden of Eden like appearance. Upon my return to the office the following day I looked at my schedule and realized I was already going to be in Vegas for a convention so why not tag this onto the end of the trip to make it a really fun week of adventure!

Booking my reservation proved to be a trip back in time. No online reservations here, just a list of four phone numbers that you keep calling until you get through. Fortunately I did get through and was very lucky to be able to book a four day reservation for the campground as this place fills up fast. Going in late April made it easier as most people wait until the warmer months….. more on that later. I made a reservation for 8 which is the limit per campsite as I knew I had friends that would be interested. I put out an email at noon to my hiking friends and let them know of my plans. By the time I returned to work the following morning all of the slots on my trip were filled and I already had a waiting list!

Now until this point, my recent adventures have all been day hikes. I had not backpacked in about 20 years so I was new again to this sort of thing. The hike consists of a 10 mile descent from the rim of the canyon, known as the Hualapai Hilltop, to the campground. Many people hike in and have mules carry their stuff down. Some even take a helicopter as they run this service a few times per week to transport bulky items to the village of Supai that sits down in the canyon, 8 miles into the hike. Since we all think we are tough, no mule or helicopter was going to haul our stuff. We would lug our 50 lb. backpacks and all our food ourselves. Our plan was to hike in on day one, spend the next two days exploring and swimming, and hike out on day four.

Starting our adventure.

The morning finally came for us to meet up at the Hualapai Hilltop to begin our adventure. We did very well with three different cars all traveling from different locations to meet up at the hilltop with 5 minutes of each other. There was one strange occurrence however, it was snowing! Late April in Arizona along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and it is snowing. Thankfully my hardy group of hikers embraced the elements and we all thought it was an awesome experience. We layered up and down we went.

The hike down was very scenic. The weather made it even more interesting. The beautiful scenery was occasionally interrupted by the 2 helicopters that appeared to be running the Supai Airlift, making trip after trip and even carrying cargo suspended by a cable underneath. The weather kept changing as we had snow, hail, sleet and rain that day. We checked in at the village of Supai and continued on down a few more miles to the campground. The heavy packs were beginning to get to some of us but the end was near.

As we neared the campground, we came to Havasu Falls, the first of the spectacular waterfalls. The water was a bright blue/green color and this is because of the high lime content in this spring fed river. The roar of the water and spray were quite impressive but as we were a little tired and the campground so close, we decided to press on and explore this another day. This turned out to be an excellent decision. After we explored the campground area, which is about a mile long, we settled in on a site that was plenty big enough for all our tents, adjacent to the river, and had bathrooms close enough but not too close. As soon as we had completed setting up our tents, another rain shower was upon us. We all quietly retreated to our tents, got out our sleeping bags and other gear, and once I realized this was not blowing over anytime soon, I took a nap. The camp was very quiet, especially since we had learned that about ¾ of the reservations for that day had been canceled due to the weather.

The rain cleared out and we all resurfaced from our tents. Apparently I was not the only one who opted for a nap. It was nearing dinner time so we all gathered our food and stoves. We had a few couples sharing meal plans but those of us that were without our significant other did our own food. I was using my homemade alcohol stove and cooking entirely in freezer bags. This is a fairly new concept and is the ultimate in light weight. It also means no pots to clean! All I do is boil water, pour it into my freezer bag with one of my homemade creations such as cranberry chicken couscous or chicken gravy rice, seal the bag, let it sit for 10 minutes in an insulated container, open and eat. Others grated fresh parmesan and sliced fresh garlic for their pesto spinach pasta with salmon. We had a wide variety of meals and there was plenty of sharing so meals were a fun event. One friend even brought a cake with frosting and candles as she just had her 47th birthday and my 40th was a month away. We celebrated our birthdays and enjoyed the heat given off from the candles before blowing them out and enjoying this rare backpacking treat.

The following morning most of us decided that since the weather was again going to be cold and a chance of showers that we would attempt to hike all the way down to the Colorado River and back. This would be an eleven mile hike round trip from our current location. We are all strong hikers and can average 3 MPH with light packs so we figured we would go for it.

Just below camp we came to Mooney Falls and the Mooney Cliffs. WOW!!! What a picturesque location. I could already tell our plan was in jeopardy as the views were so stunning we kept taking pictures. The descent down the face was exhilarating. It was fairly routine until we got to the sign that said, “Descend at your own risk”. At this point you are climbing into what looks like a mine shaft with steps carved into the rock. As we exited the cave, the falls are directly in front of you and plenty more pictures were taken. Through another cave and descent along some steep cliffs with chains for handholds and we were in the spray of the falls. It was wet and slippery and the final bit of the descent was on an old aluminum ladder. One in our party knew this was not for her and she stayed above to explore Havasu falls and relax.

