Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board WPSMB Group Camp Out 4/16-4/18

Howdy All,

An exELLENt Challenge and Lessons Learned:

I could also title this "the view from the back of the pack."

I carpooled up with King Arthur (Hypoxic Zombie). I've only dayhiked the MR once with Laura in the summer. Going up the E ledges with a full pack was challenging -- thanks to Nick and others for providing helpful gluteal assists along the way. The fitness level of the group was phenomonal. I put my head down and slow-twitched my way up from LBSL at the rear. Before long we were setting up camp.

I was excited to test out my brand new Black Diamond First Light tent. She just happens to be the color of lemon-lime Gatorade, my favorite sports drink. Alas, as I was cutting cord for the stakes, the wind blew my virgin tent into my Swiss army knife. Woe is me -- injured on her maiden voyage.

As soon as the sun set, we headed into our tents and sleeping bags to stay warm. The camp started stirring at daybreak as we readied ourselves for the big day. Unfortunately, my intestines had a plan of their own. Several wag bags later, I headed out at the back of the group. I was depleted and felt awful, even with a lighter pack. By the time I reached Iceberg lake, I realized that getting to the Notch was out of reach. Fortunately, Nick and Tracie stayed with me. We headed up to a pile of rocks at about 13 K and watched our group ascend into the blue.

Even getting back to camp was a challenge. I was quite nervous dropping down from Iceberg back to the traverse and took a while to get down. Nick and Tracie were very patient and helpful. I met my new friend TomCat on our way back -- he could tell I was shattered and entertained with me stories all the way back to camp. I rustled up some hot cocoa for him before he headed down and then crashed in my tent. I started having chills. Great.

I slept well but could tell I was still sick as soon as I awakened. It took twice as long as normal to pack up. Having to Wag Bag several more times didn't help. There was a moment of comic relief when I couldn't pull my ice-axe out of the snow/ice. King Arthur walked over and yanked it out easily -- replaying the "Sword and Stone" moment from the King Arthur tale.

I couldn't even go down hill with any speed. Thanks to the Wag Bags, the pack weighed the same as when we started. My new friend Nick stayed with me all the way down to LBSL. When we reached the E-ledges, we met a very kind young guy who helped us find the route down. In the snowy sections next to the ledges, I spent a good deal of time sliding down on my butt.

Reaching the "open sesame" tree was a godsend. I don't think I've ever been so happy to see the main trail. As we approached the Portal, I yelled "woo hoo" and heard the answering yells of my mountain sisters Eva and Carole. Staggered into the Portal and immediately disposed of the Wag Bags. Had a fabulous meal at the Alabama Hills Cafe before saying goodbye to my friends at the Hostel. Arthur missed the summit party so that I could get home and crawl into a hot bath and bed.

The company and scenery were amazing -- thanks everyone. I'll be back to dayhike Whitney this summer. Advantages of dayhiking -- light pack and not having to use a Wag Bag.

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

Shin, you're too much. Your captions are amazing! I can't stop laughing...

Good work, good shots, good climbing with you.

-Ryan, AKA Dan the makeup man.

Ellen,

It was such a nice surprise to see your face among the group at the trailhead on Friday. Cheryl had told me that another lady was coming along and I wondered who it could be.


I'm really sorry to hear that you felt bad the rest of the weekend. Maybe it was the spaghetti you had for dinner on Friday night? As anyone who has hiked with you can attest, you're usually in the front

Looking forward to doing Skyline with you this fall.

Tracie

Ellen,

It was great meeting you after reading so many legendary TRs!

I am very sorry you did not feel well. You hike strong and I never would have known. And always a smile. Despite you being sick you still gave me water for the trip down to LBSL. You're a super person, strong hiker with great stories Ellen, thank you.

Can't wait for future adventures.

James

Thanks again for sharing all your photos, Mike, Tracie, Cheryl, Mark, and I think I forgot a few, as I've been looking through them and enjoying them.

Sorry you were sick, Ellen, but you definitely made the most of it! Looking forward to meeting you and hiking with you someday! How did you like your new tent? Mike had suggested it to me, and I've been reading up on it. I like its light weight, but am a bit worried about condensation as it's single-walled. Did you have much issues with condensation? Thanks!

Howdy Tracie,

It was wonderful to be in the company of strong women -- you and Cheryl climb like cheetahs.

Thanks so much for psychologically "short-roping" me down the steep section.

Howdy James,

Thanks for your kind words. You're an incredible writer -- I'm eagerly awaiting more of your trip reports and hiking with you when my gut behaves.

Note to group -- I was not contagious -- I have inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's). My intestines occasionally act up when I'm under stress.

