I never thought that I would say "Hey, I climbed the highest mountain in the lower 48 states!" And now I can say it. It was a long, beautiful, epic, adventurous 22 mile hike. The experience was unreal and the views were magnificent. The pictures that I have do not do justice for how amazing it was.
We drove up to Lone Pine, CA on Thursday and camped at 10,000 ft. to get acclimated to the elevation. At camp we met our friends Katie, Patrick, and Katie's friend Rose. We camped at a place called Cottonwood Lake where there were lots of signs that said high bear activity. Well of course that night I couldn't sleep because I was so worried about a bear getting us. I was so paranoid that when my belly growled, I thought it was a bear just knocking at our door. But the morning came and we woke up bright and early safe and sound ready to hike the six miles in to trail camp with 35 lb packs on our back. On our way up I couldn't help but stop in awe and amazed at how beautiful it was. The forest and wilderness around us was remarkable. Even as we were eating lunch we were approached by one of the locals, a mule deer. She sat down and rested only about sixty feet away from us. It was so cool.
It took us five hours to reach trail camp. I had never carried a big pack up six miles and boy did it hurt. It felt like a small child was attached to my back and was not letting go until trail camp. There were a few things that I had to experience for the first time on top of the small child on my back for six miles. One of them was a wag bag and the other was a marmot. A wag bag is a bag that is used for human waste the NFD requires you to pack out your poop. And let me tell you that was an experience in it self. I wont go into too much detail but as you can imagine it was interesting. Marmie the marmot was an interesting creature. Marmots look kind of like prairie dogs but only bigger. Marmie was really friendly and wanted to eat me. He got so close any time I was eating anything. He wasn't my favorite. The night before the summit was full of laughs and good times. We were so excited to get to the top that we went to bed really early.
We woke up to a beautiful sunrise and were headed off to summit Mt. Whitney. It took us a little over 2 hours to climb to the top. The view was out of this world like nothing I could ever imagine. We hugged and kissed and had a snack and headed back down for the rest of our hike. Because what goes up...must come down. We had decided that morning that we were going to summit and then pack all the way down. A total of 15.7 miles. The hike down was a grinder and took every bit of energy but we made it. Raul was awesome and really supportive and I wouldn't have wanted to do this without him. I was happy to do it and I would do it again! Hope you enjoy some pics.
Mt. Whitney
All of us before the hike to Trail Camp
Another look at Mt. Whitney
What we woke up to before the summit
Me on the top!!! Whoo!
WE DID IT!
Awe...so cute.
There he is....seriously, I thought he was going to pounce.
Me on our way back down to the trail head
Raul on our way up the summit...FYI, 99 switchbacks.
Mt. Whitney
14,505 ft.
3 comments:
That's awesome Audra! Way to go! I love the pics. I don't think my half-marathon looks so hard compared to that!
Wow!!! You guys are awesome. What an accomplishment. It looks so beautiful up there. I could have never even walked a mile with a pack that heavy on my back without passing out:) I am glad you made it safe and sound. Way to go:)
I WANT A MARMOT! Can you get me one for my birthday?
Well done with the mountain goating.
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