Jason descends into the abyss.

Once down at the bottom of the Mooney Cliffs the falls were incredible. The roar and spray was intense and our camera lenses were quickly dripping with spray. Since it was a little cold, we headed downstream to get away from the spray and make our way toward the Colorado river. We headed down river on a trail that then crossed the river. We put on our water shoes and while most crossed, two of us headed right down the middle of the river. It felt so good to be walking in this lush, green forest with the blue/green water flowing all around us. Little cascades of water were every few hundred feet as we traveled downstream. We were not making very good time in the river but the pictures we were taking were well worth it. We finally met back up with our group that was taking the trail after they had paused to wait for us. It was slow going as following the poor excuse of a trail was difficult. We were keeping our eye out for Beaver Falls as our next landmark, not sure of what it looked like and wondering if we might have passed it.

Beaver Falls area.


Taking it easy at Beaver Falls

We finally arrived at Beaver Falls. More of a series of impressive cascades than a fall, it was still very pleasurable. As the sun had poked out and it was just after noon, the thoughts of another 6 or seven miles at this snails pace seemed unlikely. A few us decided Beaver Falls had everything we needed, a great view, an awesome swimming hole, a rock for some jumping in the water, and some sun. Three of us stayed put while the rest headed downriver to attempt the Colorado River.

The water was cool, but the breeze and air temp made it cooler. We lost the sun just about the time we got in the water. We still had a great time and about an hour later the rest of our crew returned and reported that the trail got a little to difficult and sketchy to follow and that they were not comfortable on a 40 ft. high narrow ledge attempting to make it downriver and opted to return. We all swam a little and decided it was time to head back to camp. A little rain shower, a trip up the Mooney Cliff’s and were back at camp for afternoon snack around 4:00 which kind of rolled into dinner. As the forecast for the following day was for sun we decided we would swim the next day.

Nature's shower, a short below Mooney Falls.

Hard to beat this for backpacking!

Me standing at the base of Mooney Falls.

Saturday morning and the sun was out! It felt good after the last couple days of clouds and wet weather. We had so much fun the day before we headed back down the Mooney Cliffs only this time it looked like a day at Disneyland. People were everywhere! Our private Garden of Eden had been overrun with people. The trip down the cliffs took much longer as the hoards of people with the same idea were ahead of us. Fortunately, most of them were drawn to the falls like an insect to a bug zapper. We headed downstream about half a mile and found a creek that flowed into the main river. We followed it and found the most impressive small waterfall we had ever seen. It looked like natures shower! This section of the river offered us our private waterfall, a sandy beach, a cave to set our packs in, a small swimming hole and cascade, and most importantly…..SUN! We spent hours here just taking it all in, swimming, sunning, eating, etc. After about 3 or 4 hours of this paradise, we decided to explore the area up the creek that was providing this wonderful waterfall. We had a great time and wound up in a canyon that dead ended, full of ferns and frogs and peace. It was time again to return but not without venturing into the spray of Mooney Falls.


Exploring the side canyon.

As it was getting later, the masses of people had thinned at the falls. We headed straight out into the pool at the base of Mooney Falls. The roar of the falls was deafening and the water spray was like being in a hurricane. We would not make any more forward progress into the falls head-on so we turned and tried to back into them. We were able to gain another foot or so. We were laughing and yelling with excitement so hard. I cannot explain what made us all have this feeling of laughter but it touched all of us. The wind must have changed the direction of falls a little as all of a sudden we were all swept off our feet and shot out to the side of the falls. What an incredible feeling! The power of nature can be overbearing and this was a great example. We swam in the pool a little farther from the falls and decided to call it a day.

That night we all had a plan. Eat everything you brought so you did not have to pack it out in the morning. We still had to carry out our trash but the less food we had the better. We all made a trip to the local spring to top off our water supply as in the morning we wanted an early start as it again would be sunny and the hike out only gets hotter the longer you wait.

