The High Sierra Trail - Day 9

Day 9, our final day, dawned icy cold.  We "only" had 6.5 miles to make it to Whitney Portal.  We had a fitful nights sleep with pounding altitude headaches.  Nancy said she almost woke me up to tell me we had to get off the mountain now because she was afraid she had cerebral edema.  Our eyes were also swollen to slits from the altitude.  Nancy had also developed a cold although she was in denial about that one ;-p

I opened my tent and ice flew off my vestibule flap.  The ground was covered in frost and glittered like diamonds in the sunrise.  It was so cold, we cooked our breakfast sitting in the front opening of our tents with our sleeping bags wrapped around us. 

In the space of 10 minutes, I counted 18 people walking by to start their Mt. Whitney ascent.  By the time we started walking, at least 30 people had begun to ascend.  Where did all these people come from?  Too many people, too soon!  The book says "Hordes of expectant peakbaggers may be camped in sandy sites between boulders at Trail Camp, which lends a somewhat circus-like atmosphere to the surroundings."  For once, I would say the book was accurate.

We descended and it seemed we were the only ones going down, not up.  We got these types of questions from people we passed:

Them: "Did you summit?!" 
Us: "No, but we just finished a thru-hike of the High Sierra Trail. 67 miles...."
Them:  "Oh."  (as in, Oh we have no clue what the High Sierra Trail is and you suck because you didn't summit Mt. Whitney).

Them: "Are you thru-hiking the John Muir Trail?"
Us: "No, we thru-hiked the High Sierra Trail."
Them:  "Oh." (as in, Oh we have no clue what the High Sierra Trail is and you suck because you aren't a JMT hiker).

I couldn't help but think that my efforts were being diminished.

So down, down, down we went.  We still had quite a bit of rocky granite switchbacks and step-downs to navigate. 

We passed all kinds of people attempting to summit.  Girls wearing feather boas, geared out mountaineer types, first excursion types with all new gear, old people, kids, all types of nationalities.  It was the Mt. Whitney Melting Pot.  Nancy wanted so bad to adjust the straps on this one lady's backpack.  It was huge and flopping around.  I'm sure it was hurting her shoulders.  You just never know how people will react though.  Maybe she would have been grateful for some tips or maybe not. 

I had my eye on the timberline.  If I could just make it to the trees, I kept thinking, I'm golden.  We didn't take breaks other than to sit for a minute.  I ate a few bars and some turkey jerky but no lunch.  I was trying to hold out for that hamburger and french fries!

Nancy was hauling ass down the switchbacks.  I'm sure I held her back.  Hopefully, she wasn't too annoyed at me for being so slow :-) 

I took a step on one of those step-downs and my feet flew out from under me and I went down.  Luckily, I landed nicely on my butt and Nancy gave me a hand back up.  On we continued down long sweeping switchbacks.  The temperature was rising as we descended and I believe I remember my thermometer reading close to 80 degrees.

Nancy stopped all of a sudden and looked back at me.  She yelled "I can see my car!!"  I thought I didn't hear right and screamed back "WHAT??!!"  She yelled again "I can see my car!!"  When I got to her, I threw my arms around her with unfettered joy.  It was the most unbelievable feeling to see her car.  I get chills just thinking about it now.

We had a ways to go yet but seeing the parking lot put renewed vigor in our descent.  Whenever we were ready to be done with walking throughout the week, I would say "Let's turn this mother out!"  I think Nancy thought that meant to go faster but it was mainly a motivational thing for myself, trying to bolster my resolve to "git 'er done."  It means rock some shit or kick ass. It comes from MC Hammer's song:

Strong like a lion, no denyin'
I'm in effect and you suckers are tryin'
To get with me, you can't hang
Doin' it like this I'm in with the bang
Goin' boom like thunder, and you wonder
How in the world could the Hammer be under-
-neath me, he's gonna beat me
Say yes to the master and I will teach thee

Turn this mother out

I was a student, now I'm a teacher
I was a member, now I'm a preacher
I was a worker and you was a boss
Now I'm getting' paid and you're takin' a loss
Once it's up, the others just leave
Don't bold perpetrate, MC Hammer is the feature
Step off, you pump no fear
I'm MC Hammer and I'm in here to

Turn this mother out!
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpqRgpkU6Qc

We turned that mother out and, finally, went around the last switchback and my heart leapt into my throat.  I couldn't believe we were finished.  We made it!  What an accomplishment!  I wish I had adequate words to describe my feelings.  Elation, exhaustion, surreal, dumbfounded, overjoyed, hungry, proud, grateful, disoriented, overwhelmed, thankful.  I threw my arms around Nancy again.

We sort of wandered around for a minute trying to get someone to take our finish picture.  We got that done and then headed to the hamburgers.  Yeah, baby!  And it was the best meal EVER!

We got Nancy's car and headed to Lone Pine.  On the way, we picked up some JMT backpackers from Belgium.  We ended up at the Dow Villa and got a "fancy" room.  We walked in and I thought, What kind of heaven is this?  It smelled SO good.  Look, there's beds!  Look, a toilet!  Look, a shower!  Shampoo!  Lotion!  Holy crap, it was good to be done.

We got showered up and we still had dirt under our nails.  My blisters were so gnarly.  Nancy said it looked like I'd grown an extra toe. She wanted to know if I wanted to walk the two blocks for dinner at Seasons.  I laughed and said again "Nancy's got jokes."  We drove the two blocks to dinner. We had salads and pinot noir and it was the best meal EVER (besides that earlier hamburger and fries).

We went back to the hotel and propped our feet up, watched two new episodes of The Big Bang Theory, and then knocked out for the cushiest most comfy sleep EVER.  We slept at 3757 feet-  LOL!

The next morning we actually walked to breakfast at Alabama Hills Café.  It was only across the street though.  Eggs, hashbrowns, and biscuit please!  I also got a ginormous cinnamon roll they had just baked and ate that for lunch.  Wish I had gotten a picture of it.

Since we now had internet access, we saw that Laurie had posted on facebook so we knew she had made it out.  We were able to get her side of the story a few days later.  She had stayed at 9-mile creek for a few days to acclimate.  When she was able to hold food down, she walked back to Crescent Meadow, got a ride to Lodgepole Visitor Center, befriended a Ranger who gave her a ride to the bus station in Three Rivers.  She then spent the next 18 hours riding trains and busses to get back home.  She had an exciting journey and immensely enjoyed herself.  Much love and respect to you, Laurie.

We drove home and that's the end...or maybe it's the beginning...however you want to look at it.

So what's next?  Even though I was cursing The John Muir Trail while I was out there, the fact is, I still have a small fire burning within me to do it.  We shall see.....