Climb Mt. Whitney: check

Let's back up a bit...

The third week of May marked the end of my sentence, err training, in Monterey. We did the whole graduation thing, the Parks Director pinned a shiny star on my jacket, I packed up and got the hell out. Holly and I rolled in to San Diego at about 11PM that night and collapsed on the bed. Done.

Earlier that week, Dan had flown a message on Facebook that his climbing partner for Whitney blew his knee out (chronic injury got worse) and he needed a fill-in or he'd be forced to stay home. Whitney permits are a little difficult to come by, I'd always wanted to do it (it was on the "Bucket List"), I had the time and the money. I ran it by Holly since it was the weekend after I just got home from 8 months in Monterey and she gave me the go-ahead: "Do it."

I sent Dan a message, spent WAY too much on gear and last Friday, I pulled into Lone Pine to meet up with him. I'd never done any mountaineering, but I'm pretty fit, I've done solo backpacking and used to rock climb pretty aggressively. Besides, it's just walking, right?

I met Dan in Lone Pine around noon and we hit the local grocery for last minute supplies. I followed him up to the trail head (Whitney Portal) and we did one last gear check before hitting the trail. 

At 8360 feet elevation, I could feel the altitude just walking around the parking lot. It would get MUCH worse.

 

We weighed our packs on the hanging scale at the trail head just for giggles: me 53 lbs, Dan 55 lbs. Yikes! Onward and upward; the trail started off fairly steep and got steeper from there. With the warm temps, we were both sweating under the load of our packs.

Plenty of high step-ups to negotiate; not easy carrying 30% more weight than your legs are used to.

Still, there were plenty of beautiful views to take our minds off the workload. I lost track of the number of times we stopped to take pictures or just take in the views.

The hiker in front is jut for perspective, that's not Dan. The trail traverses above the granite slab in the background and through the valley between the peaks. Whitney itself is just over the ridge above the hiker in the foreground. Yeah, a looonnng way up.

The granite cliffs flanking the valley provided an amazing backdrop for the hike in.

Dan and I turned out to both be John Muir fans. No choice but to stop and geek out a bit at the entrance to the John Muir Wilderness. It's also quite the symbolic entry into the back country. You're a long way from help back here.

With record snow fall this past Winter and Spring, the Sierra snow pack is about 160% of normal. It wasn't long before we began encountering significant snow fields. With the late start and the warm temps, the snow wasn't holding our weight and we began "post-holing", which slowed our progress considerably and took much more effort to get through than I had anticipated.

We were still having a good time at this point; we were enjoying the views and just happy to be out there. Dan's all smiles.

Amazing waterfall. Lots of water running in the streams and creeks makes for dramatic waterfalls.

Sweet view! Lone Pine Lake in the foreground with the Owens Valley below.

We pushed hard, but did not make it to our planned campsite, Trail Camp. Instead, we stopped at Mirror Lake (not supposed to camp there) due to the lack of open room at Outpost Camp just below us. With all the snow, finding a spot on actual dirt proved challenging. We persevered and found enough room. however. We pulled in late (5:30) and debated pushing up to Trail Camp, bu a group that summited that day advised against it saying trail camp was very cold and windy, miserable in fact. We took their advice and stayed put. It turned out to be good advice as the wind began gusting strongly and increased throughout the night and into the morning. We started out summit trip Saturday morning by climbing the snow/ice field in the middle of the photo. A trial by fire for me considering I've never used crampons or an ice axe before. Yikes!

Mirror Lake mostly frozen; our water source for the trip.

Saturday we headed for the summit. It turned out to be way harder than I thought it would be. The first snow field directly across from Mirror lake looked short enough, but it took us almost 50 minutes to climb it. I didn't know it, but I was in for a long day.

We eventually made it to where the trail side meadow should be, but it remains covered by several feet of snow and ice. Consultation Lake (below) is no different. Hard to believe it's almost June and there's still this much snow on everything.

