mile 788.5

+ High: I conquered Mt. Whitney, the highest mountain in the continues United States!

- Low: There is no LOW in Sierra. Everyday is awesome, so far.

 

Day 69 6/9/2018

The shuttle driver, Kurt, picked us up at 8:00 from  Portagee Joe Campground. It’s an emotional morning. Kate’s brother, Toby flied over from UK joined us for the first day! Lisa and Sonsie were ready to head back home to Canada. It was hard for Kate to say goodbye to Lisa. This was also the official starting point that Kate and Tanya lose their RV supports. Luxury life is over.

It was 45 mins drive up to the horse shoe campground. We got back to PCT mile 750.2 through Cottonwood Pass trail. Kurt knows a lot about the area and he told us a lot of historical stories about Long Pine. 

Jen has always been a very strong hiker. I was pretty used to the trail already and could walk at a pretty steady pace. It was tough for both Toby and Kate to get in to the groove. We stopped at Chicken Spring Lake for first lunch. It's kind of cold but still saw a lot of people  taking a bath in the lake. 

 

We got to tent site at mile 670.5 by 4:30. A lot of people had camped there already. The site was beautiful and there was a stream running right next to it. That’s going to be our first real stream crossing. There was deers eating grass right next to us. They didn’t seem to be afraid at all. We had a cig and chatted a little. Jen was a competitive volleyball player and got a scholarship to SCAD.  She lives in Florida. High Sierra was a little bit too cold for her. She usually doesn’t stop for break because of the coldness. 

I almost fell asleep around 8 and I heard Tanya calling my name outside my tent. I thought they wouldn’t make it but they did! 

Day 70 6/10/2018

Today’s goal is to reach Guitar Lake right next to Mt. Whitney. We would like to climb Mt. Whitney as early as possible when the snow was still hard. Jen and I headed out first sine we are faster on the uphill. It was a 1500 ft climb from 9500ft to 11000 ft. It was hard on Toby because of the elevation and probably his jet lag. 

We stopped at the junction to Mt. Whitney for lunch. It was lovely. The aide trail to Whitney was short but tough. It was all above 10,000 ft now and breathing becoming a little hard if I move too fast.

The scenery was unbelievably beautiful. We passed several lakes including the Timberline Lake. It was so peaceful and so surreal. Guitar lake was amazing as well. It’s a big lake surrounded by Mt. Whitney mountains. Whitney creek runs through the mountain down to the lake with a soft meadow area by the lake. Marmots up and down and run around the meadows. The surrounding looks like a fake scene, just so unreal...

We camp right by the lake and decided to start to summit Mt. Whitney at 5 am. Big day tomorrow. I was a little nervous and also excited!

Day 71 6/11/2018

The alarm went off at 4:30. I was up in 2 secs and start packing. Everyone says it was freezing up there. So I pack my sleeping bag and wore all my clothes. It was cold when I got out of my tent. Bear canister seemed so far away... I brought some snacks, lunch meal and 2L water. Kate decided to join us at the last minute since Toby seemed sleeping fine the night before.

We headed out around 5:30. My pack was so light and I wasn’t affected by the altitude like everyone else. I was breathing and walking slow and steady. It wasn’t a hard climb that I thought it would be.  It was only 4.6 miles to the summit, but the elevation gains about 3000 ft from 11485 ft to 14505 ft (4416m). The trail was generally free of snow already. But we still have to walk through some patches and also have to climb with hands a little bit in some area. 

It took me 3 hours and half to summit. On the way up, I met a lot of people hiking down already. They headed up at midnight and went up for sunrise. I can’t imagine the view. It must be an ultimate satisfaction. After the junction with Whitney Portal trail, the trail was getting rockier. Finally to the top! The view!!! The view was astonishing! The frozen lake, Lone Pine at distance, all the mountains around Mt. Whitney, all the leftover snow on the rocky mountains... it was just incredible view and satisfaction. We can easily see Forester Pass, the highest point on the PCT. That’s another difficult challenge  coming up in two days. 

The best part was that I finally got cell signal, full bars and LTE! Jen arrived an hour later. Kate and Tanya made it in about 5 hours! But we all did it!!! Tanya was saying that she did not want to summit. She preferred to take a on-trail zero day to wait for us. In the end she did it and she was so happy that she did it! 

It took us 2.5 hours to get down to guitar lake again. Tent and bear canister was safe and sound. Marmots didn’t chew my tent. That was great. We camped again at Guitar Lake. It was early so I washed my clothes and myself by the lake. Water was freezing cold, but really refreshing! Great day, great night, looking forward to Forester Pass.  

Day 72 6/12/2018

This was an incredible hard morning. I didn’t sleep well because I was stupid enough to drink coffee the night before. On top of that, I decided to wake up at 4:20 to shoot a time lapse of sun rise which was a total failure. I was exhausted when we head out from Guitar Lake.  The whole morning I felt awful. I was so sleepy that I couldn’t move. The idea of quitting PCT started to show up in my head since I finished Whitney already. 

We stopped at Wallace Creek for lunch. I had a cup of coffee and everything felt fine again. 

Afternoon walk was absolutely amazing. The landscape was so grand and open. I was really happy, greeting every tree i met along the way. 

We camped at Tyndall Creek, mile 774.1. Next pass is Forester Pass, the highest pass on PCT and it is famous for its chute. We talked about the plan for the next day and decided to get up at 3:30 and leave the camp site at 4:30 to avoid posthole on the north side of the pass.

Day 73 6/13/2018

On the way to forester Pass is beyond my expectation... ... ... 

Day 74 6/14/2018

Hike over kearsarge pass, met Taiwanese team on the way up, met Napoleon on the top. She informed us that there is a Uber. 

Arrive onion valley parking lot around 12:00pm. Called Uber and got down to Independence 

Stayed at Ray’s Den Motel, great place! Lunch at Taco truck and Dinner at food co-op. Great food 

Did laundry, washed my backpack, lost my 尼伕路 小圍巾. 

Resupply at gas station food mart. Met Jen at courthouse motel.