Twists And Turns
Continued from prior post…
Thankfully, I made it back to the trailhead without incident and ahead of the rest of my party I was afraid of holding-up. My knee held together fine, the weather was nice, the trail in good condition, and it was an exhilarating walk down the mountain with my pack. I quickly disposed of my trash, made some adjustments in my gear, purchased mementos for each of us who had made it to the summit of the highest peak in the continental United States, and used the first toilet I had seen in three days.
One would think that would end the trip, but it did not. First, we had to drive back into town to return our rented bear canisters. While we were there, we could plainly see in the distance the forecasted storm was blowing in and had already enveloped the very top of Mount Whitney—where we had camped and then hiked to the summit from. Anyone who had not reached the summit yet that day was not going to make it and the camping conditions had to be brutal up there in that storm. We learned later the storm brought snow and ice to the upper part of the mountain as we were returning those canisters.
This was the day our original permit would have had us heading for the summit. Had we not taken a chance in pushing for the summit a day ahead of schedule and then been lucky enough to get our permit changed at the eleventh hour, we might not have made it to the summit and the experience would have been far more harrowing for us. The weather forecast was correct this time and our response to it days earlier helped make this adventure possible.
We then drove to a famous roadside restaurant up in Bishop for a hearty late lunch and headed home. We had discovered, during all our training hikes, that the quickest route, so long as were driving through at non-peak hours, from Sacramento to Mount Whitney, is through Yosemite National Park. We were looking forward to cutting through that scenic park again on our drive home. However, when we reached the Tioga Pass Gate, the ranger was kind enough to inform us that a fire was burning in the park and they had to close the road to through traffic. We were welcome to drive into the park as far as the road was open, but we would be forced to wait an undetermined amount of time once we got close to the fire.
Our group elected to turn back around and head back to Mono Lake to take a much longer route home, but be able to keep moving. We witnessed some beautiful scenery, listened to some great music in the car, and talked about the adventure we were completing together. Although it was not the plan, it was the perfect way to end the journey together. As with all good trips, it was sad when it ended, but it was also good to get home. I miss my wife and kids when I go backpacking, but I absolutely love coming home to them. Not sure what the next backpacking trip is going to be. The season is done now for those of us who don’t backpack in the snow. Permits and reservations will start going quick in a few more months. Hopefully, something good will come together for 2012.
I guess I can Blog now on other topics again…