The push up the snow chute up to the John Muir Trail junction and the ridge line was a nasty one. It's, by far, the hardest part of the trip and climbs about 1500 feet in a very short distance. Despite our fitness, it took us two hours to reach what is called "the notch" or "Trail Crest". I can only begin to describe the suffering; 20 steps, 20 breaths...repeat for 2 hours. The progress was frustratingly slow and the lack of available oxygen only made it worse. Half way up, Dan carved out a ledge in the snow for a seat. When I got to him , he got up and let me rest. My calves and feet burned like fire from climbing the steep slope in crampons. I silently thanked the REI Salesperson for recommending a boot with a stiff sole. I eventually gave up my precarious seat and went back to my task. Step, step...move the ice axe. Breathe, drink. Repeat.

At long last, Trail Crest!    

Here we paused long enough to remove our crampons and take in the views we worked so hard to attain. The pictures hardly do it justice and a panoramic video only hints at the beauty. Here's a pretty sweet 360 VR pano I found: 360 Pano

North West into Sequoia National Park. I think that's Crabtree Lakes in the foreground. Guitar Lake is just off the screen to the right, behind the point.

West into Sequoia National Park. Friggin' gorgeous!

Back down the valley we came up from. Consultation Lake just visible in the right foreground.

North towards Mt. Whitney. Not sure if it's the middle or far peak on the left. Still a ways off.

I was hurting for sure by this time. I was tired, had a headache, was pretty nauseated and could tell I was way low on cals...and then I ran out of water. With the closest water source at Consultation Lake and about 45 minutes before we even reached the summit, I knew I getting back would be very difficult to say the least. I don't think he knew it, but when I asked Dan how far to the summit, I was mentally deciding if it was time to bail on the summit and head for some water. Luckily, Dan had enough water to share some, but it would be close for us to make the summit and make it back to water. Moreover, it was getting late (12:45-ish) and we still had to hike all the way back to camp. With increasing wind speeds (65-75 mph gusts) and snow forecast, it was decision time. Spending the night on the ridge line or at Trail Camp would be ugly.

We needed to pick up the pace so Dan suggested we ditch our main packs. We put our crampons back on, I took a small summit pack with just some emergency supplies, Dan grabbed his camera and water bottle and we and went for it. Game on.

I could tell we were making better time with the lighter load. Finally, we hit the last snow field on the back side of the peak. Soon I heard Dan yell out: "There's the hut!". I looked up and there it was. The peak!

It was blowing HARD up on the peak, Dan went over to the summit register and we both signed it. He went about snapping photos and I plopped down on the lee side of the hut. I was smashed. Dan shared more of his water with me and I eventually realized I was on top of the highest point in 48 states. I set about taking my own photos.

Back down the valley toward Lone Pine. I didn't get closer to the edge because of the wind.

Muir Hut!

Sequoia National Park.

 Yeah, it's high. Still seems a bit surreal.

We spent about 30 mins on the summit, relaxing and taking pictures. We headed started the journey down at about 2 PM, 7 hours after leaving camp that morning. Most people had already summited and we knew we were close to the last people coming down. It occurred to me we, possibly, had no one behind us to help if we got in trouble. Kind of a sobering thought, really. We hiked back down to our packs, re-shouldered them and trekked back to the "notch". We took our crampons back off for the trip down the tough snow chute climb; this time, we'd make it down in 5 minutes; glissading! Imagine a snow slide with a 1000' vertical drop and you get the idea. Adult-sized fun! A fellow climber summed it up: " I wanna go again! That was fun, but it feels like Mr. Frosty just had his way with me." Quote of the trip.

Alas, the fun had to end. By now it was late in the day and the snow had softened considerably. As smashed as we were, post-holing was taking a huge toll on our bodies as was the dehydration. I'd walk/stumble as far as I could until I thought I was going to vomit and then take a break until the waves of nausea passed. Not fun. Add to that the 65-75 mph wind gusts and it made for extremely slow going. Dan won the "deepest post hole" award when he sank all the way to his groin in the snow. You get the idea.