By 7:15 AM all but two were ready to leave. Since they had their own car and were traveling by car to the main Grand Canyon for another day of fun we left them behind. One friend started at about 6:00AM as she was having troubles with her pack and wanted a head start. She was thinking of paying the $20 to have the helicopter haul her pack out but since the choppers did not start operation until 10 AM with no guaranty as to when her pack would make it out, she just headed on up. It was much hotter, and the packs did not seem to loose any weight. Not sure how all that food did not seem to lighten the pack at all! We asked some hikers coming down if they had seen our friend who started early, apparently it is hard to miss a lady in a plaid kilt and a cowboy hat. They confirmed she was ahead of us so we kept up the pace. The last 1 ½ miles are where you are in full sun and have the bulk of the elevation gain of the hike. This was difficult but doable. About halfway up I saw our friend who got the early start. We actually caught up to her about 100 yards from the finish.

We got back to our cars around 11:30 , put on some fresh clothes and drove an hour or so to the nearest town, Peach Springs AZ, for a sit down lunch. We are all healthy eaters but you would not have known it by looking at what we ordered. Chicken fried steak, fry bread taco, nachos, burger and fries, basically enough calories and cholesterol for a week! I asked what are we going to do to top this? One friend chimed in and said he would put together a trip to the Narrows in Zion National Park for next summer. I have some other plans coming sooner, keep looking at this blog for future adventures.

Pictures from Havasupai are here!

Spectrum Business Centers Mt. Whitney 2009 Adventure

2010-04-29T15:47:00.000-07:00

Personal Goals and a Mountain

Several years ago I was a couch potato. I enjoyed the outdoors but really did not get out and explore it like I once did as a Boy Scout in my younger days. A 1 mile trek from the car was about as far I was comfortable doing. One day a friend of mine told me about a great hike she just did to Santiago Peak, the highest point in Orange County. It was about 17 miles round trip and just over 4,000 feet of gain. I told her I would love to do it…..sometime….. but if I tried it now it would probably kill me! She laughed.

The thought of exploring these great mountains right in my own backyard was very appealing. I had wanted to drop a bunch of weight I had put on since college. The married life, home ownership, daily work and children were my excuse not to exercise. I knew I wasn’t eating healthy and the combination brought me to just over 300 pounds! Mind you I am 6’5” but still, that is a lot of extra weight! The defining moment was here. I decided right then that I was going to get in shape and the time to start was right now!

The following morning I started walking. Three days a week I would walk for an hour and a half. I cut drinking soda down to one a week instead of several per day. I cut back on my portions, ate healthier items and only had French fries once a week. After about 6 weeks I visited the doctor for some minor ailment and when they weighed me I was down 30 pounds! This is unbelievable! It made me work even harder. Soda fell back to one every two weeks, french fries as well. I ate more salads, focused on eating more fiber and fruit, and upped my exercise. I started swimming, biking and hiking in the foothills. If I ever found a spare moment I went for a walk or a bike ride. I had to buy new clothes a few times as I kept shrinking. What a great feeling this was.

I ran into that friend after I had been on my exercise plan for about three or four weeks. I looked at her and I said, “At the end of the summer, let’s hike Santiago Peak together.” She smiled and said, “Sure, lets do that.” I am sure she was thinking here is yet another person making an empty promise. I told her what I had been doing and she invited me to join her hiking at Whiting Ranch where she and her husband were training to climb Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the 48 states at 14,495 ft. located near Lone Pine, CA just off of Highway 395 on the way to Mammoth. They planned on doing the 22 mile round trip journey in a single day. “Wow”, I thought. I sure would like to do that ……someday.

The following summer not only had I hiked to Santiago Peak, but also the second highest in Orange County, Modjeska Peak. I had also tackled San_Jacinto_Peak, Mt Baldy and Mammoth Mountain, all over 10,000 feet. It was during the month of August in 2008, just over a year after I started hiking that I first climbed Mt. Whitney along with my friend who got me started in all of this. Out of our group of nine that year only three of us made the summit which statistically is average as only 1/3 of those who start the climb on a single day attempt make the summit. That year was very special to me. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I approached the summit as not only had I accomplished making the summit, but I also accomplished something even bigger, returning myself to an active and healthy lifestyle. Including the three pounds I lost climbing Mt. Whitney, I was down a total of 95 lbs. from where I started. I was so skinny people who hadn’t seen me in awhile asked if I had gotten taller or asked me if everything was OK. Not only was everything OK, I had never felt better in my life!

Once you get the hiking bug in you it is something you just cannot shake. I met a lot of friends through the Orange County Hiking Club as a group of us regularly hike in Turtle Rock near Irvine to stay in shape. Many of them were interested in climbing Mt. Whitney as well. Coworkers had been following my exploits and were interested as well. My good friend, Mike Davis, who I have worked with for 17 years had gone through a similar lifestyle change and was interested in tackling Whitney. It did not take much effort for the two of us to get on board our fellow coworker Clark Elek who we have both worked with for over 15 years. That was three of us ready for a summer 2009 ascent and plenty of others who were interested.

