Bags packed night before but somehow I don't feel mentally and physically prepared, though I am excited. Who knows if such an opportunity will come my way again. Its a definite "Bucket list Check" trip. This will be Kevin's 5th summit — def OG status. He knows the trails, water stops, terrain, how to pace, etc.
We left Corona around 11:45am. Car packed to the max. I have packed more than what I would need. Better have extras you can leave behind in the car than to be short. Drive to Lone Pine was pretty easy: 3 hrs 30 mins.
Kevin and I have been drinking water regularly, which meant bathroom stops: Victorville, Pearsonville and then the Lone Pine Visitor Center. The drive took us thru a stretch of boonie towns. There are structures but no human life visible. The drive not only helped with gradual altitude acclimatization but also an opportunity to know one another. We are after all going to be huddled together for quite some time.
The visitor center at Lone Pine is a small new'ish building. Stepping out of the car, we were warmly greeted by 101F temps and 18mph gusts. Right behind us was the first view of the sawtooth profile and Mt Whitney. We did a walk thru of the visitor center and towered over the 3D model of the valley. The only time during this trip I felt larger than the mountains. My trip to EBC 10 months ago had taught me the importance of being humble in the presence of nature. The model gave me a sense of whats to come. Since Kevin shared news of our permit in June, I have not done a lot of altitude hikes so that played in my brain. Not having done Mt Whitney hike before was maybe a good thing. I don't know what I don't know.
We ventured out a few miles North into town. With hot temps, the Frosty Chalet was the most tempting spot. "Let's start loading calories." Took a few minutes to demolish a Vanilla cone dipped in chocolate. Next stop was The Pizza Factory. A large pizza was to be our dinner.
We swung a left past the Pizza Factory towards the Whitney Portal, 13 miles of a winding road traversing thru very strange rock formations, delivered us to our camp site (spot #27). First order was to get the tent up, unpack the car, organize our food, supplies and gear for the night and tomorrow's trip up the mountain.
Temps have dropped to 75F. The hot inviting pizza was now cold. We popped a couple beers (Hazy IPAs) ate our dinner while chit-chatting about life.
There was a cute school bus turned camper next to us. I had to go check it out. Seth, the owner was kind to give me a history of the automobile and how his friends helped him convert it to a camper. He has been taking his friends on trips in the bus as his thank you.
Our tent may not have been fancy like Seth's Bus but it was spacious — a good 6 ft tall and enough space between sleeping bags to keep our hiking bag packs. We turned in around 9:30pm. People were generally very quiet and keeping to themselves. The only constant sound is a therapeutic meditative sound of a stream running right behind us. This stream is racing down about 11-12 miles from the tops of the surrounding mountain range.
We will soon be heading that way. I know I am going to have a hard time sleeping…but I closed my eyes, mind racing about what's to come tomorrow and how I will go thru it. I am starting to visualize, some of these will turn into my strange dreams.
Layers of clothing from our bags were slowly coming on. My temp gauge showing a steady drop in degrees down to 60F. I love a little chill in the air when I sleep because my feet get really hot.
Tomorrow starts Day 1 of our 22 mile journey. We are at 8,374 ft going to the summit at 14,505 ft in under 24 hours. Let the fun (ahem!) begin.