Finally, we were close enough to Consultation Lake that Dan pushed ahead to see if he could find water for us. I could see him below me trying to figure out how to get through the ice and not break through and fall into the water. I caught up to him and plopped down on some rocks where he was looking at drinking from a snow melt pool when he spied a small snow melt waterfall nearby. He filled a bottle dropped the bleach in to treat it and we both sipped the cold, delicious liquid. Saved!

Again, time was not our friend and we had to press on before dark and before the snow blew in. After a final, tricky descent we made it back to camp and threw ourselves to the ground. Exhausted. I heard Dan moving about re-securing his tent that had blown over during the day, while I made some weak gatorade from the lake. Cold, tired and nauseated, I changed out wet clothes for dry and climbed into my sleeping bag to warm up. I fell asleep from the ordeal and awoke 30 mins later feeling much better. Dan had also fallen asleep without meaning to. We made dimmer and ,eventually, the gusty winds drove us into our beds. Unfortunately, a good night's rest was not in the card; Mother Nature had other plans for us.

HOWLING winds all night long. Several times I thought the nearby trees were about to fall on us or that my tent would rip apart from the winds. Around 1100, I heard it the unmistakable sound of snow falling on my tent. The winds were strong enough during the night to blow snow under my tent's rain fly and through the mesh of the inner tent. By morning, I had a small pile of snow inside my tent and a 1" snow drift against my tent. We both only slept about an hour at a time, but sleep we did. I awoke Sunday morning to clear skies, weakening wind gusts and fresh snow on the ground. Perfect!

Sunrise! Oh yeah!

Dan finally got up and I debated out loud if to make breakfast or not. Dan mentioned breakfast in town and I was hooked. Let's go. 

From the cold tamps the night before, the snow had hardened considerably, which made the trip down exponentially faster than the day before. Soon we were out of the worst of the snow and back onto dirt. Not before spying a few, last winter reminders. 

The scenery still amazes me.

We made it back to the trail head in a few, short hours, but not before one, last snow flurry to remind us who was really in charge. We packed up and hit the local cafe for breakfast. More disappointment: no pancakes after 11 and it was already noon. Dammit. Luckily, they serve breakfast all day; we chowed down.

After lunch we said our goodbyes and I hit the road. 

I'm stoked to check this one off my bucket list. People in the parking lot were mirroring the challenges we had faced: lots of soft snow, losing the route, emergency bivvy sack use and even shacking up with strangers while waiting out the weather. I'd love to go back in the Summer and see all the trees and plants green and the lakes  in the unfrozen state. 

Hope you enjoyed the story and the pics. The rest of the pics are here. There's just too many to show on the 'blog.   

“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.”

-John Muir

Thanks.

E.

Re-Birth?

I'm putting together a presentation for work and I needed some plant/nature photos. I put out the call for help to the online community last week, but using my own shots feels better than getting them off the web. The photographers that I've been working with have been more than generous with their time and property rights. Thanks to everyone that's been helping me out.

I was able to re-hab the MTB from last month's race (braks pads F and R, F brake bleed cleaning etc) and decided to grab the camera and see what I could do on my own. It's been beautiful in Monterey all week and I woke up Sunday morning to cold temps, wind and light drizzle. Great. Nothing for it but grab a jacket and HTFU. 

Lucky for me, the recent rain meant tacky trails (woot!) and flowers blooming everywhere. I spent quite a bit of time snapping pics and just enjoying being out on the dirt after way too long of a lay-off.

 

Black Sage (Salvia mellifera). This stuff was going CRAZY.

California Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum)...I think. Feel free to correct me if I have the plants wrong.

There were entire hillsides absolutely covered in these purple flowers. No idea what they are, though.

Poison Oak! (Toxicodendron diversilobum). The water on the leaves is from the rain Tons of this stuff all over the place as well. Some of it growing right next to and even reaching out over the trail itself with leaves as big as the palm of my hand. Crossing my fingers and hoping I don't get a reaction. There's so much of it up here, I'm thinking of buying some PO soap just as a precaution. Yuck.

