I stopped by the VC and picked up my permit that day. Got the usual speech on bear awareness and proper use of wag bag.
Tuesday and Wednesday were spent at Horseshoe Meadow going from Mulkey pass to Trail Peak to Cottonwood pass. Beautiful weather all along, sunny and hot.
Off to bed early (7pm) on Wednesday. Woke up at midnight. Gulped down 2 cups of coffee and drove up to the portal. Surprised two deers (well, they surprised me too) in the parking lot. Started at 1:37am.
My wife got me a Nike GPS watch so I decided to use it and map out my jaunt. Sadly, I'd forgotten that (some) electronics and cold don't mix : it went bye-bye around 12,400 ft. I went minimalist on my gear: light pack, two 24 oz bottles, 4 gels, one Steripen, space blanket, satellite phone (rented it) and wag bag.
Uneventful climb to Consultation lake. Got to watch the sunrise and started the switchbacks in a sea of orange and pink. It was real neat.
Nearing Trail crest, the wind coming over the side was incredibly cold. Saw two wag bags that got dumped down towards Guitar lake. I tried to see if I could get to them but it was too steep for my taste. Legged it to the top and summitted at 9:35am. Very, very windy with wind chill temps in (I'm guessing) the low 40's. Compared to last year, the summit was almost deserted. Two guys and myself were there.
Started back down after taking down two gels. Once I got past Trail Crest, temps jumped up considerably. I went from wearing a wind breaker, gloves and ski hat to t-shirt, cap and shorts.
I ran out of water around the last switchbacks. Water was gushing out from under the rocks so I decided to refill my bottles. Problem is that my Steripen would not even turn on (fresh batteries -- cold+electronics?). The heck with it. Looked for a clean spot and refilled my bottles anyway. Minimal silt in the water but was so refreshing (I am still waiting for the after effect of unfiltered water. Nothing).
Then I screwed up between Consultation and Mirror lakes. Not sure how I managed to do it but I ended up bushwacking (sp?) down a nasty incline for what felt like an hour. Finally found the trail after coming down the side of a cliff under the puzzled looks of a couple of hikers.
Near the portal, a guy asked me for my permit. He said that the VC had given away all the walk-in permits for the day. I gave him mine. I figured no harm done.
Got back to my car around 3:50Pm.
The bacon cheese-burger/beer from the portal store was a blessing.
Pictures below were taken with a GoPro camera. They probably suck (still learning how to use it) but I wanted to share:
--HorseShoe Meadow
--Mt Whitney