Mt. Whitney is a very popular hiking location and a special permit is required to hike the mountain. Only 50 people per day will be issued permits to climb the mountain in a single day during the summer months. You must enter a lottery with the Inyo National Forest Service in mid February and will not find out until mid April to early May if you even have a permit. After studying the permit process I learned that the mid week dates are easier to get than weekend or Friday/Monday. Also, all the books say that the weather is least likely to interfere with your climb in August so that is when most people shoot for. Knowing this, I applied for permits for the end of July and requested Monday July 27^th as our primary day and the following two days as alternates. I applied for a total of 12 permits as I had plenty of friends who were interested and were in good enough shape that with a little training I knew were capable.

The next few months went by ever so slowly. To make matters worse, the credit card I had used to pay for the permits had been cancelled and a new card issued by the credit company. Now I am wondering, “If they do select me in the lottery and my card is declined, do they move on to the next person or do they contact me?” Worse is that they take no phone calls from April 1 until April 15^th while they work out the whole lottery stuff. I followed the message boards and some people were already getting permits and seeing that their credit cards had been charged in early April. I kept waiting, fearing that if selected I had been passed over. On April 16^th I called and got through to someone at the Forest Service and trying not to be rude I let them know that I was not calling to see if I was selected which is a big no-no but rather to see what happens to a person in my predicament. Fortunately I was informed it happens all the time and that they will call me to get a new card number. Well I dodged that bullet but I still do not have permits.

It took until early May, with me reading the message board posts saying the Forest Service has completed the lottery process, before my wife called me with the good news. We were selected for our primary date and we have 12 permits being reserved for us! I never knew being a group leader meant this kind of pressure! I expect that up on a mountain but not this early in the planning. When I got back to the office I sent out the email I had typed up several weeks prior to let all of my friends who had showed interest that the trip was on and let me know ASAP so I could reserve a slot for them.

My coworkers Mike and Clark were as excited as I was when I returned to the office. Clark’s wife had been thinking about it and for her it proved a good reason to stop smoking. She was in! Rather quickly my friends started replying. Some had other summer plans already and others were on board immediately. I laid out a rather extensive list of training hikes and required reading for my team as I wanted everyone to follow the Boy Scout Motto so engrained in my brain, “Be Prepared”.

We began our almost weekly high altitude training hikes that were supplemented by everyone’s personal training/fitness regimes. Every weekend I said goodbye to the wife and kids for a day and headed out with our team. We really were becoming a team which was great. We all knew who routinely carried what, who were the fastest and strongest, who had altitude problems, who was best on uphill, downhill, rocky terrain and flat. The team consisted of coworkers and spouse Mike, Clark and Michelle, hiking club friends Alisa, Ros, Lyn, Alex, Alex II, Kevin and Rick and a Scout parent and friend Greg who was the only other one to have summited before but as a two day trip. Our team was 8 men and 4 women and included at least 5 of us who had recently battled weight loss, a smoker on the path to quitting, an ex-pro football player who suffers from altitude sickness and a few with a fear of heights. I am sure you are asking if this is the best team I can come up with? The answer is not just yes but it was the best group I have spent so much time with ever.

Training hikes took us to every 10,000 ft. plus peak we could trek to in a day in Southern California. We did Mt. Baldy several times by different routes, San Jacinto several times by different routes, San Bernardino Peak, Mt. Baden Powell, and finished with a 22 mile hike to San Gorgonio and Jepson, the two highest points in Southern CA. It is important to spend time above 10,000 feet to get your body used to the reduced amount of oxygen you will encounter on Mt. Whitney. You learn how your body adapts, or fails to adapt and what your personal issues are in this environment. Headaches are common, upset stomach, lack of energy and other issues are also possible. There are drugs to help with these issues such as Diamox but as always they too have their side affects.