Overcast, windy and rainy all day, but I didn't care I was so glad to be out riding. I started from the west end of Fort Ord, hooked up with the Sea Otter Cat 1 course, did a loop and headed back. Lost some data, but probably 30+ miles and about 3:20 or so with all the stops. No hurry, just chillin'.

 

I was so blow away by how green everything was. I've been locked up in my room for so long that I totally missed the transition from Winter to Spring. Well Spring is here with a vengeance and I'm going to make sure I get out and start enjoying it!

Black Sage blooming all over the place. Crazy!

That's it for now. One more week of interpretive training complete with a test and 20 minute presentation, followed by 3 weeks of first aid and rifle training (woot!) and then 2-weeks of VACATION! I can't wait.

E.

Basic

For those of you who weren't aware, I've been sequestered in Monterey since October training for a new job with State Parks. Last Thursday (4/7) we graduated from the po-po phase of training and moved into the interpretive portion. If things all go well, I should be "home" May 20th. Home is in quotes because I'll be incredibly busy with field training for another 12 weeks though I'll by physically home, I won't be relaxing as field training is the make-or-break part.

I've been assigned to Crystal Cove State Park and, though I've been there before, I took advantage of the 3-day weekend and paid my new park a visit.

You're jealous...I know.

Part of interpretive training requires us to create and present a 20-minute talk or campfire program and I was in the park taking photos for that. Alas, I didn't take many pictures of the back country since it was closed due to some heavy rains we got that weekend. Holly and I lucked out and scored a rad day, though. Suffice to say there are almost 2500 acres in the back country, and most of you in So Cal are familiar with the trails in "El Moro". That's my park. Training opportunities? Oh yeah! I'm pretty sure it's practically Slater's back yard.

Coincidentally, lots of people get married in the CC historic district because, well...it's pretty! Hey, Holly and I are looking for a wedding site...

Not bad, right? It's got an awesome view of Catalina Island.

We're still deciding, but this one goes on the list for sure.

Training and racing are on the back burner for now. I'm still getting out whenever I can and racing when the opportunity presents itself, but securing a career for the next 30 years of my life needs to take priority over "hobbies" at the moment. It kills me watching all my crazy friends win races left and right, but I gotta finish this chapter of my life off before I add multi-sport back into the mix. Can't wait to get back to training and racing at the level I enjoy.

I squeezed in Xterra REAL at the end of March and pulled of a halfway decent result considering the lack of training I've been getting in. Results here. A muddy mess for sure, but I pulled off 7th AG and 20th OA. First tri of the season under the belt; onward and upward from here. Photos here (1)(2). I'm not going into a full race report because this post is getting too long, but I'll sum it up:

The water was SUPER cold (48.5) and swimming in water that cold sucks. The bike and run were so muddy my bike is still acting funny, my clothes still have mud in them and I had to retire my running shoes. I raced on a shoddy base and I could tell the top-end wasn't there. I gave what I had, but yearned for the days when I had more to give. A little disappointing.

More "Death by Power Point" this week and next as my enginerd friends call it. Hopefully, I'll have more time to check in from now on.

Cheers.

E.

2010 Wrap-Up

This past year was a roller coaster for sure. Holly and I dealt with some pretty major life changes and, somehow, managed to come out of it without driving each other insane.

In January, I got fired from the UCSD bike shop because I graduated and only students work at the shop. Bitter-sweet, but the sudden lack of a paycheck hurt; more so when I learned I don't qualify for unemployment thanks to my coaching business. Huge props to my athletes, friends and family for keeping a roof over our heads and food on the table. Needless to say, we struggled for sure.

February-March I trained like a beast, dug way too big a hole and wound up burned out later in the season. DUMB. Lesson learned. I went back to lifeguarding, but needed more stability and some semblance of a set schedule.

 Tasty snacks from the sister and brother-in-law along with a beer sampler from Guinness. Not bad.

Thankfully, the folks at B&L bikes took a chance on hiring me. Life got better FAST: a set schedule and indoor employment made for some happy days. State Parks was unhappy with my choice, but Seasonal Lifeguard pay doesn't cut it for a guy in my situation. Sometimes the unpopular choice is the right one.

