Dear Hayden and Hannah,
Emily and I are still doing well, 13 days into our road
trip. Even when times get
stressful we work things out. When
problems come up, we work together to fix them. When I snore, she pokes me. When she talks about tie-dying underwear or corn races, I
just reply “oh my gosh, you are so weird.” We are figuring it out! Anyway, we are currently working through a bit of an
unrelated predicament.
Let me back up.
Our day started at 4:00am in the Whitney Portal campground. We hoped that an early start would
allow us to summit, or at least reach our campsite before the storm everyone
had been warning us about hit. We
accomplished the latter. After a
breakfast of scrambled eggs with peppers and onions, we packed up camp and
drove a few minutes to the trailhead.
At the trailhead, there was a hanging scale where we weighed our packs:
Aidan with 35 lbs, and Emily with 31 lbs.
Not a bad split. I
should’ve carried more, but I have a 40L pack and Emily has a 50L.
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| There are so many possibilities with this picture... |
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| A beautiful morning! |
The trailhead starts around 8360 ft.; quite low for the
tallest peak in the lower 48.
Besides being the tallest, Whitney is also known for its
switchbacks. They start right
away. The trail was incredibly
established! Each stream had well
placed rocks on which to step.
Higher up, cement had been used to reinforce what could’ve been loose
blocks.
Hiking in the Sierras is different than in the Rockies. Besides the trail
maintenance/development, the permit system is much more rigorous. We applies for the permit back in early
March, so we had no way of knowing about the impending storm months out. Had this been Colorado, we would’ve
hiked in last night and summited this morning to avoid the storm. With a one-night permit, this is not
possible.
What started out as a beautiful blue-sky morning at 6:00 am
when we began hiking, soon turned into a growing mess of clouds to the east in
the valley. The clouds didn’t hang
around the peaks, but the accumulating mass of dark clouds moved west, the
opposite direction I’d expect at home.
By 10:00 am, we had reached a cluster of campsites near
Consultation Lake, above tree line at about 11,920 ft. The sky was very grey at this point and
beginning to obscure the ring of peaks above. We talked with a family leaving, deterred by the possibility
of storm and perceived need for crampons and ice ax to reach the ridge. (We had micro-spikes and one trekking
pole each). We took their site and
set up our tent on the eastern side of a wall of rocks. Emily thought we should be on the other
side, but the father insisted the wind was off the mountain (from the west) the
night before. Emily was right, but
we didn’t know it at the time. As
Emily put on tights inside the tent, the storm fully reached us. The decision was made to wait out the
storm and I quickly joined her inside.
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| Ominous clouds in the east |
It is now late in the evening. We have been curled up in sleeping bags since 10:00 am and
the snow shows no signs of letting up.
Each time we grudgingly leave the semi-frigid confines of the tent to go
to the bathroom, the snow reaches further up our boots. So far, it has been calm with little
wind. We passed the first few
hours making up for the sleep we lost this morning. The next few were spent writing postcards and letters. Even within the comfort of our sleeping
bags, warmth eludes us. I am
becoming nervous that the winds will pick up over night and the temperature
will drop even lower.
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| Home sweet home |
For dinner, we had Honey Lime Chicken and Thai Chicken
freeze dried meals from Natural High.
Emily and I would agree, the Thai Chicken doesn’t need repeating and the
Honey Lime Chicken was much much better.
Lighting the Jet Boil in the snow was a story in and of itself. I hope Troy and I gave you guys one with
the electric starter. I went
through 10 matches of a 32 match box before Emily called our to ask if I needed
help. When I responded that I’d
been unsuccessful with half a box she quickly came to the rescue. Of course, we were able to get it lit
with the first match when we worked together. We both were very aware that another similar struggle could
leave us without a fire.
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| Dinner! |
Even if all we have done is lie around for the majority of
the day, I think Emily and I are both stressed. We are both a little scared of the cold night to come, not
knowing if the snow will end. We
have enough food for breakfast and lunch tomorrow, with instant cheesy potatoes
as an emergency dinner, so we should be fine. I am hesitant to rely on melting snow for water given my
luck with lighting the Jet Boil, but thankfully Emily brought her filter so
assuming we can find open water, that won’t be an issue. At this point, I have little confidence
in our chances of summiting, and am more concerned with getting us back
safely.
I hope you two have the opportunity to explore together some
of the parks Emily and I have visited.
They are truly awe-inspiring.
Almost every day we marvel at God’s creation. It has been an amazing adventure.
Hopefully we can keep warm through the night and return to
share some amazing stories. Emily
would really like to meet you both.
Take care,
Aidan.
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