With just one week to go I headed with my family up to Mammoth Lakes to spend some quality time together. It doubled as acclimatization as I was 8,500 feet all week with hikes to 11,300 ft. on a couple of occasions. The rest of the group was to head up to the Whitney Portal Campground at 8,500 ft. just outside Lone Pine, CA on the Saturday before our climb. While there, they would do some easy hikes to around 10,000 to 11,000 ft. to be ready for Monday’s big adventure. Just to emphasize how important all this training is, while our group was acclimatizing at Horseshoe Meadows around 10,500 ft. the day before the climb, a Long Beach resident lost her life on nearby 14,000+ ft. Mt. Langley. She had become separated from her group and was not properly prepared for the ice she encountered. Her group had radioed her and told her to stay put and they would be down to help. Unfortunately she tried to cross the ice without appropriate footwear, she slipped and fell over a thousand feet and was killed. I believe it was her thought process that was affected by altitude that was a major factor in this mishap. We learned of this upon our return from our trip. This was another reason for all the training. We never let people fall behind the group without someone else there to assist.

While up at the campground you meet plenty of people that are either going up the mountain or have just gotten down. Clark’s wife Michelle asked several ladies coming off the trail how they enjoyed the experience. As a new non-smoker Michelle was a little concerned about the physical toll it would place on her. Unfortunately the first person she asked said it was the hardest thing she had ever done and that it was not fun. Fortunately Michelle followed up the question with, “What training hikes did you do?” The answer was a short one, “Baldy” was the reply. Even Michelle could instantly tell this was the story from an unprepared person. One hike to 10,064 ft. probably by people who took the ski lift halfway up is not even close to the level of our preparation. The next day she would know the real answer.

I rolled into the campground and was dropped off by my family. Mike had brought his son Patrick along to enjoy the trip although he had no intentions of climbing any mountain. Patrick greeted me and gave me the lowdown on where everybody was. We were lucky to have reserved a group campsite back when I applied for permits as there are only 3 such group sites available that book up months in advance. When everyone returned from the days excursions I realized we were missing one. Unfortunately one of our twelve made it as far as Ridgecrest before she had to head back for a family medical issue. So we were eleven. Clark and Michelle had stopped at the Forest Service office earlier in the day and picked up our permits and “WAG bags”. Essentially, you must pack out everything from the trail, including human waste which is why you are issued a WAG bag complete with instructions. We shared stories, handed out permits and WAG bags and headed to bed early as we were to get up around 2:15AM to try to be on the trail by 3:00AM. Due to some noisy folks that rolled into camp sometime around midnight we did not sleep much. I got a whopping 2 hours but then woke up with my mind racing through the excitement the day would bring. I was up from 10:30PM until I got out of my tent at 2:00AM to start getting ready. I began waking up the team at 2:15AM as scheduled. We all had plenty to get ready, food to prep, water to top off and breakfast to eat that we were all rather quiet. I gave a glow stick to everyone so that we would be easier to identify in the darkness on the trail.

We all got into our cars around 3:15AM and headed up the road a mile to the trailhead which had a fair amount of activity. Everyone had their headlamp on plus our team all had a glow stick which really helped to identify them in the darkness. We did our best to snap a couple of pictures in the darkness at the start, most of which were too blurry before we headed out at 3:30AM. I gave a final speech before we set off reminding everyone that it not a race and take their time and most importantly, take lots of pictures! Off we went. Only 22 miles and 6,000 vertical feet before we are back at this location again, later today……we hope!

The beginning of the hike takes you up quite a few switchbacks as you climb out of the Mt. Whitney Portal area on your way to Lone Pine Lake, about a third of the way to the summit. In these dark hours we crossed several creeks. We were very careful as none of us wanted to fall in and hike the rest of the way in wet clothes. Our group was rather chatty in these early morning hours as the thick air left us with plenty of breath to spare. You could see other headlamps above and below us zigzagging up the switchbacks and could occasionally hear large amounts of water flowing just off the trail in the black of night. We caught up to another group of about a dozen people that had the same idea we did with the glow sticks and looked like a multicolored train ascending the switchbacks. I tried to get a picture of it but again the lighting was terrible and it did not turn out.

Just under 2 hours later we arrived at Lone Pine Lake and more importantly, “The Mt. Whitney Zone.” A sign along the trail indicates that beyond this point a special permit is required. That would be those permits I worked so hard to obtain months prior. This was a planned rest stop to regroup as I did not want to get separated in the dark. We were all pretty much together anyway so it only took a few minutes to gather everyone. We all took a few group shots in the dark, of which only one looked any good, and proceeded onward.