 The soft, chewy ornaments lasted all of 24 hours before we found them all over the house. They were still in one piece, but we put them away to remove the temptation. Don't let the cute face fool you, he's an Evil Genius.

So I went back to life before UCSD: working full time, going to school part to full time and squeezing in as much training as my mental state could handle. Then I get notice the State Parks is hiring the bottom of the barrel for Peace Officer Ranger and Lifeguards. I jump through the hoops all over again and you probably know the rest. I happy to be focused on just two things right now instead of 20; it seems simple in comparison.

 Blue skies and mid 60's in December. Gotta love San Diego, though I think a pump malfunction started the swimmer's ear I'm battling. It dumped rain last Wednesday and the pool was full over the gutters. I didn't think anything of it until my ear canals got painful and swollen. A visit to the Urgent Care and probably 90 bucks later...

 With money as tight as it was, I only raced 4 times all year. Xterra West in Vegas: food poisoning, 100 deg temps and a flat tire. Lots learned here.

 Xterra Snow Valley rocked for me. Despite a VERY slow swim, I think this was the race of my life to date. The key is leaving the watch and HRM in the bag. "There is no spoon..."

 With nothing to lose I jumped in to my first Ultra Marathon. Record levels of pain and suffering here. Had a blast!

I also race in my first State Championship race for Mountain Biking. I got my ass handed to me, but the improvement over other races at the same venue was clear. Despite the crummy result, it reinforced that my training theories and practices are headed in the right direction. I'm always tweaking stuff, and it's nice when stuff "works" cool.

The same can be said for my athletes: some SOLID improvements with people meeting or exceeding their season expectations. Awesome!

So to end 2010 on a high note, Christmas Morning I went ahead and asked Holly to marry me. I was confident she'd accept, but how excited she got really blew me away. Stoked to have such an incredible woman agree to be my wife.  

Back to Monterey and training for State Parks on Monday; we're not done until JUNE! Ick.

Look for 2011 plans and schemes after the first of the year. Best wishes to friends and family everywhere.

Cheers!

E.

Recess

Although I spend Monday through Friday playing "Recruit Palmer" Saturday and Sunday are all about getting out and clearing the mind so I don't go stir crazy...or get FAT! LOL!

Did I mention the deer around here are kind of used to people? My room mate is a hunter and I clowned him: "Look! I'm shooting deer!".
He gave me a dirty look: "Don't tease me..."

 Of course the scenery is awesome. All the buildings were designed by the same architect that designed Hearst Castle: Julia Morgan. This isn't my building, but they all look very similar. Rad.

 Driving out to the trail. A rare sunny day on the Monterrey Peninsula; I took FULL advantage.

 The ocean is just out of the picture on the left.

Partly cloudy and quite breezy, but I'm pretty much used to the cold by now. Today was "nice" comparatively speaking.

 Some cool views out here.

 I saw FIVE people during a three-hour ride. Stoked? Oh yeah!

 Single track! Mmmmm...

 Yeah; that's a marked trail. Love it. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

With the rain the night before, the dirt was super tacky given the high sand content in the soil. SWEET.

As nice as it is having so many miles of trails practically to myself, I really miss the techy steeps of So Cal. *sigh*

Heading out for a long run tomorrow along the coast and probably heading back to the pool next week since I get my first paycheck Monday. CSUMB has lap swim from 6:30-7:30. Perfect. 

E.

Happenings

I know, I'm long overdue for a 'blog update. I'm into the third week of a police academy so I deserve some slack for, um, slacking.

Briefly, Monterey is pretty, but it's hard to tell since it's always socked in with fog. I'm gettin gout for the occasional 30 minute run during the week and longer sessions on the weekend, but the academy schedule keeps me pretty busy. I need the running so I don;t go insane and don't put on too much weight. The deserts at the dining hall are tasty and there's plenty to ga around. I think I've put on 3 pounds already...oof.

