*these posts are coming straight from trail, I apologize in advance for typos!*
Location: High Sierra
Start: Chicken Springs Lake – 752.0
End: Crabtree Ranger Station – 767.5
Miles: 15.5
Ascent: 2701 | Descent: 3285
Sleep: Tent
Another beautiful day in the High Sierra! We woke up around 5am and the morning views of Chicken Lake were stunning, it was so quiet and peaceful and felt very dramatic the looming snowy peak behind it.
We started hiking around 6am. We had to climb up away from the lake on a pretty steep/snowy trail, but once we got to the top we cruised for a little bit. There were two potential ranger stations that we could hit today, the Rock Creek Ranger station and the Crabtree Ranger station. We were hoping to talk to a ranger to get their opinion on summiting Whitney since the weather looked like it wasn’t going to be great. Our goal was to get to the first ranger station and reassess.
The morning hiking was pretty chill, mostly flat and downhill. Truffles, Hangman, Pinky and I all walked together for the majority of the morning. We’ve all been taking altitude sickness medicine and were experiencing weird tingling in our hands and feet, so we spent some time talking about that and just figured it was a weird side effect of the medicine and being at 11,000’.
We caught up with U-Turn at the first water source and she quickly left us in the dust after filtering water. Early on we passed the sign for the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park boundary. We took some photos and continued on our way. The trail basically bombed downhill after walking along the ridge for a bit and dropped us off by the junction for the Rock Creek Ranger station.
We took the side trail but unfortunately the place was boarded up tight and no one was around. Around this time the sky started to look threatening with storm clouds quickly approaching. We filtered some water and then were on our way.
We arrived at Rock Creek Camp and had our first technical stream crossing! Truffles and I took off our shoes and forded the river, it got up above my knees in some sections and was moving fast. I felt comfortable, though, and was able to get in and out quickly. Pinky and Hangman were smarter and found a lot off trail to cross on without getting wet.
As soon as we were all safely on the other side of the river, the storm broke above us. It began to sleet and there was thunder and lightning all around. We stayed mostly dry huddled in a clump of trees and it slowly progressed from sleet to rain. We debated hiking on, but ultimately decided to wait it out with Scout Master.
We hadn’t been there long when U-Turn came down the trail heading southbound. She had been ahead of us and was going up the switchbacks to the ridge and said it was very exposed and she was nervous about the lightning. We all waited it out together at a safer, lower elevation and ate lunch in the meantime.
Thankfully the storm only lasted about 30 minutes and when it stopped raining and we felt like the thunder and lightning were far enough off, we hit the trail again. We climbed several switchbacks and were pretty quickly huffing and puffing. I had started the climb cold thanks to the rain, but the uphill quickly warmed me up and I was shedding layers before too long.
We got to the “top” and walked along a plateau for a while before one last big uphill push. This one was short and steep but it felt like a lot towards the end of the day. Coming down on the other side, though, we were rewarded with our first up closes views of Whitney and the surrounding peaks. Unfortunately this side of the mountain was still pretty icy and we took our time route finding and trying to make it down safely.
Once we were in flatish ground again, it was far to the ranger station. We had one final creek crossing, which we all were able to go across on a log, and then were at the Crabtree ranger station junction. From there it was only about a mile and a half, but it felt never ending and was seriously uphill! We even had another river crossing/rock hop that has been the sketchiest thus far.
We finally made it to the ranger station around 4pm. We didn’t ever go to the actual station, but found campsite quickly in the wide open meadow. There are tons of people here, all either hoping to summit with us tomorrow or who went up and down today.
We ate dinner quickly and made plans to wake up around 12:30am in order to leave around 1:30am in hopes of seeing the sunrise from the top. U-Turn said she wasn’t sure if she wanted to attempt to summit since she hasn’t been eating very well and felt weak and nauseous. We were understanding and supportive but she said if she wasn’t up when we got up in the morning to just leave her behind. We all got in our tents by 6pm in order to get some rest before our big day tomorrow.
Location: High Sierra
Start: Crabtree Ranger Station – 767.5
End: Crabtree Ranger Station – 767.5
Miles: 0.0
Ascent: 4277 | Descent: 4277
Sleep: Tent
Slackpacked
We successfully summited Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the continental US!!! It was an absolutely brutal day, easily the hardest day of hiking I’ve ever had mentally. It was physically challenging because of the elevation gain and being at altitude, but the hardest part was mastering my fear and continuing to put one foot in front of the other.