Shortly after the stop at the Mt. Whitney Zone sign, the first hint of daylight blessed the night sky. The view to the East was inspiring as we looked out of the deep ravine that the Mt. Whitney Portal sits in. Granite cliffs on either side appeared as giant black shadows with the glow of the sun just bringing some color to the sky. We all stopped to take in the beauty. After that was a trip through a lovely meadow with creeks flowing all around the trail which signaled that we were close to Outpost Camp. This is a camp used by many people that make the trek over two or three days. I am certain we woke up a few people there as our conversation was picking up as the sun rose and the views just kept getting better.

We blew through Outpost Camp heading to our next designated stop, Trailside Meadow. This is a little past halfway to the summit and I remembered from last years journey that it makes a very comfortable rest stop with good access to water. At this point we had gotten a little separated, partly because part of our lead group (non picture takers) had made a wrong turn on a poorly marked section of trail just before Outpost Camp at yet another creek crossing. I, thinking I had fallen way behind while taking pictures, stepped up the pace to reach Trailside Meadow expecting the rest of the group to be waiting. To my surprise, I was the first one there. Now I know I had described this location in detail to the group, made them aware that this was the next stop and for goodness sake there is a sign marking it as “Trailside Meadow”. Had they blown through it? Greg is with them and he has done this before so they must know this is the place. Following the plan, I dropped my pack, grabbed some trail mix and started pumping water. Within about 10 minutes the rest of them rolled on in and informed me of their slight detour. It sure was nice to know we had a plan. I could already see the less prepared having a big issue with this. We still had not even turned on our radios of which we had 3 on the trail and one with Patrick down at base camp.

Pumping water was the next order of business. Unfortunately, gone are the days of just scooping water out of a stream and refreshing your thirsty desires. While many say it is safe, I have had a case of Guardia in the past while rafting the American River and do not wish to repeat the experience of gastric distress. We had several water filters among the group to pump water out of the creek with and into our water bladders. Last year I had run out of water with two miles to go to the summit. I had to fill my water bladder with snow very near the summit, thaw it against my body to get it into liquid, drop purification tablets in it and then wait 30 minutes more. That process took about 3 hours from getting snow to drinkable water and I was not going to repeat that this time! This small meadow is the last patch of green you see until your return trip back to this point. Above here, only rock and lunar landscape will be seen. An occasional flower is spotted clinging to life sticking out of some crack but it is the very rare exception to the other worldly view above where there is not enough oxygen to support normal plant life. We woke up Greg as he likes to nap at every stop. He knows he does not handle altitude well and the worst is still ahead. With packs back on and more pictures, it was time to move out.

Our next regroup point is Trail Camp. This is another of the camps used by two and three day trekkers. Rock shelters from the wind abound as prior visitors have created these to sleep within the confines of a wind break. Today was nothing but sunny skies and no wind. Another break is taken and Greg takes another nap. I advise everyone that just ahead is the last reliable source of water so evaluate your water supply and plan accordingly. Last year I missed this as it was still frozen up in the early morning and the flow was so little I did not even notice it. This is also the final stop before you begin the infamous 99 switchbacks. There is debate as to whether there are 98, 99, 100 or 101 but it really doesn’t matter. It is a long climb of never ending switchbacks from 12,000 ft. up to 13,600 at what is know as Trail Crest where you have reached the ridgeline of the Sierras. We woke up Greg and headed out.

Shortly into the switchbacks we hit the spring that eluded me the year prior. About half of us stopped to fill up and the rest continued onward to our next designated stop, Trail Crest. We slowly made our way up the 99 switchbacks. Counting them would be too depressing so I just chose to look out at the amazing view before me. More lakes were visible down below and you could view plenty of other hikers that looked like ants among this vast mountain terrain making their way up. Conversation was nearly non existent. Every little bit of oxygen went to those leg muscles that were screaming for more. An odd thing happens here in the thin air. You may be panting for air but unlike at sea level, your heart is not racing. A slow and steady pace is what is required at these altitudes when climbing. Our pal Greg started to really feel the altitude sickness setting in. Being an ex-pro football player he has an ability to push his body with his mind far beyond what I could ever hope to do. He lightened his load as we call it (vomited) about three times as documented by Clark and Michelle and pushed on. About ¾ of the way up you come across a section known as the cables. These cables were placed there many years ago to provide a little help as this section of the trail can get very icy, even in the summertime. A little snow and ice was present but not enough to cause any alarm. As I stopped to take plenty of pictures I was now in the middle of the group.

