Summiting Mt Whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous United States (and witnessing a rescue!)

The summit of Mt Whitney 

~ 14,500’

~ 22 miles RT 

My first overnight snow backpacking trip. It was a beautiful hike all the way up and down but also a bizarre one where my hiking partner, Hrishi, and I had to split up at Trail Crest. I summited with a bunch of wonderful strangers, while Hrishi stayed behind to offer support to stranded day hikers at 14000’ while they awaited extraction. Below is a short description of the 2 day backpacking trip.

Starting out on the Mount Whitney Trail from the Whitney Portal trailhead around 7am. 

First up, weigh your backpacks! (This does not include the weight of our mountaineering boots ~5lbs) Glad of all the rucking that we did lately! Rucking with a 45lbs pack made carrying this 33lbs pack much easier. 

The first couple miles of the Mt Whitney trail were pretty gentle uphill with few patches of snow, a couple of stream crossings, and breathtaking views all around 🏔 

Once the trail got snow covered, it was crampon time! The slope stayed relatively gentle until Bighorn Lake with some steeper sections that I traversed given my weaker calf muscles (that I’m working on improving!). It was also down to a single layer as the sun was scorching down on us. We crossed a stream where I almost took an involuntary dip but caught myself.

Then came the frozen Bighorn lake and beautiful 360 degree views!

After that is a steep climb to Mirror lake.

Mirror Lake is the last stop with freshwater available unless you want to melt snow at Trail Camp. So make sure you filter some if you need it.  It also means you need to lug all of that water up to Trail Camp. This is where we came across most of the remaining folks who were headed to Trail Camp.

And then it’s up and up to Trail Camp. That last stretch is a slog but at least you know you are making camp at the end of it and a good night’s sleep (hopefully) awaits...

We started out at the trailhead around 7am and got to Trail Camp around 3.30pm. 

Hrishi snagged us THE perfect #camping spot in a sheltered nook, relatively safe from potential winds and then immediately got to work with melting snow for water and making dinner. After that beautiful but tiring slog up ~5000’ I was looking forward to a warm dinner. I fell asleep to the sound of someone calling out/yelling. I dismissed the sound thinking it was either just happy hikers celebrating or I was dreaming because who in their right mind would be out in this cold night ... Little did I know that this wasn’t a dream... 

Catching the sunrise from the chute.

At this time of year, the 99 switchbacks were inaccessible. So we started up the chute ~3.30am. It took about 3 hours to trudge up the chute and to figure out a way to take care of business behind rocky outcrops on an otherwise 40 degree slope. (Ps. Don’t forget your wagbags)

Also, for the first time ever, I struggled with nausea from altitude sickness while coming up the chute but managed to keep it under control by taking some acidity meds.

  

After Trail Crest... View of Mt Muir and the spot where a day hiker injured himself at 14000’ the night before.

The yelling I thought I’d dreamt about was actually his two companions calling out for help. They spent the night at Trail crest and near Mt Muir without food, water, or shelter and not many warm layers. Hrishi stayed back with some other hikers to help the stranded hikers while I ‘hitchhiked’ to the summit with some from the ‘group of 12’. Check out Hrishi‘s full report on the rescue attempt on his blogpost if you haven’t read it already!

The view of Mount Whitney on the trail from Trail Crest.

The section after trail crest was relatively straightforward, though sketchy at times. The snow was pretty hard packed that early in the morning, so we didn’t need crampons on the trail.

  

The summit pic 💪🏻😎🏋️ 

All that strength and endurance training came in handy for a faster hike up! 

  

The view of snow-covered mountains as we began the descent from Mount Whitney.

  

And then we went sliding down the chute a.k.a. glissading 

It was mid-afternoon when we headed down from Trail Crest. The snow was slushy enough to get a smooth glide. 

  

As we quickly packed up camp, we got to witness the chinook that flew all the way from Seattle successfully rescue the injured hiker. That little black dot right under the chopper is the sar personnel rappelling down. It’s not everyday (thankfully) that you get to see a high altitude helicopter rescue; it was a sight to behold. 

After some steep shortcuts, we managed to get down from Trail Camp  to Whitney Portal trailhead in under 3 hours! And with that ended the hike to Mount Whitney 🏔

Road Tripping in the Eastern Sierras...

After less than ten hours of practice at driving on the wrong side of the road (at least in the view of an Indian), I finally got a Nevada's drivers license early this year so that I might break some other traffic laws apart from the one of driving without a license (Not that I drove without a license) :-P

the week after Spring break, we started out on a road trip to the Mammoth lakes region and South lake Tahoe. We hired a car, Mazda 3 (I think), and prayed to whoever might listen to bring us back in one piece given the fact that I was the most experienced driver on the trip with ten long hours of driving under my belt. 