My alarm went off at 12:30am and I pressed snooze until 12:45am. Our goal was to leave at 1:30am with the hope of being at the top for sunrise. Thankfully we had reorganized our stuff the night before with what we wanted to take up with us and what we would leave down at the tent. The nice thing about staying at the Crabtree Ranger station is the fact that we could leave our tents set up along with whatever stuff we wouldn’t need up top, so we were basically slackpacking.
U-Turn ultimately decided not to attempt to summit, so it was just Hangman, Pinky, Truffles, and myself. We didn’t end up leaving until around 2am, but we weren’t discouraged. Our first obstacle was a creek crossing just outside of camp, but we found a log to go across and were on our way. We had heard the first few miles up to Guitar Lake were the easiest and snow free, so we tried to make up for lost time by hiking fast. It was in the 40s when we left, so hiking hard also kept us warm.
Night hiking is such a funny thing because you can’t see anything else that’s around you and you become so singularly focused. We were going up, but I couldn’t tell how much or anything about our surroundings. At several points we stopped and turned off our headlights to look at the stars, we even got to see the Milky Way!
We made it up to Guitar Lake and stopped to filter some water. Truffles had a bathroom emergency, but the bad thing about the high alpine is the fact that you have to pack out your poop! No cat holes allowed. Many hikers carry a wag bag in case of emergencies, but we had our own make shift preparations. I carried a gallon zip lock bag and an empty freeze dried meal bag. My thinking was that if I had to go I could poop in the zip lock and then put it and my toilet paper in the freeze dried bag so I wouldn’t have to look at it. That’s what Truffles ended up doing, he said his efforts were successful.
After leaving Guitar Lake around 3:30am we began to run into the snow fields. Hangman hiked in front because he’s the best at route finding. The good thing about going up in the dark is the fact that the snow/ice is still hard packed and we didn’t post hole as much. The boot prints were easy enough to follow, but Hangman was good about checking FarOut to make sure we were on the right track.
Eventually we made our way to the switchbacks where the real fun began. The sky was slowly starting to lighten but we still needed our headlamps. The comments on FarOut made it seem like the switchbacks were the most challenging part of the day. Truffles said there were about 10 to get us to the junction with the Mount Whitney Trail. Supposedly from the junction to the top was supposed to be easier. The first few switchbacks were find, they were steep but not that snowy.
As we got higher, though, there started to be more and more snow covering the trail, meaning we would have to traverse it in order to cross the switchback. There were obvious boot prints to follow, but it was a sheer slab of icy snow you had to cut straight across. One wrong step and you’d slide straight off the edge of the mountain. Needless to say, this really freaked me out. I don’t like heights and I was terrified of crossing the snow. I was so thankful for my microspikes and ice axe, I used the during every sketchy section. I was also thankful for the 3 former PCT hikers who did trail magic at Walker Pass several weeks ago. Bozo gave us a brief tutorial on how to use an ice axe, and thanks to him I knew to keep my ice axe in the uphill hand and my trekking pole in the downhill hand.
It was so going crossing the switchbacks. Pinky and I both were very scared and moved at a snails pace across the ice. I really think the adrenaline kept me going and I had to keep reminding myself to take deep breaths and not to panic. Truffles and Hangman seemed to be find and weren’t nearly as anxious as Pinky and I. Each switchback felt like a little victory on the course to the top. I tried to only think about making it to the top and not think about the fact that I had to come back down the same way.
One of the scariest switchbacks seemingly didn’t have any footprints to follow through the snow. We followed Hangman instead up the dirt/rock side of the trail in order to get above the snow. The dirt continually crumbled away from my feet and I had to crawl up the side of the mountain on my hands and knees. I was shaking by the time I rejoined the trial and could stand up again.
It felt like it took hours to make it over the switchbacks. We knew we weren’t going to make sunrise at the top, but still got to watch the sky change colors and the sun slowly ascend to shine on the valley below us. It was beautiful and awe inspiring and maybe made all the struggle worth it.
