Mt. Whitney

220. 220 AM. 220 we woke up so we would be ready to start hiking at 3. There was not much moonlight so we were able to see the stars extremely clearly. We hiked by headlamp light for the first few hours. It is amazing what tunnel vision can do to someone’s attention and it was able to shed away most of my fear of falling off a cliff because I couldn’t see how far down it was. That and the fact that I had crampons on. Trusty trusty crampons.

Getting to the top of Mt. Whitney was a little different from what I was expecting. Once we got to the switchbacks that lead you up most of the trail was uncovered by snow. There were some traverses that were quite questionable so instead we did some other questionable things and just scrambled up the side to the next exposed switch back. Climbing up was probably not any safer due to the fact that each step we took sent at least a few rocks tumbling down behind you. Luckily we did not have most of our gear so our packs were extremely light which made it even easier.

We got to the top around 9 AM and it was the greatest feeling. Getting to summit the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states is pretty cool, especially when it is your first significant mountain you have gotten to the top of with your own two feet.

At the top I actually had cell reception which I used immediately to call my parents to let them know I was alive. Even though I send them my coordinates each night I guess a phone call is required to prove that I am the one sending the pings.

After eating a bit of lunch and taking a group picture we started our way back down to our tents. At this point (usually anytime after 9) the snow had softened so crampons were not necessary but I kept them on anyways.

The sun and the reflection of it on the snow had all of us sweating. Just adding to our combined stench. I am not surprised we have not seen any bears yet. No sane creature would get within a mile of this awful smell.

Though I am not physically tired after our side trip to Whitney, I am exhausted for some reason. Tomorrow we are hiking to the base of Forester Pass, the highest point on the PCT (but still a good 1,000 feet shorter than Whitney). Yay altitude.