Where academics is concerned, the materila is easy to grasp there's just lots to learn in a very short time frame. As far as academy PT is concerned, we did a 20 minute run the other day at the local track and I lapped the whole class running 6:30's in lane three. And I'm out of shape! LOL!

Backing up to late September, Holly and I ran the Nobkle Canyon 50K. My apologies for the pics' the disposable film camera we bought failed miserably int he photo quality department. I wasn't going to risk my nice digital camera to my legendary sweating capabilities. Moving on.

Race start; 0630, If I recall. Early (more so since we drove out the morning of) and cold.

They turned out to be a humorous and super-supportive bunch. A great crowd of crazies for suffering with.

Some beautiful views early on in the race as the sun comes up. The sunrise behind, moon in front and lanscape below seemed like a cool juxtaposition. I guess you had to be there...

Soemwhere on the way to Penny Pines. I just started snapepd photos at random intervals just to see what I'd get. I'm surprised anything came out!

Erm...trees?

Just crossed over Sunrise Highway and headed out onto the PCT. The views get better from here. Mile 12 or so.

I'm lost for captions. Enjoy the pics.

Notice the salty shirt. Mile 15? I felt AWESOME and decided to crack the throttle just a bit and started reeling people in that had passed me early on. I knew I was rolling the dice by doing so, but the last 11 miles is all downhill, right?

The brown specs on the horizon are cows. Another "had to be there" photo. Still feeling pretty good at this point, but I could tell it was getting warm. Mile 19?

There are no photos to record my complete meltdown. I rolled into the mile 22 aid station ON FIRE. Seriously, I rolled in with 3:30 elapsed thinking I had sub-6 hours in the bag. I refilled and headed down the trail. Somewhere around mile 27, the serious descending starts...and everything started cramping. I'm reduced to wakling and occasionally shuffling. The rest all blurs together: walking, cramping, shuffling, overheating and then I'm out of water. Crap. My feet hurt so bad that at one point I sat down on the side of the trail just to get off them for a second. Wheels came off? Big time.

I made it to the last aid station (mile 30?) and sat down in the shade; drinking and having my first serious "Should I pull the plug on this thing?" moment. With plenty of time to walk and still make the cut-off, I start back down the trail. I was seriously nauseated for the past 2 hours and just trying to force stuff down. With about 2 miles left to go, I passed a down runner being attended to; he either slipped and hit his head or passd out and hit his head. Either way, he didn't look good. About 200 yards further down and I'm so hurlish that I sat down...and puked HUGE. Race personnel passing me heading for the more seriously injured racer and worrying about me...a friendly mountain biker giving me salt capsules...a finisher coming back up the trail to walk me in just in case. I had that small post-vomit window where you feel great to make it to the finish line. GOOO!!!

I managed a shuffle step for a bit and then back to walking as the cramps came back. I crossed the finish line in an underwheliming 8:20 but still with quite the large lump in my throat. Transcending personal boundaries? Hell yeah.

I nursed some Gatorade and water, managed to get some food down and headed over to see Holly come in.

Gotta kiss the rat; race rules! MUAH!

Body language says it all. Total time: 10:30. That extra 3 miles was a killer for everyone.

Dirty girl feet!

Dirty boy. Those socks were white once.

Am I a salty sweater? Um, yes.

Do all these salt stains make my ass look big?

Post-race, we hit the showers and headed home for some ice baths. The hunger monster was the most intense I've ever experieced. I literally woke up at midnight and made a Del Taco run we were both so hungry.

Holly: "Where are you going?"

Me: "Del Taco; I'm STARVING".

Holly: "Right now?"

Me: "Yeah. I'm so hungry I can't sleep."

Holly: ...can you get me a burrito?"

Comedy!

Training's mostly taking a back seat to academy stuff, but I'm going to see what I can fit in once I've finished my end-of-season break. I should have the money to do the races I want to, but It'll be tough to top last year's fitness.

If you're in Monterey, drop me en a-mail. I'm slowly learning where all the cool trails are in Fort Ord and would love to see some familiar faces.

E.