My last TR was pretty wordy. Let's see if I can just break it down to the fine points.
- Left trailhead parking lot around 9pm Friday after one of the strangest experiences of my life at Golden Donuts Inn in Redlands on the way over
- Mill creek crossing was a piece of cake
- Switchbacks seemed much shorter with someone to talk to on the way up...were mostly clear of snow due to sun exposure
- passed a few blokes in the dark camping/setting up camp as we passed along the Vivian Creek campsites. Snow coverage close to 100% at this elevation in the valley.
- set up tent around 7400 feet along the trail, dug small snow pit under vestible with new BD transfer 3 (very happy with this small shovel) No wind, so no guys needed. Had snow anchors, but didn't need them. Snow was hard enough for aluminum stakes to hold.
- in the bags around 1130pm, woke up quite late (my friend wasn't big on the early starts, so we were just taking it easy. As I advised, we'd pay for this later)
- left the main trail towards Gorgonio around 7450 feet and headed up towards Dobbs Peak summit, with plans to camp on the slight saddle just east of the summit
- as we progressed, temperatures rose and the slush-fest began. So much energy was wasted battling the slush VS just climbing. My kingdom for the 4am start...
- slope seemed to average about 35 degrees...was not as bad near the Vivian Creek trail, was steeper in spots closer to 10,000 feet
- as we approached campsite at 10,300 feet, the snow was hard crusted from the wind and easier going.
- Matt was sick and exhausted, so he took a rest on his pad while I dug a big pit, set the tent up in the direction I thought made sense (no wind at this point, observed markings in snow instead), and started melting snow for us both (two stoves rockin yeah!).
- he was in the bag by 530pm feeling funky, I was dehydrated from the last leg of the ascent (of course), ended up throwing up dinner in the pot I boiled the water in. Nice! Was a nice half liter frozen disc of water/Buffalo Chx in the morning - had to slam it against a tree in the morning to shatter it.
- the wind was upset we didn't invite it for the chicken hurl, so it showed up anyway and tried to break my MSR Dragontail in half. We woke up to howling gusts and fine ice raining down on us through the screen above.
- Turns out I set it up perpendicular to the wind in error. Wind had to be gusting at 50 mph, blowing old snow in my vents and sifting it through the upper screen. Pushed snow out and closed the vents, then tried to get some sleep.
- one of the tensioners came undone on the guy line...side facing the wind. I'm amazed at the abuse my tent took, at times I'd wake up and think a train was bearing down on us. Too cool/scary.
- I wanted to summit Jepson or Gorgonio the next morning, but Matt was not feeling so hot.
- We settled for a picture on the ridge (I'm smiling, he's not. That kinda sums up the trip)
- Camped was packed up, and we headed back down the way we came. We went slower than I would have liked, but I should slow down and enjoy the view anyway.
- as the sun warmed the snow, we decided to take off the crampons for a standing glissade. Worked well except for the post-hole into a bush here and there. This is a fast way down, but really burns your quad muscles.
Things learned this trip:
1. The Osprey Variant 52 is such a badass pack. I would make out with it if I could. Very functional.
2. Best 29 bucks ever spent - thermarest z-lite small pad. Weighs nothing, insulates from the snow, great seat on the snow while pumping water or resting.
3. EARLY EARLY EARLY.
4. Going solo is more dangerous, but allows you to do exactly what you want, which is nice. You do miss out on the chit-chat, though.
5. MSR pocket rocket/whisperlite are really just 3 season stoves (without some major windshielding or something) Looking into MSR reactor if I win the lottery, took forever to melt snow/boil water in the cold and wind.
6. So happy with my tent. We set it up in just about the worst possible spot on the saddle, with the wrong angle to the wind, no real snow wall to block wind, guy line came untied, and it still told that crazy wind to go to hell. Only complaint is you have to be careful not to forget the vents if they are positioned poorly with respect to the snow blowing around.
and that it worked well, sorry about the up-chuck and the summitless trip, but pleaseeeee, i can't take the suspense about the Golden Donuts experience??? Do tell...
I've been looking at that Variant 52 for a while now. The price is coming down quite a bit, and I need a winter pack.