Once I hit Trail Crest at the top of the 99 switchbacks the incredible view of the Sierra’s and Sequoia National Park opens up to the West before your eyes. This marks the end of the hardest climbing but you still have 2 miles to go. We regrouped and took a food break here. Many pictures were taken at this most picturesque location. Alisa decided she would eat her foot long turkey sandwich which made us all envious. I grabbed a PB&J out of my pack and some electrolytes. Not quite the same as the turkey sandwich but it will do. It was about 10 when we rolled out of there. Not bad really, 9 miles up 5,000 vertical ft. in 6 ½ hours. We woke up Greg (as usual) and headed out.

The final two miles to the summit are full of incredible views, steep drop off’s, narrow trail, basically fear factor on steroids! Along this path is the unmarked route to Mt. Muir. I had studied the route to the top and thought if it was early enough and I had enough energy left in me, I would grab that on the way back and make it two fourteener’s (the name for the peaks over 14,000 ft.) in a day. As you near Mt. Whitney along this rock strewn poor excuse of a trail you come across features known as the windows. These are areas where the trail narrows to just a few feet wide and crosses what seems like a bridge with a cliff on your left and a deep vee shaped opening in the rock on your right, with the obligatory sheer drop. They provide some incredible picture taking opportunities for some or sheer terror for those with a fear of heights. In Greg’s trip a few years prior, his partner crawled across the trail in these sections just to give you an idea on what this does to your mind. Near the final window the summit of Mt. Whitney becomes visible. At this point your motivation changes from “what a beautiful adventure” to “please let me just get there”! Along the back of the summit we hit a small patch of snow about 50 feet in length. Fortunately the snow had softened by this time and it was easily passed. If it was iced over this could have provided an obstacle too risky to cross as none of us had brought crampons, metal spikes to attach to your boots, to cross such terrain. A slip in ice could have meant a slide down several hundred feet or more of snow and ice covered slope with only jagged granite to catch our fall.

We all straggled onto the summit between 11:00 AM and 12:00PM with me in the middle. A stone hut built 100 years ago by the Smithsonian still stands and houses some scientific measurement devices. A sign on the door reminds you not to seek shelter from lightning on the summit and descend immediately if lightning is present. There was another sign eluding to this earlier which was of interest to Michelle who has several relatives that have been struck. We all high fived each other and hugs went all the way around our group. Alisa was rethinking that turkey sandwich which wasn’t sitting too well with her. She along with Kevin and Alex II were feeling the effects of the altitude and knew the best course of action was to descend. Greg rolled in at noon and proceeded to take a nap. Others in the party that arrived earliest were ready to head down. Some were feeling the effect of altitude and others were getting cold, even on this sunny late July day. Unfortunately four of them escaped before we could get a group shot on the summit so we only have a partial picture. I was thrilled when Greg arrived as that meant that all eleven who started with our team made the top. We beat the odds. Now you really have not accomplished anything unless you make it back down in one piece. We all signed the register and took our final pictures including the one of Mike, Clark and I holding the Ricoh banner which we were hoping would be destined for a marketing campaign back at the office. Mike and Clark decided to hang out on top and attempt to play hacky sack, a game we enjoy playing here at the office on lunch. Michelle stuck around to photograph this pathetic event. According to all the witnesses, the guys could barely get their foot on the hacky sack. Apparently heavy boots, thin air and pure exhaustion hampered their efforts so they packed up and headed down. By this time, about 1:00PM some dark clouds were beginning to form so the decision to start moving down was wise.

I did not find any takers amongst our team to climb Mt. Muir on the way back down. Since I had already summited Whitney in a day the year prior, I needed something extra to make this a standout adventure so I would do it solo. I would not have ventured out to do this solo except for the fact that it is only a ½ mile detour round trip and the main Mt. Whitney trail is in view the whole time. I was in the middle of the group once again and figured I could get up and down Mt. Muir and still be near the end of our group which was strung out from the summit to near Trail Crest. As there is no defined trail to Mt. Muir, you have to study pictures before you go of how to identify the mountain and the common demarcation point where you scurry up a rock gulley off the main trail. Sure a GPS would be helpful but I didn’t really want to carry the extra weight and I hate relying on electronic devices. I found the point OK and headed up.

