Enjoy the simple pleasures each and every day. Take the time to notice what makes you smile today. It may be all together different from what made you smile yesterday.
On top of the world
By the time we hit Trail Camp (12K feet elevation), I wasn’t feeling too hot. We ate and slept, hoping a night’s rest would provide us with enough time to acclimatize to the gain in elevation, and allow us to summit. To be honest, I was rather nervous that I wouldn’t be up for it. But I held onto hope that I would.
Fortunately, I woke feeling good, although my oatmeal was not at all appealing to me. We entered the switchbacks full of excitement and awe. We’d seen so much beauty already. It was hard to imagine what was ahead of us.
We were treated to incredible views as we began distancing ourselves from Trail Camp. With each switchback, the view was even more picturesque. Lakes we had not come in contact with on our journey came into view.
While the view changed below us, so did the view up above. Each switchback, each turn, treated us to something new, whether it was snow, water run-off, or wild flowers.
We paced ourselves, stopping to hydrate, refuel, catch our breath, and/or capture an image or two.
And before long… or I suppose it was long,.. we hit Trail Crest.
It was hard to believe that we could go any higher but, sure enough, we found out that we could.
Over the next two miles we climbed, and traversed, and climbed some more. More incredible views, this time overlooking the West (Sequoia National Park). We met up with the last portion of the John Muir Trail and came in contact with some amazing JMT through hikers.
Finally, the summit came into view. From afar we could see the storm shelter on the mountain top and watch the little dots (other hikers) snake back and forth toward the top. We were getting so close…yet it was still far off in the distance.
Until…
Trail Head to Trail Camp
It seems like I’d been planning my hike to Mount Whitney for FOREVER and a day. Still, with all of the months of training and preparation, enthusiasm turned to fear and nervousness as the time drew near to head up to the trail. We’d done our preparation hikes weighed down with fully loaded packs, did everything we could to lighten our loads, and did our homework educating ourselves about the trail conditions and the weather. We were obviously aware of the numbers: 8K where we would begin on the trail, 12K where we would spend our first night, and over 14K at the summit. Yet, somehow I’d gotten the elevation in Lone Pine wrong – thinking it was 6K instead of sub-4K. I tried not to let myself get hung up on it.
The initial miles from the trail head to trail camp are easy in the sense that the trail is not at all technical. I paced myself and we stopped to smell the trees (no roses in sight), take in the views, and catch our breath when we could.
It was nice to encounter water, seeing as how California is currently experiencing a drought. Being an ex-ICU nurse, who’s seen too many cases of dehydration at its worst, and has read about the extreme cases of AMS, HAPE, and HACE in the past few months, I was a little bit worried about water supply. I was much happier when water was in my sights.
Once in the blisteringly cold temps of Trail Camp, I was exceedingly happy when the sun was returning to the skies as well.
Who’s watching who?
In the canyon, one must keep an eye on their food at ALL times. This bird liked what he was seeing coming out of our packs at lunch one day.
“Bird Watching” now has new meaning. He kept a close eye on us and we kept a close eye on him.
Cacti Smacktie
One of our guides leading the Grand Canyon hike suggested that we call Cacti “Cactuses” instead. He said that “Cacti” just sounded weird. Quite frankly, they both do.
But they are definitely cool looking, especially when they’re flowering.