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

Howdy DobeMom,

Love your screen name.

The tent worked beautifully -- no condensation at all.

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

Thank you for such a quick response, Ellen! I've been eyeing that Firstlight, and I do LOVE that color!

Thanks, I have two dobermans,

Well, what an awesome trip guys! I met so many great people (thanks to JamesL for sharing my tent with me) and I had such and great time that I can't wait for the next one and I hope to be climbing with you all again soon.

A special thanks to Richard and Mike for making this thing happen and being such good sports with the ropes, carrying them up and down for us, for a nice safe descent on the final 400.

Here are a few of my pics from the trip below:

Lower Boy Scout Lake


Upper Boy Scout Lake


Base camp, Girl Scout, Thor, Frog Pond, something lake...


Heading up the chute


The Notch


The summit looking west


The summit looking east

The rest of the pics are here: Ryan Bracci's Mt Whitney MR 4/16-4/18/10 pics

Hi Ryan,
I don't know why I attached such captions to the some pictures. My head was in some kind of over-drive state because of the elevation or the excitement of hiking together with many well known hikers and climbers whom I heard about them or read about them. I truly enjoyed the hike with all of you.

Richard, Sorry about your key board. If you hike Mt. Baldy too many times, you will get my symptom. Or I am getting from you.
But, all my hard training on Mt. Baldy helped me very well on this trip.

Mike, You are lucky to have many special friends who can share your passions same level as yours. Looking forward to your next trip report.

Doug, I'll come by your Portal Store to get free rope lesson before my next attempt to MR. Thank you for your advice and friendship.

MC, You are influencing many people's life in positive way and you should be proud yourself. I can give you a ride anytime so let me know when you are in town.

Tom and Jim, Thank you for guiding us down on Elephant ear and "E" ledge.

Shin

The only casualties during of the weekend... There was so much friction on the 200' ropes that I wasn't able to pull them down. Jim climbed up to help, but I didn't want to waste any more time and effort on getting them down after having spent so much time on the summit. (First time at 14k this year.) I talked to Kurt about them and he'll pull them up to the summit for me (if they aren't already gone, or buried under two feet of snow!). Mike, Corina and I are heading up for another climb of the mountain on Saturday, so I should be able to clean up my mess up there if I remeber to carry a bigger pack than usual for a day-climb.

Nice photos everybody. Anybody have a link to CO Matt's blog yet?

Shin, you have the skill needed to climb Whitney. It's a shame you were pressed for time and needing to get back to camp. The conditions were as ideal as they get up there. We might not be so lucky next time...

i responded the the other day right after James wrote the TR while still floating in his stream of luminous expression that i neglected to say congratulations to everyone. so, please know that i am so happy that it was an amazing adventure of summits to varying heights and friendships that exemplified the spirit of mountaineering on the mountain we love so much.

Congratulations Everyone!

Richard: Matt's e mail is mjtracz20@hotmail.com

his web site is: http://matt.tracz.org/

NO www between http and //matt

Hi Ellen,, it was nice to meet you, and hope to go hiking with you sometime...

mark

Howdy Mustache/Cookie Mark,

I would love to go up Skyline (Palm Springs desert museum to the tram) with you once the snow clears off the traverse. We could trade cookies -- I make a pretty mean peanut butter/chocolate chip.

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

I'm still working on my trip report. I took ~1500 pics over my week long So. California trip, and was busy most of Sun/Mon/Tues returning from Lone Pine, unpacking, moving out of my apartment, and returning to Colorado. I think I can get my web journal finished by the end of the weekend. Here's what I have so far:

http://matt.tracz.org/2010/CA.html

If you want to see some really cute koalas, check out the zoo pics. Working on my Telescope Peak report next.

I'll post when I have Friday (hike up to camp) finished, and again when Saturday is done. Sorry for the wait, but it will be worth it.

Thanks everyone for posting your galleries. I'm going to include a few in my report, to help fill in some gaps (and have some pics of me), and will credit the contributor.
-matt

Thanks to everyone for a great and memorable weekend.
I can't believe how lucky we were with the weather and conditions.
Looking forward to next year - I will do more training for the next one!
It was a pleasure to meet you all and put faces to the screen names.

When I get time I will post my pics and movies.

Nick.

Richard,
Clear your box. I need to PM you..

Mouse

Sent you an e-mail. Your PM Inbox is full too!

James, you really nailed it with that TR, in fact you not only nailed it, you hammered it deep into the essence of that trip! Thanks for so eloquently expressing what we all felt. Congratulations to everyone on reaching their own personal summit, it was nice meeting and climbing with all of you. This trip is one sure to be remembered!

Photos Here: