State Of The Creation

Continued from prior post…

The sun had now set and there was just the dusk light that is left right after the sun dips below the horizon.  There was also some reflected light coming from some nearby mountain faces that still had a view of the sun.  My campsite was set for the night and I was ready to cook some dinner.  Unfortunately, now I was beginning to run scenarios through my head of what to do.  The two friends I was on the mountain with had not yet arrived at camp.

Did one of them get injured below?  Did they decide they could not make it all the way to Trail Camp and elected to set-up camp for the night lower on the mountain?  Should I just camp here without them for the night or should I head back down the mountain in search of them?  If I headed down the mountain, should I bring all my gear since there was a chance I could be going all the way back to the trailhead and would need to set-up camp down there?  Or should I just bring a day pack because it would be easier and I could move much more quickly up and down the mountain?

Luckily, as I was weighing the pros and cons of the various courses of action, my two friends appeared on the trail next to my camp site.  They had elected to rest at a lake lower on the trail earlier in the afternoon and that was the reason for the later arrival.  Now, if they hurried, they could get their camp sites set-up with the last little bits of daylight and have dinner.

We could all feel the temperature dropping quickly as the sunlight disappeared and our body temperatures dropped after an afternoon of strenuous hiking.  We were adding layers of clothes as we heated up our freeze-dried dinners.  The weather forecast for Mount Whitney we had looked at the prior day indicated temperatures would likely drop below freezing in the middle of the night.

While we were all settling in for the night, having hot meals, laying out sleeping bags in our tents, an adding layers of clothes, there were still day-hikers walking by our campsite on the trail.  They were going to hike down in the dark what we had just spent the afternoon climbing.

To be continued…

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After rounding one of those corners on the trail where I was greeted with the sight of far more mountain to conquer before I could set my pack down, I actually started stopping people coming down the trail and asking them what was ahead.  My pace was slowing down and my body was telling me it was time to stop.  But I completely forgot how much these feelings of physical fatigue can be influenced by my mind.

I struggled to get the last couple of miles up the trail and I knew we were racing the sun to the camp site for the night.  If I did not want to be setting up camp in the dark, I had to keep moving.  And so I did.  One step after another up the mountain with my pack filled with gear and supplies.  Little did I know my two friends I was on the mountain with were still a ways behind me.

I was actually focused on trying to stay ahead of them since I had injured my knee slightly on one of our training hikes and was concerned, if it flared-up, I was really going to slow us down.  So I tried to stay ahead and move at the best clip I could so there would be some margin, if I needed it, to not hold up my group.

When I finally dragged myself into the designated Trail Camp for backpackers under the summit of Mount Whitney, I suddenly had a burst of energy.  I quickly set-up my tent and camp site, hiked over to a nearby lake and filtered some drinking water to replenish my supplies, and was sitting and resting as the sun was setting.  That is when I realized that the burst of energy I had just experienced was probably more mental than physical.  If I had kept a better mental attitude during the last couple of miles I hiked that day, they probably would have been more enjoyable and I would have covered the ground more quickly.

But now that I was resting, watching the sun set next to my tent and starting to think about cooking some dinner, I started to wonder what had happened to my two friends.  We left Whitney Portal together and kept one another in sight during the first couple of miles.  And we all had the same goal of getting camp set-up before the sun set.  Had something happened to them?  Did I need to go back down the mountain looking for them?

To be continued…

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After much planning and preparation, our three-day adventure on Mount Whitney was truly under way now as we lifted ourselves and our fully-loaded (actually, overloaded, as it would turn out) backpacks up the steep mountain trail above Whitney Portal.  And, for a guy who had never done this particular mountain trail before, it turned out like a lot of them do.  Every time I thought I was almost there, I would come around a corner to see a whole lot more mountain that needed to be conquered before I would reach the camping site for the night.

Different people attack strenuous climbs with packs in different ways.  Some take it very slow and steady.  Some take frequent breaks.  Some try and keep their bodies right at the limit the whole way.  Some prefer to do surges of quick attacks and progress followed by short rests.  Ultimately, though, it is about finding the rhythm where your body functions most efficiently and, for each person, that is a little different.

I read an old book earlier this year called Seven Summits, about the quest of two men to be the first to climb to the top of the tallest peak on each of the seven continents within one year.  It is a fascinating tale if you ever get a chance to read it.  But one of the things these men discovered was that when your body is operating at its limits at altitudes far beyond what it is accustomed to, it is imperative to get into some kind of a breathing and stepping rhythm to be successful.

Mount Whitney was nowhere near tall enough to necessitate such an approach, yet it was clear to me that each person in our party, and some of the other people I was able to observe on the mountain, had their own preferred rhythm.  Those who did not were struggling severely, but some of that could have also been attributable to biting off more than they could chew.

For me, it is all about momentum.  If I stop for too long or take my pack off my back and rest, I am usually worse off for the rest.  I am better off continuing to move than to truly rest.  That does not mean I do not stop to catch my breath during strenuous portions of the climb and let my heart rate settle a bit, but I try to keep those breaks short, never take my pack off, and then continue moving.  I still forget how much of this type of climbing is also psychological.

To be continued….

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There is a plain wooden sign right at the beginning of the Mount Whitney Trail.  But then there is also this large, modern-looking, wooden arch structure you walk through that has a device to weigh your back-pack and plenty of informative signs about the adventure you are embarking upon.  Given the fact it was just after lunch-time and we were trying to get to 12,000 feet and set-up camp by sundown, we paid little attention to all these details.  We just started the process of carrying ourselves and our gear up the mountain trail.

The first hiccup was one of my party lost the bear canister he had lashed to the outside of his pack.  It came loose and took a couple of bounces down the trail before coming to a rest.  That issue was quickly disposed of with a new lashing strategy.

Of course, the view to the valley floor below us became more and more breathtaking the higher we advanced up the mountain.  But it was still hard work.  Fortunately, this is such a popular hike among outdoors enthusiasts the trail is well defined and easy to follow.  It was just a lot of up!  We were going to climb almost 4,000 feet up the side of the mountain with our full packs on in the space of just a few hours to be able to reach our desired camping spot for the night.  In addition, despite the fact we were doing this at the end of September, there were still quite a few water crossings we had to make on rocks and logs without falling in.

We also met a number of people coming down the trail who had been out in the wilderness for three weeks or more.  I had completely forgotten the John Muir Trail ends at Mount Whitney.  We met a number of people who had started their journey in Yosemite National Park several weeks prior and were now returning to civilization after having trekked all that distance on foot.  They saw some amazing scenery most people never get to experience.  The challenge of backpacking for an extended period of time is beginning to appeal to me more and more—something I don’t think I would have even considered when I was younger.  I am not quite sure why that is.

In fact, I blogged last week about the new movie The Way, which chronicles the month-long pilgrimage from France through Spain to the final resting place of James the Apostle by a father who lost his son on that journey.  The idea of being able to embark on such a pilgrimage at some point is a genuinely exciting challenge that would be full of experiences that would indelibly impact any participant’s life.

To be continued…

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A WAG Bag is a waste alleviation and gelling bag.  On our prior backpacking adventures, we had been allowed to use a shovel and biodegradable toilet paper to take care of our business.  Not on Mount Whitney, where we were expected to put our poop in a bag and then carry it around with us.  In fact, according to one sign we passed near the beginning of the trail, the maximum penalty for failing to follow this requirement was up to six months in jail.  I can just imagine how I would explain that to my cellmate.

“Yeah, I got clipped for pooping in the woods and refusing to carry it around with me.  What about you?”

The ranger was kind enough to explain the required procedure to us over his nice sterile counter.  He then paused, looked all three of us up and down, and handed over a fourth WAG bag stating, “You guys might need an extra.”  I was honestly not sure how to take that or what the true ramifications were.  First, did we really look like we pooped bigger than most people?  And was that a compliment?  Second, was he expecting us to share the fourth bag?  Personally, I was not about to use someone else’s WAG bag, let alone carry around their poop!  Is that really what he was suggesting?

We just decided to overlook that odd wrinkle in our compliance plans and hoped we could each stick to just using our own bags for the time we would be on the mountain.  We then rented our bear canisters that we had to store all our food and scented items in to keep them away from the bears, and departed.

