Layers of discomfort and magic

FDK and CR started a day ahead of me so I will have to ask them to append a preface to this trip report 

TL;DR the Eastern Sierra proved to me once more its ability to kick my ass, blow my mind, and fill my heart. We hit up Whitney and some hot springs, then hogged through Yosemite before driving back to reality. 

You can see all of my pictures from the trip here. 

Saturday
fdk &CR, preface:

CR: After picking up FDK in Reno we drove the whole length of the eastern sierra down to bishop, with FDK trying to keep up some sort of 'clean living' initiative where she tried to sleep the right amount and eat not-garbage, while I tried to drive all night and also had a car full of pie and pizza. Health is all about who you hang out with, I guess. 

fdk: I'm training for a marathon, unfortunately, so I kept sneaking in extra running, and CR and Kelz were very nice to accommodate it.  When CR and I woke up Saturday morning, ostensibly eager to go find some nice rocks for climbing, it was COLD, like 20˚F cold, like I am not getting my feet into climbing shoes with no socks cold.  That's fantastic because running is great in a wide variety of temps!  So we went for a quick (2h) jog up Bishop Creek Canyon (I think), and I quickly remembered that running at 9000ft always sucks when you live at sea level. Still, if you're in the neighborhood it's a nice run over Piute Pass (11,423ft)for a view of Summit Lake, and you'll catch your breath on the way back down.

CR: We wheezed and coughed up to Mt Emerson, where we met a lady wearing old school glacier goggles who encouraged us to keep going to get views of the Humphrey Basin, which turned this short run into rather a long one. 

One of the lakes headed up to Puite Pass

CR: We then hustled back down to get to Cardinal Pinnacle, which is home to some of the greatest moderate crack climbing I have ever done. My goal always in climbing is to complete climbs WITHOUT DRAMA (this means no screaming at your partner, no truly fearing for your life, no peeing on your partner, minimal loss of skin, etc etc you get the picture). FDK says I should get a hat that says ___ days since last climbing drama. Fortunately we can add one more tick to the hat, since this was a pretty drama free climb. This was also the first climb where FDK and I did a double-rope rappel together which means we both got to spend >30 minutes trying to untangle my demonically-possessed pink rappel rope (damn it, pinky!). Also FDK got to look  and comment "Really?" when I tied  the two ropes together with the uninspiring-looking "European Death Knot"

(http://blog.alpineinstitute.com/2009/03/euro-death-knot.html)

Fortunately the EDK did not live up to its name and we lived to climb another day and more importantly, meet up with KD in Lone Pine!

fdk: There are two reasons to do this climb: lovely hand jams and a stunning belay station. I really hope to get to come back and convince CR to lead the whole thing for me. 

The view while belaying.  Who can be expected to mind the rope with those aspens?!

Back to Kelz:

I started God-early in Redwood City and drove 7 short hours down to the lovely mountain town of Lone Pine to meet up with FDK and CR. We drove a short way to the Alabama Hills to climb The Fin and recreate the image below at sunset with Whitney in the background. 

We wanted to be as cool as this chick in the tie dye

fdk: It is a pretty sweet spot. 

CR on the fin

For me this ascent began in tennis shoes because despite bringing my life in a 60L pack I lacked several key pieces of gear. We climbed a couple of 5.8/5.10 routes on the face and much to my benefit CR switched out shoes with me. Then it was up to Whitney Portal for dinner and an early bedtime. 

Sunday

The line between God-early and middle of the night is a thin one. Up at 330, we started our 22mi day by 430. Carrying an average of 8lbs each we hit the summit around 10am.

Harvest moon over Whitney and the Needles

The thing about 14k+ feet is it hits you gradually. The altitude effect layers the discomfort slowly. It can start as a nagging pain somewhere between the temple and the back of the head and grow to a lightheadedness, inducing (sometimes severe) nausea, and an odd emptiness, that leaves me sure there is nothing left to give the mountain. The effects for me were moderate but I still began to feel more as if I were floating than trudging, full of emptiness with a head weighing about 100lbs. Water and food are never less appealing than in the throws of altitude sickness. I am told whiskey and sour worms are a great remedy to this discomfort.

Mt. Whitney summit!

After a toast and an endearing chat with a through hiker Giggles we headed down from the summit. To the dismay of several older gentleman on the trail we were moving fast!  (fdk: turns out running is a faster way to descend than walking, and gets you some extra mileage) Their great consternation led them to mansplain to us that under no uncertain terms "hikers going up the mountain have the right of way!" being young, female yahoos we were not respecting this internationally recognized rule and needed to rein it in. Needless to say we continued to run down the mountain. In all fairness I don't think we were really disturbing anyone, often hoping off trail to bypass people and greeting everyone coming up the opposite way. Nonetheless their multiple reminders were evidence that radical feminism in this world is still a worthy pursuit. 

Looking over the giant basin that leads to Kings Canyon and beyond

Once back at the car with La Croix in hand we booked it to the Frosty Chalet for soft serve and gear division. CR is a good kid and had to go back to work. I am less committed and convinced FDK to stay out another day. 

sorta-secret hot springs somewhere past Bishop airport

This extra evening led us to some secret hot springs with a magical view and a night at the Mobil which has my eternal admiration for its cuisine and free camping accommodations over looking Mono Lake. 

Campsite above the Mobile looking out at Mono Lake

Monday 

The morning started at a reasonable hour with pancakes from the Mobil and then a short hike/jog to Lake Elizabeth out of Tuolumne Meadows campground. 
fdk: Hahaha, more surprise running!

We ended up back in Bay around 230, enough time for a run (painfully slow jog) through Huddart and dinner on CalAve. 
fdk: we were back early, so we might as well run a little more, right?

Lake Elizabeth from Tuolumne Meadows Campground

Good pie will last for days in nothing other than the cardboard box you buy it in. We polished off a boysenberry masterpiece purchased somewhere near Bishop that night with CR and stayed up too late  drinking whiskey sours, talking about biology, global warming, workplace drama, running, men, politics...the gamut. Before setting alarms for our god early start to the airport. 
fdk: I'm starting to get used to waking up before 5, it's bizarre. 

Whitney is best done in a day. Apply for permits in April and be sure to reserve a spot at Whitney Portal for the night before the ascent as well. This being my second trip up Whitney I don't think I will summit next year. But the Eastern Sierras are a uniquely beautiful place, I wouldn't say no to a trip up one of the neighboring peaks next fall. 

Alpine lake somewhere on the descent from Whitney

As far as company, I love these women. It is rare to find people of such similar mindset and willingness to trade sleep for adventure. Never am I more alive and exhausted at the same time than when I am with CR and FDK. 
fdk: hear, hear! definitely exhausted.

Thank you for the trip ladies. 
fdk: Thanks for planning, encouraging, and running some extra miles. Are you available to plan the rest of my life?  

<3 kelzzz