Within about 50 ft. of my climb up Mt. Muir I realized there was no need to lug my pack to the top and back. I took a long drink of water, looked to the sky to make sure the dark clouds were holding off, stashed my pack behind a rock and continued on. This hike to the top is very steep with lots of loose rock. I was actually glad nobody was ahead of me for fear of being struck by falling debris. I climbed on with the main trail looking smaller behind me. About 100 ft. from the top it becomes a rock climb. Everything I have read up to this point claims it is a class 2 rock scramble with class 3 exposure. Basically they say, if you follow the designated route which you better had remembered from photos because there is nothing there to mark it, the worst that could happen if you fall is a broken bone or two. I followed the route I had studied the weeks, days and even night before from photographs and it all looked familiar. Near the top you do have to make a few interesting moves to get around a large rock blocking the path. I made the summit and held on for dear life! If I ever did this again I would want to be on a rope as that was terrifying. I am not a guy who is scared of heights but this was hairy! I signed the log book at the top, I was the third and by the looks of things the final person to climb it that day. I got some great pictures of the 99 switchbacks that you cannot get from anywhere else and even took a self portrait. I look scared to death in the photo, and I was, because I had one less hand holding onto something on this very small peak that could only fit a couple people. I did it! My second fourteener in a day!

I reversed my path to head down from the summit. I had to fall back on rock climbing skills I had learned in the Boy Scouts 25 years ago. As I was just completing the most difficult part of the descent I saw Alisa on the main trail below me. I yelled to her and she snapped a few pictures and I did the same. She went on her way while I continued on my way down. I was smiling now, unlike my composure near the summit. I got my pack, took a long swig of water and realized I had just drained the last of my water supply. I quickly threw my pack on and got back on the main trail to hopefully catch up to Alisa. Mike, Clark and Michelle were still behind as I checked in on the radio once I got back to my pack.

Not too much farther I came around a corner and found Alisa laying there in the sun looking like a lizard sucking up the sun. I asked if she was alright and after about a 5 second delay she said, “Yeahhhhhhhhhh”. I told her she did not sound very convincing. The stretch of trail before us was a small uphill section just before Trail Crest. I think the thought of going uphill was what stopped her at this point. I bummed some water from her as she had plenty and slugged it down. We then hiked together, slowly, UP to Trail Crest where we bumped into a couple others from our team and Clark, Michelle, Greg and Mike caught up. I stopped at the nearest snow bank and collected the water melting off the bottom. I did not filter it as I figured there was no trail above it so the chances of contamination were slim and I was THIRSTY! I filled up with enough to get me to a lower source that would be easier to collect and filter.

The descent down the 99 switchbacks is much easier than going up. The snow melt from above even makes it more interesting as the trail is criss-crossed by the flowing water so much that at times it is like hiking in a clear flowing rocky creek. We all pretty much kicked in the afterburners and quickly headed down. We did need to break out our rain jackets as it rained on several occasions but it was never that heavy that we needed them for longer than five or ten minutes. We did hear some thunder and were glad to be off the peaks and ridges and were in the relative safety from lightning strike. We all knew that the Whitney Portal Store takes the last order for a hamburger at 7:45PM and closes at 8:00PM so we were all motivated to get down the mountain in time.

Mike and Greg stopped to soak their tired feet in Mirror Lake, a beautiful lake we passed in the near darkness that morning. The team straggled into the Whitney Portal Store between 7:00PM and 8:00PM with me in the middle. Mike used his radio for the most important item of the day, he radioed his son Patrick to get him a burger as he knew he would be a few minutes late to get in his order. Due to low batteries on the radios we missed the burger order for the last few in our party as we were not sure when they would be down. We all had a beer or two and congratulated each other on a job well done. We headed back to camp where Patrick had a campfire all ready to be lit. I hung out for about 10 minutes before the exhaustion set in combined with my 2 hours of sleep from the night before. Only Clark, Michelle, Mike, Alisa and Patrick had enough energy left to hang out around the campfire and eat a little more as several of them missed the burger deadline.

After about 11 hours of uninterrupted sleep I woke up to a new day. With the big adventure I had been planning and training for behind me I felt a little emptiness. Everyone asks you once you complete something like this, “What’s next?” They throw out the logicals like Kilimanjaro and Everest. For me, I may start working on the fourteeners in California of which there are thirteen. I also want to do more snow adventures. There are so many challenging hikes to do I just don’t know what to focus on next. The most important thing for me is to pick something and start training for it as it is the goal of accomplishing the next big mountain that has kept me in good shape. It is almost three years since I decided to turn my life around. It has been motivation for my family to eat better and exercise more and I have been mentor for several people who have taken a similar path of a healthier lifestyle. I am also proud to say that the remainder of the crew I hiked Mt. Whitney with in 2008 made the summit this year. They trained hard and this year their entire team was rewarded for it with a 100% success rate. It has proven to me that if you want to accomplish something you must work hard at it and it will be yours.

Please click to view pictures from this trip.