The next stop was a nearby convenience store for a quick and high carbohydrate lunch.  We ate at a small table with a lovely view of the gas pumps where a local was kind enough to give us directions to the trailhead.  “Just turn left at the only stoplight in town and then drive to the end of that road.”  Simple enough! We knew we would have to work hard, but the goal was to have camp set-up at 12,000 feet by sunset.  We parked the car at a little over 8,000 feet, used the last pit toilet we would see for a few days, handled the final details to load all our gear on our back, and set-out through the oddly modern wooden structure they erected right where the Mount Whitney Trail begins.

To be continued…

Continued from prior post…

Having lost the opportunity for a final training hike just a couple of days before our big adventure, we adjusted our plan of attack.  Our permit allowed us in The Whitney Zone on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  But a large thunder storm was forecasted to be arriving Friday afternoon.  As a result, we had been calling every day hoping for permit cancellations that would allow us up the mountain earlier.  No luck.

So, Wednesday morning at 3:00am, we all awoke, threw our gear in the car, and drove straight to the Ranger Station in Lone Pine where the permits were handled.  Our plan was to beg in person to be allowed to begin our ascent of the mountain that day.  If we failed, we would pull our original permit, camp at Whitney Portal that night near the trailhead, start up the next day, and hope for the best.

One of the guys I was hiking with was more emotionally wrapped-up in this adventure than any of us.  He had been trying to get to the summit since he was in his twenties and not yet made it.  He had only attempted it twice, but had one of his trips blew-up on him before he ever got to start up the mountain and on the other one, he had to turn back before the summit to care for a friend on the trip who needed to get down off of the mountain quickly.  So my friend was highly engaged and motivated to get to the summit on this attempt.  Accomplishing that feat was quite literally on his bucket list.

As a result, I guess I should not have been that surprised when he lit up and almost jumped out of his skin when the ranger said he could get us a permit to start up the mountain immediately.  His enthusiasm was soon muted, though, by the ranger’s presentation to each of us of our own personal WAG bags.

To be continued…

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The plan was simple and straight forward.  Everyone in the group would increase our individual fitness routines in the months leading up to the dates of our climb to increase our cardio health, as well as our strength.  In addition, we would do four long day hikes together with loaded packs at above 10,000 feet in the weeks leading up to our planned climb of Whitney.

For the dates of our climb, we would also be conservative.  We would climb from sea level to a little over 8,000 feet on day one—mostly on the drive to the trailhead.  Day 2 would involve moving our camp up the mountain to about 12,000 feet.  Day 3, using only day packs, we would head to the summit at 14,500 feet and then back down to our camp at 12,000 feet.  Day 4 we would move our camp back down to the trailhead around 8,000 feet.  Day 5 we would pack up the camp and drive home.  Considering the fact aggressive, experienced, and conditioned trailblazers are now doing Whitney as a very long day hike that involves being on the trail in the dark on both ends of the day, our plan was very conservative and reasonable for a group of guys in our 40’s who don’t do a whole lot of high altitude backpacking.

Unfortunately, a number of variables derailed our conservative and reasonable plan.  First, illness and scheduling demands cancelled the last of our four training hikes—the one that was supposed to be just a couple of days ahead of our trip up Mount Whitney.  Second, our permit only allowed us on the mountain the last three days of the week when we had planned on being able to ascend the mountain toward the beginning of the week.  Third, a thunderstorm was forecasted to be hitting the mountain during the last half of our three day permit, which would prevent us from reaching the summit, if it occurred as forecasted.  Fourth, all of the campsites at the trailhead that could be reserved were not available on the back end of our revised plans.

Our training had all gone well and according to plan until that last week before the big trip.  We had completed three training hikes on the eastern edge of Yosemite National Park at high elevation without serious incident.  We were gaining confidence in our own abilities, as well as those of our peers on this expedition.  We had also been able to see some amazing wilderness and incredible views.  But our carefully planned attack of Mount Whitney started coming apart the week before our big trip.

To be continued…

If you have not already picked up on this, I am a guy who loves to be outdoors—especially if that outdoors is away from the big city.  So, it should not come as a surprise to anyone I recently jumped at the invitation from a friend who had a permit to hike to the summit of the highest mountain in the continental United States–Mount Whitney.

