Mountain Climbing with the Wizard

Quote: AZDuffman

You ever tap them and make syrup? My brother did but his wife got on him for how it looked. Unreal how much sap came out on a warm spring day.

We did it with the other maples
here in the early 60's. Had a big
iron pot under an outdoor fire.
A lot of work, we froze a bunch
of maple candy. My dad cut up
an old Hula Hoop for the taps.

I'm learning a lot from watching these
hiking videos. It's fascinating that two
people can be traveling together,
both make a video that day, and they
are totally different.

What it shows is, it's not the subject
matter in a film or video, it's the
person who makes and directs it
that makes the difference. It falls
right into the category that we do
indeed create our own reality.

Dutch dentist sets record for Apallachin Trail South to North.

Ok, returned from my visit last week and thought I’d add a couple of quick reviews of the main hikes we did.

Quick side note first: the Ferguson Fire ended up being all but fully contained by the time we arrived. Smoke was still around and definitely affected the views but was not a health issue at all and didn’t stop us doing anything or staying anywhere. A couple of nights in Yosemite you could smell it in the air and it was mildly irritating having to sleep with the smell but that’s all.


Mt Whitney:

Arrived in Lone Pine about midday the day prior. I already had a day permit for the next day (Saturday) while my brother was needing one for himself. He entered the lottery at 2pm at the interagency visitor centre and got a permit by default – there were at least 10 no-shows and only 6 people entered in the lottery. So I think anyone wanting a permit will usually have a pretty good chance the day before. Not sure what it is like if you turn up wanting an overnight permit though.

Went up to the portal and hiked the first mile and half up and back to get an idea of what it was like. Not too hard but yeah, I knew it would get tougher as the hike went on. Next morning we began approx. 2:30am. Long story short but I ended up getting altitude sickness just after 12,000 ft and we made the decision to turn around. I hadn’t been feeling the best for a while but at trail camp I had nausea come on quite strongly all of a sudden and ended up vomiting several times. Disappointing to not make it to the summit but good decision to head back down.

I recall Wizard mentioned he preferred to take at least 2 days to summit and in hindsight this would have been a better option. Unfortunately time didn’t allow it on this occasion but next time I would build this in to my itinerary. I would probably try to get an overnight permit, begin just before midnight day 1 (aim to enter the Whtiney Zone just after midnight), sleep at outpost camp until mid morning, hike to trail camp, sleep there, day 2 - attempt to summit by sunrise, descend to portal.

Reasons for failure to summit in order:
Lack of time to acclimatize
Had come down with a cold a few days prior
Possibly a little more training needed





Yosemite: El Capitan via Yosemite Falls Trail:

My brother was a first time visitor to Yosemite and wanted to go to the top of El Capitan. Neither of us can rock climb so we took the indirect route via Yosemite Falls. Very steep first 3 miles, brutal actually but we made it to the top of the falls in about 2hrs. From there we continued to El Capitan via Eagle Peak (spectacular views here, probably the best I’ve seen) which was about another 6 or 7 miles. Then back to the bottom. Took about 9hrs all up. Very tough but worth it.






Half Dome:

Two days later we hiked half dome (2nd time for me). Began 6:30pm and reached the top about 10:15am, an hour at the top and back at the trailhead by 3:15pm. For some reason it was significantly easier than 2yrs ago – was about 1hr faster @8hrs45min. Perhaps because I knew what to expect? Who knows. Hardest part was going up the sub dome. I think I remember Wizard mentioning he would like to do this hike one day. If that’s the case I would say that it is fun and cool to do as its somewhat of an iconic Yosemite hike. I will definitely do it again next time I visit. But for someone of your fitness level you will not be challenged physically. It was a walk in the park compared to Mt Whitney.






Broadway:

Not sure if people would classify this as a hike or not as its in an urban setting but I’ll put it down anyway. Have been to NYC 3 times previously and wanted to do different/quirky things that the typical tourist wouldn’t do. No real interest in going to the Statue of Liberty etc – been there done that. So one of the things I did was walk the entire length of the Manhattan section of Broadway. It’s about 13 miles and with a few side detours along the way it took around 8 hours and added an extra few miles on. Took the 1 train up to 231st st and just started walking and didn’t stop until I reached Bowling Green around 280 blocks later. It was very interesting to see all the differences In neighbourhoods along the way. Totally different to the tourist crap around Times Square etc. I would definitely recommend doing this to anyone who enjoys walking and wants to try something out of the ordinary in NYC. Be warned though, walking on pavement for that distance takes its toll – I had a splitting pain through my shins for around the last 100 blocks and ended up with a couple of decent blisters on my heels as well as significant chaffing rashes between my legs.

Thanks for the report, Aussie. Sorry you didn't bag Whitney. It will always be there, should you decide to give it another shot. Give me enough notice and perhaps we'll do it together. In fact, I think I'll put in for the lottery for 2019 for six people and just throw it out there for whoever wants to go.

