Day 3
15.7 miles / 38.0 total
Steps: 42,682
Crabtree Meadows
Days without shower 4
I didn't sleep well. My arms keep falling asleep or I couldn't get comfortable. If I didn't tell/ask Luke to stay with me today I would have gotten up earlier and gone by myself. I often debating seeing if he was awake as well but there were quite a few tents around and I didn’t want to be rude and was too lazy and warm to actually get out of my sleeping bag. It was good and I'm glad I had someone there to celebrate at the top with. The hike up was challenging ALL the way. There were a few times the trail was hard to follow. We didn’t use our headlamps much and it really wasn’t needed because the moon was full a couple nights ago. It was a pretty constant climb up to Guitar Lake when the sun was rising. Guitar lake was beautiful and everything I thought it would be and more. I’ve heard it can be crowded but I didn’t get that feeling from just walking thru. It was larger than I thought it would be. I'm really hoping I got a good picture for Rob (my dad). That way he can put it in his guitar room! We took a short break here to take off some layers as the sun was starting to peak over the mountain and we could see the next big climb coming. Climbing up out of Guitar Lake started the switchbacks. We saw some people up ahead which I enjoy being able to see where the trail is. A few were taking a break and we said hi and continued passed them. They were all super friendly and I was able to hear some of their stories as we hiked together for a minute. I gave them all nicknames in order to help me remember their names. The nicknames I made up are: No stopping Norma, Bad ass Betsy, Trail blazer Trish, and Rock star Rick. Bad ass Betsy got her name first because this was her 60th time up Mt Whitney!!! She knew exactly how many switchbacks we had left and the distance of each. All these women (and 1 guy) had to be over 60. Over the hill my ass... They eat mountains for breakfast. Soon we needed a break and they charged ahead with a steady pass. I was extremely impressed. We saw them again right before the 1.9 mile sign. We stopped there for a short break and continued on. This is when Non-stop Norma got her name because she was headed back to the sign where Betsy left her bag to grab her sunglasses for her. She went down and passed us going back up. Crazy. We kept going as much as we could and I was trying to make it to the top to wait to eat but I couldn’t go anymore and felt my body draining. I knew I would crash if I didn't eat something quick. I tried a gu pack but still hate them. It went in my trash bag quickly. Then I ate my cereal. Love that stuff. After that I felt SO much better and we slowly climbed our way up. Once we saw people standing at the top I got super excited!! Then I saw the hut!! It was amazing. Betsy was already heading down so I asked her for a quick picture and it was so cool. Such a sweet group of ladies. I signed the book and put the San Diego adventure club sticker up. We went in the hut to get warm for a bit and add some additional layers. I was surprised how small the area was that we could go in. There were about 8 of us in there and it felt very crammed. Outside I took a few pictures and checked for service! I was able to FaceTime my sister, mom, and Zoie which was awesome! Posted a picture to Facebook, synced my Fitbit (and turned off the 6am alarm) and the phone went back to airplane mode. We took a few more pics and sat on a ledge for a while. We had some trailmix and talked for a while up there enjoying the views. It seemed like we were the only ones up there on the ledge and was awesome. The clouds were moving and I started to get a little nervous, so we headed down. The down was long and hard on the feet, toes, knees, and ankles. It seemed like forever to get back to the sign again. We passed a few people going down and some were not looking good so I checked on a few thinking it would be altitude and seeing if I could offer any advice or help. One guy was super afraid of heights and was struggling getting down but I didn't know what I could do to help besides a couple words of encouragement. At the sign we stopped and 3 guys overheard us talking about drinks and joked if we had beer! We said we thought they had the beer and all laughed. They were finishing up the trail and going to head out the portal. One guy had a flask of tequila and offered us a shot (yes please and thank you) and gave Luke some extra food that he will likely really need. It's amazing how much the trail provides and I have no idea how that guy still had tequila left but I am glad he did. Luke wasn’t doing as many miles as he anticipated so he was a little low on food and fuel. In 2 days people gave him everything he would need to make it to Muir Trail Ranch to resupply so he wouldn’t have to go out Kearsarge Pass. The way back down to Guitar Lake seemed so steep and I was surprised I climbed up that beast just hours earlier. We stopped at the end of one of the switchbacks to take a break and I had my apple. It was amazing!! So glad I saved it a couple days. We did not stop too much the rest of the day because there was very little shade. I was leading for a bit and lost the trail but knew we were still heading in the right direction and we ran into Ranger Rob who stays at the Crabtree Ranger station. We had met him the day before and he commented on how we found the shortcut. The shortcut? We actually just lost the trail but good to know we were making the distance a little shorter. We made it back to camp just before 4. I got semi cleaned up, soaked my feet until they got numb, and did my laundry so it could dry in the last bit of the sun. I made dinner a little before 6. Tonight was Ramon with the Just Veggies in it. The peas and corn made it SO much better.
My food level in the bear can is finally going down which is awesome and I can fit more in my bear can now and it's getting lighter. I have been eating less than I expected and will likely be able to give food away pretty easily to Luke or whoever needs it. Most of my clothes are pretty dried and I put them away except my socks and gloves which I'll hang off my bag tomorrow. I brushed out my hair and it's starting to feel gross now. I already need a real shower. The lakes and streams are colder than I thought they would be and I can only keep my feet in for about 10 seconds at a time. I studied the map and think about 12 miles for tomorrow to the bottom of Forester pass. I am currently at about 10,000 feet elevation and the pass is at about 13,500 feet elevation. So another steady climb tomorrow and the next day however, I should be able to camp at around 12,500 so that would make it much easier. We will see how cold it gets up there because the nights have been so cold.
I'm feeling pretty good and besides skin coming off my big toes on the bottom, my feet are holding up well. My pinkie toe is the only spot that is starting to be tender. I have kept the Leukotape on my heals since I have started so I think that is helping prevent hot spots there. I am surprised at how well I am feeling and I'll likely get farther/quicker than I thought but would be good to zero at VVR a day early and relax a bit. Well it's almost 9 and I'm tired. Goodnight.
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