We finally reached the junction and I was so thankful to be through the snow! The only problem was that we weren’t actually through the snow. It was less snowy, but there were still some scrambles we had to use our ice axes as an anchor. I kept my microspikes on and it made me feel a little bit more comfortable. Off in the distance we could see the plateau of Whitney along with little tiny people standing on the summit next to the emergency shelter. It felt like we had come up such a long ways and yet still and so far to go.
Slowly we made our way towards the summit. It was mostly smooth sailing aside from the sections of snow and ice that covered the trail where we once again had to rely on the boot prints and anchor in with the axes. Finally we made it to the almost summit with one final push. We could either go around the side of the mountain to come up on the far top half, or we could take a glacaide chute straight up to put us near the top. We had run into some other thru hikers coming down that said the chute was hard packed and easy to get up, so we decided to go that route.
It was short and steep but thankfully it was well packed and solid. We made quick work of that last big push and then were basically on the top. The “top” was a rock field that slowly climbed until reaching the highest point and edge of the peak. I was sucking wind but determined to get to the top. Truffles and I arrived and were greeted by Janis and his crew around 7:30am. They congratulated us and we began taking photos when Pinky and Hangman arrived shortly after.
The views from the top were truly incredible. Being completely surrounded by snow capped peaks was incredible. I was grateful it wasn’t as cold on top as we expected, but we still played up and ate some snacks to celebrate. We all had a little bit of signal so we made phone calls home and sent pictures to friends and family.
We stayed at the summit for about an hour before we decided it was time to head down. I tried really hard to it to think about the scary sections that were upcoming and just focus on what was in front of me right now. We opted to take the glacaide chute down and had to stop and wait for day hikers coming up. I was shocked by the amount of tennis shoes I saw!! I was having a hard time with my spikes and ice axe, these people seemed woefully unprepared. Truffles reminded me that they were coming up from Whitney Portal and that supposedly that trail is significantly easier than the route we came up. We wished everyone we passed well and tired to keep moving.
All morning we had beautiful blue skies with minimal cloud cover. As we began to descend, a dark storm cloud began to make its way towards the peak. This was an added stressor because it meant that we needed to get off the mountain even faster since we were so exposed. We tired to hurry along to the junction because we knew the switchbacks would eat up most of our time.
It ended up taking us about an hour to do the switchbacks. In some ways it felt scarier going down because it was full daylight and I could see just how far I would fall if something went wrong. Since the sun was out, it also meant the snow wasn’t as hard and it was starting to get slushie in places. Thankfully Janis, Lenny, Rumble, and 007 were all in front of us and it was easier to follow them across the snow covered switchbacks. They were obviously less scared and went faster and made it look easier, but it was encouraged to watch them and then believe I could do what they did.
I kept telling myself that if we could just get down the switchbacks then the hard part was over. I remembered the section between the switch backs and Guitar Lake being a snowfield, and then the trail picked up with minimal snow after Guitar Lake. We survived the switchbacks only to be met by melting snow fields. We decided to glissade down into the snow field and practice self arrresting. This was a highlight of the day because it wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be and it was much easier than I expected. If I could self arrest in a real scenario when I’m sliding to my death remains unseen.
We thought it would be smooth sailing across the snow field down to Guitar Lake, but it ended up being one of the hardest parts of the day. The snow had softened significantly in the sun and we continually lost holed up to our thighs. At one point my shoe got stuck in the snow and Truffles and I had to dig it out with the ice axe. It was not fun. I was physically and mentally exhausted by this point but we had to continue pressing on for fear we would get caught in the impending thunderstorm.
Miraculously we made it across the snow field and finally reached Guitar Lake. There were a few more snowy sections, but they were much more manageable. The scenery was all new since we had come up in the dark, and the looming storm clouds behind the snowy mountains made for spectacular views.
I got ahead of the group once we were out of the snow and tired to hike hard and fast to get to camp before to storm broke. There was thunder and lightening but thankfully no raindrops and I hurried down the trial. I was close to tears of happiness when I finally saw the saw for the ranger station. It was just beginning to sprinkle as I made my way across the log and landed safely on the shore.it was about 1pm when I got back to the campsite.
Truffle and I’s tent used trekking poles to stand up, so before we left this morning we had replaced our poles with tall sticks. I hurriedly replaced the poles and ensured the tent would keep us dry before crawling inside. I was cold and hungry and rushed to get inside my sleeping bag and make some hot food. After a bite to eat we both laid down for a nap, we were beat!