As you noted, I recommend taking three or four days to do Whitney, camping once or twice on the way up and another night after the summit bid. My son has asked about going back at least 100 times.

About El Capitan, I did most of that. I got to the point where the trail leveled off at the top waterfall. At the time, I didn't know you could continue onto El Cap, but time didn't allow going further. Half Dome is still very high on my Bucket List. Not getting a permit foiled my attempt that last visit to Yosemite.

When is your next visit to the western US? We should try to do something whenever it is.

Quote: Wizard

Thanks for the report, Aussie. Sorry you didn't bag Whitney. It will always be there, should you decide to give it another shot. Give me enough notice and perhaps we'll do it together. In fact, I think I'll put in for the lottery for 2019 for six people and just throw it out there for whoever wants to go.

As you noted, I recommend taking three or four days to do Whitney, camping once or twice on the way up and another night after the summit bid. My son has asked about going back at least 100 times.

About El Capitan, I did most of that. I got to the point where the trail leveled off at the top waterfall. At the time, I didn't know you could continue onto El Cap, but time didn't allow going further. Half Dome is still very high on my Bucket List. Not getting a permit foiled my attempt that last visit to Yosemite.

When is your next visit to the western US? We should try to do something whenever it is.

Hard to say when my next visit will be. Not for at least 2years though I’d say. We will see. Would definitely do something with you if you were interested though. I enjoy hiking by myself but doing it with someone else adds to it I think. Definitely enjoyed going with my brother.

I’d recommend going the Mt Whitney Facebook group if you are looking for permits. There are always people offering them when they have a dropout in their group. Or you just ask and someone will very likely offer you a spot in their group. You would have no trouble finding a spot or two if you had some flexibility about dates and were prepared to go at a few days notice. Also, as I mentioned there seems to be many no-shows so picking up a permit the day before is very viable. Mid-week I think you would have no trouble at all. And in the event you got unlucky you could always do a different mountain in the area.

With half dome I guess I got lucky. Both times I entered the lottery I was successful with my first choice date. Infact I ended up doing it on exactly the same date each time - Aug 23. If you are ever in the area with spare time you could always try entering the daily lottery a couple of days prior. Not sure how many applications they get but you never know.

When I did Whitney the last time my lottery application was accepted. If you ask for mid-week dates, I think you'll get them. I think the lottery opens in March, so I have plenty of time to mull it over. The summer of 2019 I'm thinking of doing a big two-week trip of peak bagging. Just planting that seed in your head. You'll be welcome to join me for any part of it. I might to Whitney from the west side, which you don't even need a permit for, but takes longer.

How far up the trail did you get in terms of lakes or other points of interest? I must confess my first two attempts of Whitney failed due to altitude sickness, when I was living at sea level. Perhaps living in Vegas, which is at about 3,000 feet where I live, has helped with that.

Quote: Wizard

Perhaps living in Vegas, which is at about 3,000 feet where I live, has helped with that.

Interesting observation. I wonder if people who live in Flagstaff AZ can pretty much scamper up Whitney (assuming they are in cardio shape).

Quote: Pacomartin

Interesting observation. I wonder if people who live in Flagstaff AZ can pretty much scamper up Whitney (assuming they are in cardio shape).

I think the higher you live the easier high-elevation climbing is. For example, I think climbing an 11,000 peak for someone at sea level would be like a 14,000 peak for someone who lives at 3,000 feet. This question could probably be argued at great length on mountain climbing forums.

Still, I would like to state for the record that altitude sickness varies from person to person significantly. I've known some very strong climbers at low altitude who were puking at 12,000 feet.

Speaking of which, I'm mulling over a return to the Mexican volcanoes in the spring of 2019. A trip to Kilimanjaro this winter break is not out of the question if I can find a group that goes at the same time as my son's high school break.

Quote: Wizard

When I did Whitney the last time my lottery application was accepted. If you ask for mid-week dates, I think you'll get them. I think the lottery opens in March, so I have plenty of time to mull it over. The summer of 2019 I'm thinking of doing a big two-week trip of peak bagging. Just planting that seed in your head. You'll be welcome to join me for any part of it. I might to Whitney from the west side, which you don't even need a permit for, but takes longer.

How far up the trail did you get in terms of lakes or other points of interest? I must confess my first two attempts of Whitney failed due to altitude sickness, when I was living at sea level. Perhaps living in Vegas, which is at about 3,000 feet where I live, has helped with that.

We got to trail camp so just before the switchbacks. I vomited basically right at trail camp - well as far off the trail away from the camp as I could get anyway.
Stamina-wise I don’t think I would have had an issue with the distance and vertical rise, it really was the altitude as almost the entire factor. Problem is there is nowhere over here to train with that variable. The highest point in Australia only tops out at maybe 7,500 ft.



EDIT: My brother was actually fine and I encouraged him a few times to try to join the next group that passed and keep going for the summit. No idea if he would have still been fine further up the trail but in any event he insisted on coming down with me.