So when I got our permits a couple months ago I wasn’t too concerned that the weather would be a factor since it was the second year of very dry conditions. Hahahaha! The week before was Memorial week-end which saw a huge storm dump tons of snow. This was to be a real adventure.
As the five of us drove up to the campground at the portal we all took notice of the ‘Active Bear’ sign. No sooner than turning into the campground did we see a small bear. We were quick to unload all the smellables into the bear box. I got up twice to check for specific items that I might have left in the vehicle. There was nothing. That did not stop the little guy from jumping into the back of my truck for a personal inspection. I wonder if that was before or after my multiple trips. The bear was kind enough not to scratch or ding my truck in any way other than leaving a few minor paw prints as he launched into and of the bed.
While at the portal, we encountered a young man who had to be rescued from the mountaineering route the day before. SAR had spent the night hiking up to him and then a helicopter evacuated him. He seemed very exhausted but expressed that he was feeling better. We were surprised when he said he was thinking of doing a day hike to Lone Pine Lake. We hiked up to Lone Pine Lake in great weather and great company. We had the lake all to ourselves and were in bed by 8:30. A little early for me but the altitude with the climb combined from the portal had us all tired. We were on the trail again by 8:30 and started the climb up to Mirror Lake through quite a bit of snow. Everyone we encountered had turned back at Trail Camp due to conditions. At this point, we had only heard of one person who had managed to summit from the Main Trail since the storm. We were wondering what we were in for above. We then encountered a couple of rangers and had a friendly chat. Soon, we came across a really nasty traverse above Trailside Meadow. This scared me more than any conditions faced on Rainier or Shasta. We managed to cross this without incident and made it to Trail Camp in the afternoon. We spent the day and evening watching people coming down the snow chute. I was amazed to see people descending after 8:00pm. Trail Camp was pretty crowded with little privacy and few options for a sheltered site. Off to bed we went with a 4:30 wake up call.
Sunday morning, June 1st, as we were climbing above the chute, where there had been a recent slide, there were quite a few people climbing up. Straight Up! The switchbacks were barely discernable above camp but then completely disappeared under all the recent snowfall. The chute was the only route. As three of our party climbed higher, my friend stayed back with me, as I was struggling a bit from being so out of condition. The higher we climbed the less we looked down as the steepness was somewhat terrrifying.
We arrived at Trail Crest at 9:40am to a crowded Trail Crest. There was one group with about 8 people, a couple, and one guy who had come all the way from the parking lot who was kind enough to kick in better steps for us, and of course our own friends. My friend and I decided we had ‘summited and stayed behind while the other three went for the real summit. Having been there previously I was fine with stopping here in these conditions. We sat at the top for a while and waited to gather the courage for the inevitable descent down the chute. As we started to down climb, my friend immediately slipped on the steepest part at the top and began an unplanned slide. She didn’t panic and did what I was telling her (yelling) and managed to stop herself. We took a break until her heart (ours) returned to normal. We eventually made it to the bottom between plunge stepping and glissading and were back at camp by 1:30pm. Now we tried to avoid the ever present sun while waiting for the return of our friends. We were supposed to return to Lone Pine Lake but as the time passed we knew that wasn’t to be.
Finally the victorious group returned and we were reunited with only a few bruises and nothing that a hot cup of soup wouldn’t cure. Conditions past Trail Crest had a significant impact on the time for anyone who was on the main trail on Sunday. My friends did note that one group managed to summit and then do some rock climbing before heading back down. I always ask myself how people get in such phenomenal condition. We sat there at 9:00PM and watched several groups coming down the chute with headlamps. With a couple staggering through our site asking where the trail was as they were too tired or confused to find it. We had some fun hiking out in the morning. Rather than follow the trail, and experience that hairy section again, we hiked down through the snow past Consultation Lake and met back up with the trail by Trailside Meadow. We glissaded down to the bottom to a few ‘woo hoos’ from our audience on the trail.
One note, with all of the gear for winter conditions, the total weight we were carrying between the five of us was about 250lbs. When we returned to the portal, one of our members had managed to reduce her pack weight by 17lbs. Who knew Musubi weighed so much? Here is a link to the photos
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/563685239uKOoOg
Thanks for the informative photos!