I slept for almost 3 hours and woke up about 5pm. I was groggy and sore but a nap did wonders. I piddled around the campsite until the others woke up and we all started cooking dinner. U-Turn was eager to hear about our day and we shared what the experience was like for each of us. Our plan for tomorrow is to sleep in a do a shorter day to get us to Tyndall Creek ranger station in ride to set us up to do Forester Pass early the following morning.
We didn’t do any PCT miles today, but did 14.8 miles up and down Mount Whitney. It took us 5.5 hours to get up and 5 hours to get down. We left at 2am and summited at 7:30am. We stayed at the summit for an hour before heading down from 8:30am-1pm. Mount Whitney is 14,505’ and we ascended and descended 4277’. Wow!
I was able to successfully climb Mount Whitney. I was scared the whole time but did it anyway. I am proud of myself but still jarred by how crippling the fear of falling was. I am weary about what Forester will be like, but the comments on FarOut say that if you can do Whitney then you can do Forester. I am anxious about it already but also want to get it over with. I’m looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow and hopefully a lighter day to rest and recoup before another big day.
Location: High Sierra
Start: Crabtree Ranger Station – 767.5
End: Lake South America Junction – 776.1
Miles: 8.6
Ascent: 1667 | Descent: 1319
Sleep: Tent
Not a big mike day but it felt like a long day non the less. We were all exhausted after yesterday and had planned to have a shorter day today. We knew we need to do Foresters Pass in the early morning hours so that the snow doesn’t start melting as we’re heading down, so we wanted to camp as close to the base as possible. That meant today we were shooting for Tyndall Creek, making today just over 8 miles. Typically we only nero when going in or out of town, but this plan made the most sense for our schedule.
It was so nice not having to set an alarm! I woke up around 8am and had a relaxing morning hanging out around camp waiting for the rest of the group to wake up. Most everyone was up around 9am and we took our time packing up our things. We ended up hiking out around 11am and cruised through the first few miles.
We had several creek crossings today, the first of which we took our shoes and socks off and had to wade across. Thankfully the water was only about knee deep and not moving that fast. We watched another guy go straight through with his shoes on, but I was thankful to put my dry socks and shoes back on afterwards.
Shortly after the first crossing it began to rain. We threw on our rain gear and kept moving. We made it to Wallace Creek for another crossing, this time finding a log to safely get across without having to get wet. From there we began our final ascent for the day heading up to Bighorn Plateau. The rain quickly turned to hail and then sleet and a thunderstorm rolled in. As we climbed it started to thunder and lightning and we didn’t feel safe walking along the exposed plateau. We decided to shelter in a grove of trees about a half mile from the top and wait for the worst of the storm to pass. We ate lunch as a group and took turns coming up with exercises to try and stay warm while we sat around in the cold.
Finally the storm lessened and the thunder and lightning moved further away. We pushed hard to get to the top of the plateau and I was so grateful we waited to cross the very exposed expanse. Most of the snow had melted so it was easy to follow the trail, but it was still raining and cold so I tried to move fast.
Once we made it over the plateau it was smooth sailing down to Tyndall Creek. It was basically all downhill with minimal snow coverage, so we made good time. The rain stopped as well and I even saw a little bit of blue sky peaking through the clouds! We made it down the Tyndall Creek which was absolutely raging. Somehow we had to cross the “creek” in order to access the trail on the other side.
There was a guy camping just across the creek that shouted directions for us to head upstream a ways to where three creeks merged together to become Tyndall Creek. We followed his instructions and trudged upstream, all the while scouting for a safe place to cross. Thankfully we found the area the guy referenced and it was much more manageable. The water was still moving swiftly, but it was raging white water. Truffles made the crossing first with his shoes on, the rest of us went across in our camp shoes. We all made it safely to shore and decided to set up camp close to the river bank.
We set up our tents and made dinner despite infrequent raindrops. When it finally started to full on rain we scurried into our tents to make the final preparations for the morning. We’re planning to head out around 2am in order to get up and over Forester before the sun is fully up and starts melting the snow we’ll have to traverse. I’m nervous since I was so scared on Whitney, but all the FarOut comments say that if you can do Whitney you can do Forester. It’s the only thing standing between me and town, so I guess I don’t have a choice.
