Where's Bruce?
WKR
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2013
- Messages
- 6,387
All the over-the-top warnings about bears and proper camping precautions regarding food storage ceased being laughable when we reached the trailhead. The overwhelming stench of an unseen but clearly dead mammal enveloped a large area. When I say it smelled bad, I’m talking Rosie O’Donnell without a bath or shave during a four week bender bad! We just wanted outta there. Our packs weighed 75lbs and would be testing our resolve soon. Boots tied and sidearms strapped (in preparation of a Sasquatch encounter)…we began our ascent into the eastern Sierras. These shots were taken within short hike from the trailhead before the overloaded packs began taking their toll. This is best demonstrated by the smiles on the clueless adventurers before they hit the “climb” up.
The only good thing about a long hike uphill is the awareness that it is all downhill coming back. But altitude proved to be our Kryptonite as we passed the 9,000 and then 10,000’ mark. For those who have never backpacked at elevations this high, the air is lighter. By that I mean there is 40% less oxygen at these elevations. It’s like taking half a breath instead of a full one. Trust me, elevation will weaken Superman just as quickly as did us two 50-somethings with stupidly overloaded packs that turned us into weezing, gasping, coughing hikers that sat a bit less than they hiked. The only thing more ridiculous than this was our complete astonishment at our own poor showing. Mother Nature wasn’t just beating us, she’d kicked us in the walnuts and our struggle had just begun.
Have you ever stood up too fast and felt wobbly? Well we felt like that off and on the whole climb. Just light headed and weak. Now many of you already know (and the rest of you will learn) that the warranty on joints generally expires at age 50. A few purist enjoy an extended warranty but for most of us, things like ankles, knees, elbows, hips, shoulders, neck and back eventually become sources of pain. This trek was no exception and I made a fatal mistake.
At about the halfway mark we stopped and took a snack break…something I never do. My buddy Gary handed me some weird looking gel snack and a thick power gel that was like coffee syrup. Enjoyed the Starbucks taste but the texture was kinda like warm pudding. Well shortly after that I throw my pack on and bam! A hot knife rips through my shoulder blade…the worst pain you can imagine. Yep…gas bubble. If you’ve never had one, God loves you. You don’t wanna experience this. If you’ve ever felt this uniquely sharp stabbing pain, you can imagine how I felt being halfway up the mountain and unable to move even though the shadows were starting to get long and the available daylight was now a factor. After 30 minutes I was able to resume our march which was now conducted a bit more urgently. The higher we went, the more mud, running water and snow we moved though. Once above the 10,000’ mark we could feel the sun in a way that’s hard to describe. It’s almost like the sun’s rays are magnified and you can literally feel your skin burn as it’s happening. It’s drier here too and the hydration bladder had become noticeably lighter. We push on.
Finally, much later and feeling like an expectant mother in her tenths month, we arrived at a suitable spot to make camp. It was just inside the treeline, had fabulous views of the basin and a creek running nearby and small sections of shaded snow around.
This is Gary with his 1st morning trout stringer which were “stored” in the creek adjacent our camp.
Some more photos of the area:
Sunset looking east.
The only good thing about a long hike uphill is the awareness that it is all downhill coming back. But altitude proved to be our Kryptonite as we passed the 9,000 and then 10,000’ mark. For those who have never backpacked at elevations this high, the air is lighter. By that I mean there is 40% less oxygen at these elevations. It’s like taking half a breath instead of a full one. Trust me, elevation will weaken Superman just as quickly as did us two 50-somethings with stupidly overloaded packs that turned us into weezing, gasping, coughing hikers that sat a bit less than they hiked. The only thing more ridiculous than this was our complete astonishment at our own poor showing. Mother Nature wasn’t just beating us, she’d kicked us in the walnuts and our struggle had just begun.
Have you ever stood up too fast and felt wobbly? Well we felt like that off and on the whole climb. Just light headed and weak. Now many of you already know (and the rest of you will learn) that the warranty on joints generally expires at age 50. A few purist enjoy an extended warranty but for most of us, things like ankles, knees, elbows, hips, shoulders, neck and back eventually become sources of pain. This trek was no exception and I made a fatal mistake.
At about the halfway mark we stopped and took a snack break…something I never do. My buddy Gary handed me some weird looking gel snack and a thick power gel that was like coffee syrup. Enjoyed the Starbucks taste but the texture was kinda like warm pudding. Well shortly after that I throw my pack on and bam! A hot knife rips through my shoulder blade…the worst pain you can imagine. Yep…gas bubble. If you’ve never had one, God loves you. You don’t wanna experience this. If you’ve ever felt this uniquely sharp stabbing pain, you can imagine how I felt being halfway up the mountain and unable to move even though the shadows were starting to get long and the available daylight was now a factor. After 30 minutes I was able to resume our march which was now conducted a bit more urgently. The higher we went, the more mud, running water and snow we moved though. Once above the 10,000’ mark we could feel the sun in a way that’s hard to describe. It’s almost like the sun’s rays are magnified and you can literally feel your skin burn as it’s happening. It’s drier here too and the hydration bladder had become noticeably lighter. We push on.
Finally, much later and feeling like an expectant mother in her tenths month, we arrived at a suitable spot to make camp. It was just inside the treeline, had fabulous views of the basin and a creek running nearby and small sections of shaded snow around.
This is Gary with his 1st morning trout stringer which were “stored” in the creek adjacent our camp.
Some more photos of the area:
Sunset looking east.
