donkiluminate
Member
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2018
- Messages
- 70
After being laid up all summer with back problems I figured it would be a great idea to put in a 48 miler from Onion Valley to Whitney. Seemed like a good idea but having only been backpacking 3 times in the last 9 months mistakes were made.
First, I was so worried about not having enough I way overpacked on food. So much so I had to rent a BV500 bear canister. I was disappointed with myself to finish the trip with so much food left. Plus, some of my food choices weren't great. Who brings tuna fish to bear country? Between the extra large canister and the food it probably added an additional 5 lbs to my pack. Second, I under packed on clothing. It got a bit chilly at night. Third, I owned myself with poor reading skills. I got a hole in my air mattress on my first night. Luckily I had a patch kit but didn’t read the directions well enough. I put the glue dot on the hole but didn't put the paper on top of the glue dot. I went to bed that night and in the middle of the night my bag adhered itself to the glue dot. There I was having a dream about a yummy piece of cake and I rolled over in my sleep, pulled the dot off the pad and woke up to a loud gush of air. Fourth, wait, I don’t think there was a fourth. Those three mistakes were enough.
Anyway, I’m not much of a story teller. Using business speak I would call this a trip 'breeze by'. Basic itinerary was;
Day 1: Leave Onion Valley, up and over Kearsarge Pass, down past the Videttes, and camp at Bubb’s Creek. We passed an unattended campsite where a bear was helping itself to some backpacker's food who they had left unattended in an open canister, or maybe the bear scared them off.
Looking west of Kearsarge
Bullfrog Lake
Day 2: Up and over Forrester pass, which I have to admit kicked my butt so much more than Whitney. Spent the night by Tyndall Creek. It was by far the coldest night. I Woke up with crunchy water in my water bottle.
Looking back on Vidette peak. Absolute unit of a mountain.
Top of Forrester
Looking back at Forrester. If you look closely you can see someone standing at the notch.(For the life of me I can't get this pic to rotate)
Day 3: We got our first view of Whitney that day as we got up to Big Horn Plateau. It seemed so close but still had a lot of miles ahead of us. Generally speaking, this was the easiest day. I loved Timberline lake. It was so beautiful
We spent an epic night at Guitar lake. We got a show of 5 F35’s flying in formation flying over Mt Whitney and a gorgeous sunset on Mt Morgenson.
Day 4: Up the JMT to Whitney. Once we got to the junction with the Whitney trail we dropped our packs and took small fanny packs to the summit. The view at the summit was awesome as usual. I’m always amazed at the various set of emotions you go through when hiking Whitney. Dread, doubt, exhaustion, relief, and then elation. I flew down the mountain on adrenaline, but when I got to my backpack and put all that weight back on I almost wanted to cry. Plus, this is the second time I've hiked Whitney and every time I've never counted 99 switch backs. Yes I count them. I always get 97.
Unlike last year where after I summited I went all of the way to the bottom of Whitney, this year we spent the night at Outpost camp. It was nice having a leisurely evening to recover from the 45 miles we put in. Especially since we had a 9 hour drive back to SLC the next day.
Day 5: Packed up and hiked the last 3.5 miles down to Whitney Portal. Great trip with a lot of epic views. As usual, I drove home thinking "I'm good. No need for any backpacking trips for a while." But, 3 weeks later I'm ready get out there again.
I'm not very good at taking pictures, both in quality and in just taking them. Plus, once I got to Whitney, I was kind of like "been there, done that" and didn't bother taking many pictures. So if you are wanting more pictures then...
First, I was so worried about not having enough I way overpacked on food. So much so I had to rent a BV500 bear canister. I was disappointed with myself to finish the trip with so much food left. Plus, some of my food choices weren't great. Who brings tuna fish to bear country? Between the extra large canister and the food it probably added an additional 5 lbs to my pack. Second, I under packed on clothing. It got a bit chilly at night. Third, I owned myself with poor reading skills. I got a hole in my air mattress on my first night. Luckily I had a patch kit but didn’t read the directions well enough. I put the glue dot on the hole but didn't put the paper on top of the glue dot. I went to bed that night and in the middle of the night my bag adhered itself to the glue dot. There I was having a dream about a yummy piece of cake and I rolled over in my sleep, pulled the dot off the pad and woke up to a loud gush of air. Fourth, wait, I don’t think there was a fourth. Those three mistakes were enough.
Anyway, I’m not much of a story teller. Using business speak I would call this a trip 'breeze by'. Basic itinerary was;
Day 1: Leave Onion Valley, up and over Kearsarge Pass, down past the Videttes, and camp at Bubb’s Creek. We passed an unattended campsite where a bear was helping itself to some backpacker's food who they had left unattended in an open canister, or maybe the bear scared them off.
Looking west of Kearsarge
Bullfrog Lake
Day 2: Up and over Forrester pass, which I have to admit kicked my butt so much more than Whitney. Spent the night by Tyndall Creek. It was by far the coldest night. I Woke up with crunchy water in my water bottle.
Looking back on Vidette peak. Absolute unit of a mountain.
Top of Forrester
Looking back at Forrester. If you look closely you can see someone standing at the notch.(For the life of me I can't get this pic to rotate)
Day 3: We got our first view of Whitney that day as we got up to Big Horn Plateau. It seemed so close but still had a lot of miles ahead of us. Generally speaking, this was the easiest day. I loved Timberline lake. It was so beautiful
We spent an epic night at Guitar lake. We got a show of 5 F35’s flying in formation flying over Mt Whitney and a gorgeous sunset on Mt Morgenson.
Day 4: Up the JMT to Whitney. Once we got to the junction with the Whitney trail we dropped our packs and took small fanny packs to the summit. The view at the summit was awesome as usual. I’m always amazed at the various set of emotions you go through when hiking Whitney. Dread, doubt, exhaustion, relief, and then elation. I flew down the mountain on adrenaline, but when I got to my backpack and put all that weight back on I almost wanted to cry. Plus, this is the second time I've hiked Whitney and every time I've never counted 99 switch backs. Yes I count them. I always get 97.
Unlike last year where after I summited I went all of the way to the bottom of Whitney, this year we spent the night at Outpost camp. It was nice having a leisurely evening to recover from the 45 miles we put in. Especially since we had a 9 hour drive back to SLC the next day.
Day 5: Packed up and hiked the last 3.5 miles down to Whitney Portal. Great trip with a lot of epic views. As usual, I drove home thinking "I'm good. No need for any backpacking trips for a while." But, 3 weeks later I'm ready get out there again.
I'm not very good at taking pictures, both in quality and in just taking them. Plus, once I got to Whitney, I was kind of like "been there, done that" and didn't bother taking many pictures. So if you are wanting more pictures then...