I just love these kind of adventures – being out in God’s creation, seeing His fingerprints on things, meeting people out on the trail, seeing new things, pushing myself to overcome barriers like physical pain and fear of heights, getting to experience things in this life that can only be experienced by those who will work for it, planning and handling logistics for living on the trail for days, et cetera.  God has definitely wired me to thrive on these kinds of things and I wish I had more opportunities come my way to do things like this.

On this one, in particular, though, there was plenty of planning and training that needed to be done. Mount Whitney’s summit is approximately 14,500 feet above sea level.  I currently live in Sacramento, just a few feet above sea level.  That big of a difference in a short period of time is an almost certain recipe for altitude sickness—something that happens when our bodies cannot efficiently move enough oxygen to our cells.  There is a lower concentration of oxygen at higher altitudes and our bodies need time to adapt and adjust to that—especially when we are pushing our bodies to lift ourselves and our gear up a steep mountain trail.

We also have the ability to influence how our bodies handle this stress of being forced to work with less oxygen by our level of hydration, our diets, and how we allow our bodies to get acclimated to the higher altitude environment.  At extremely high altitudes, well beyond what we would experience onMount Whitney, it becomes critical to spend extra days acclimatizing to the new situation and to have supplemental oxygen available.  Even extremely well-conditioned and trained climbers can experience life-threatening illnesses like HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Edema) when climbing some of the world’s top peaks.

Mount Whitney’s height did not make any serious life-threatening issues likely for us, but it was also not to be taken too casually.  As a guy who has experienced mild cases of altitude sickness on multiple occasions when camping around 10,000 feet, I knew I needed to be smart in figuring out how to attack Mount Whitney’s 14,500 feet.

To be continued…

Before I start telling the stories from my recent adventure in the mountains, I have to pause and tell you about a film that opened in very limited release this past weekend.  The Way tells the story of a father who learns a lot about himself, about the world, about other people, and about his son by completing an ancient pilgrimage his son died trying to complete.

It is the type of story and film not made by the major U.S.studios any more.  There are no action sequences.  There is no passionate love story.  No fancy special effects.  No hilarious comedy.  There is just the compelling, reflective, thought-provoking, transformational journey of a man over the course of a month who completes an ancient ritual in modern times.  We also get to see how this journey impacts the lives of a few other characters we get to meet and get to know along the way.

The story is thoughtfully told in a well-paced and beautifully photographed film that will engage, entertain, and challenge the audience.  Unfortunately, the movie is so understated, it is also quite possible it will fly completely under the radar and wind-up a bargain-bin DVD most people never get to see and appreciate.  As a result, the producers are doing their best to get the word out.  The has been a bus tour, appearances on media outlets, a web site, a slow release in hopes of building buzz, and an active Facebook page that keeps anyone who is interested in the film informed on the latest.  Despite all this, I have yet to meet anyone else who knows about this new film.

My fear is that this film is going to remain under the radar and be missed by most.  My hope is that the buzz will build and many will see it.  That alone, will help ensure more thoughtful films like this are made.  In addition, if the audience allows, the film will also challenge us to reflect on the life we are living—something most of us could use from time to time.

I have a new adventure with some lessons in it to share in the next series of posts.  But, before I get there, I have to first share about something I have been experimenting with for a couple of months now.  For those of you using Chrome as your browser and on Google + for social networking, I would highly encourage you to give SGPlus a try.

This simple little extension has actually made Google + my one stop shop for social networking.  What SGPlus does is allow you to bring other content into your main Stream on Google +.  You can bring your Facebook Newsfeed, Twitter Feed, LinkedIn Updates, and anything you can subscribe to in RSS (which is most things) all into your Google + experience.  If you are anything like me, that one step will allow you to stay better informed with less time and effort.

The world has quickly become a place of information overload.  This is one of the things allowing Google to become so popular.  Much of what Google does is allow us to sift out information not important to us and find important information (as defined by us).  So I find it a little ironic that a third-party developer has actually found a way to use Google’s new social networking platform to add in information from other sources that are also important to us (e.g., what is going on with all our friends on Facebook).

Don’t get me wrong.  This is not going to change your life.  But it is a handy little tool that can help pull the information you are most interested in onto one page.  Of course, with the speed at which social networking is changing, it will be interesting to see how quickly this landscape continues to evolve.