The original plan was to drive to the Ranger's station at Bishop, explore the Mono lake region, and camp near lake convict. But as plans usually go, this one too went down the drain. We needed to pick up a tarp and a bear canister on our way. After a few more allegedly broken traffic laws, when we finally set out it was almost noon and we wouldn't make it to the ranger's station in time to pick up maps to find camping locations in the area. (Of course, it was only when we got back to Reno that we found those same maps online.) so we drove back home, called the sugar pine campgrounds at Lake Tahoe and decided to drive there instead for the night. 

The I-80 is right next door. We step out of my driveway and join the freeway. What I did not realize was that the next exit was a few meters away (many more meters away according to my co-passenger.) So as you might expect, before I even joined the freeway we had exited it. Another round trip back to home base and we gave it a second try. This time, lo and behold, I managed to merge into the freeway lane. And we were FINALLY embarking on our very first US road trip!

After a long drive, a lot many hiccups (I'd rather avoid going into the banal details of how we missed turns and held up traffic, got the finger at times) we reached sugar pine campground after following a ranger who chanced upon us when we once again had lost our way. The campground was empty! We had no idea how we were supposed to choose a camp site since this was the first time we had ever seen a campground. And there was no one to guide us. How do we reserve one campground? Would invisible campers suddenly materialize if we left and came back in a few hours? the answer came when i chanced upon a ticket stub hanging from a short wooden post. We were losing light and we needed to get to Bonsai rock before sunset to get the prized photo that each professional photographer trying to establish himself covets. 

So we picked a camp site, clipped our ticket stub (that cost $25) and headed off to Bonsai rock. We parked along a bend, hiked down to the lake on a winding path and there it was. Well it was a rock with a cute little bonsai tree. It was beautiful but… I might have preferred this rock more...

Then we drove back to the campground, missed our way but made it back in the darkness. In the freezing cold we set up our tent (because of course we didn't do that already) and started cooking under our head lamps. No other campers in the area and we have never camped alone before in this country. And the discovery of scattered food nearby which I was sure wasn't there a while ago brought the real danger of bears closer home. It was frightening to say the least. But in retrospect - awesome!!!

We crept into our sleeping bags and tried to get as warm as possible (which wasn't much). Tossing and turning we finally caught a little sleep and woke up before day break to drive to Emerald Bay to catch the sunrise and some beautiful pictures. Eagle falls in the backdrop and the wide open bay before us was breathtaking...

                      (I ...obviously... didn't click this photograph. ) 

Drove back to our campsite, made breakfast (first time using the newly bought stove). And then headed out to Bishop. This time another one of us drove and he has one-ninth of the driving experience I have so that was definitely a fun ride. After switching drivers after an hour or so, we made it to the ranger's station at Bishop by 3 and got the much needed maps. And also found out that there were no campgrounds open near Lake Convict so we would have to do dispersed camping (set up a tent in certain designated off road areas). Sounds scary? It definitely was :-) but in retrospect - another awesome experience. We also had a quick lunch at a deli and filled gas.

It was too cold and windy and we didn't have the right tent to peg to the ground. After careful thought we decided to sleep in the car itself - sitting. The intermittent sounds of gun shots in the vicinity definitely contributed to that decision. Had dinner and found that all our food and other smelly goods wouldn't fit into the bear canister. What do you do? You improvise :-) packed up the extra stuff in a stuff sack, tied together shorter length of ropes to swing over a tree branch. And then turned in for the night. 

It was the best of nights since we got cold and realized our sleeping bags were in the trunk. Brilliant planning. It's pitch dark. And we get out in the cold to grab our sleeping bags to cover ourselves. You ask - why not turn on the car heater? I answer - we don't cheat when it comes to camping while I try to dodge your accusatory eye which seems to be asking - sleeping in the car, ain't cheating? I sheepishly shake my head and shrug. No answer. My only excuse - it's our first time out, cut us some slack!

Next morning we wake up nice and early to catch the sunrise at Lake Convict and to get another coveted photograph. But with my wonderful driving skills, we miss another turn and need to make a long detour. By the time we get to our destination the sun has already been up for ten minutes. I try to ignore the angry glares I get since its entirely MY fault. A few photographs (and lot of tears) later we set out for the other lakes in the region. Lake June was beautiful and we had the best blueberry pancakes and hot chocolate at Tiger Café and Bar. Mammoth lake was frozen and lovely. And so was Lundy lake although we had to park further away and walk along a dirt road. Lots and lots of photographs later we made our way to Mono Lake. It stinks! Literally... Some calcium structures in and along the water make the lake saline. The bottom line - it was beautiful but didn't smell too good. 

All the lakes on our list were ticked off. Now we could head back and may be make a quick detour to the ghost town of Bodie. But that wasn't meant to be. There was a long patch of dirt road and I didn't want to risk the car. 

The drive back was surprisingly uneventful (with of course a few minor hiccups). We got back to Reno much before sundown and when we finally parked the car, we couldn't believe we actually got back in one piece. How in the world did that happen? I guess our prayer to whoever might listen to us was actually answered...