Day 45-47: Climbing Into The Sierras and Mount Whitney |

Day 45: Mile 731 to 751 (20 miles)

The views today were great and really started to get more of a sense of what I was to expect in the next couple of days as I continue to climb higher and higher. I probably could of made more miles but I kept stopping at all the great views I kept getting and really slowed me down.

(Ego coming into lunch)

(My bear can)

Later into the day I ran into Shins. He was stopped at a trail junction and he was trying to decide what to do. Apparently he has been having problems breathing when he is above 9,000 feet. And being we will be climbing up to over 13,000 feet in a couple days, it wasn’t looking to good for him. After talking for about 20 minutes, he decided he was going to take a side trail and follow it to the trail head and try and find a ride into town and take a few days off and then skip all of the Sierras. I said my goodbyes and continued on.

I wasn’t more then three miles away from Chicken Lake Spring which is our first lake in the Sierras and I took a step and felt a sharp pain shoot up through my lower left leg. Instantly I was thinking shin splints and limped into the lake and set up camp with Jonny Walker and Blue. Hopefully my leg is better in the morning and I can keep moving.

Day 46: Mile 751 to 767 (16 miles)

It took me 30 minutes to go only half a mile this morning. It was a horrible and very painful start. My right leg was not doing well. I pushed on and it slowly felt better as the day went on. I stopped for lunch with Hedge Hog and Tree Man who I had just met. They are an awesome couple from France. After lunch, decided I would stop after every mile and stretch and massage my lower right leg and see what I could do to help. After about four miles of doing this, the pain had gone away all together. It seemed like a miracle to just disappear like that but I was happy and moving again at a normal pace.

(Crabtree Meadows)

I arrived in the evening to Crabtree Meadows which is the base area for everyone who is going to climb Mount Whitney. I decided to hike the extra 3.7 miles towards Whitney so I would have a shorter climb tomorrow. I continued into the evening and set up my tent on a nice big rock that overlooks Guitar Lake. Tomorrow I plan on spending the whole day climbing up Whitney and coming back and camping at Guitar Lake once again.

Day 47: Mount Whitney (17 mile side trip from PCT)

Woke up and was off by 7am to climb Mount Whitney. I’m happy to know the weather is going to be great and will help with the climb as many people have had to turn back recently due to bad weather. This was a steep climb as expected and lucky to be snow free most of the way up. At the trail junction a ways up, I finally ran into snow. I had heard from people the day before that there are some very sketchy sections and I soon learned this to be true. I would just take my time as one slip would end up with a big fall off the edge.

(Couple hikers climbing up the mountain)

I made it through fine and reached the summit by 11am. It is amazing up here! Standing on the highest point of the lower 48 states! I have a 360 degree view all around me and can see what feels like forever. One thing I said I planned to do at this highest point was drink a beer. It was one of the best beers I have drank and enjoyed every bit of it. I actually got cell reception which I used to check in with a couple people and check the weather. It looks like we have some snow coming in for three days starting tomorrow. That will make things iffy as I will be crossing over a different pass each day. I can say I prefer snow over rain any day on the trail.

(At the top!)

I started back down around 2:30pm and was back at camp by 5:30pm. After I cooked up dinner, Brandon arrived to the lake. He had the same plan as me to camp at the lake and head up in the morning and have a shorter hike compared to everyone who camps back at the meadows. He made some strawberry cheese cake from scraps and I got to try it out. It was amazing and I think I will need to find a way to make this on the trail as well! Got to bed early as did Brandon as he planned to leave by 2am and get to the summit in time for sunrise which sounds like a great idea!