What a weekend.  We had the most amazing time together. It was me, Brigitte, and my friend Alex.  We took off Friday at about 4:00pm and made it to the trailhead at about 11:00pm.  We had a great trip along the way.  We had a nice dinner, a great game of freeze out( it was 31degrees), and I might have broken a flag pole in Lone Pine.  Well I know I did.  The wind was just whipping and when I shut my door to the car I guess the flag got caught inside, well when we pulled away you can imagine what happened.  Any how, it was a nice drive over.  I almost forgot, Alex and I jammed to a bunch of songs.  Him with his Conga drum and me with my Pringles tube.  It was all good!!

The evening continues….we set up camp in the back of the Yukon.  Remember it is 31 and don’t forget wind chill. We are at around 12,000 feet so it is windy!!!!!  We barely sleep!  Not really from the cold so much but from excitement and discomfort.  Alex is trying to sleep across the front bench of the car.  He is 6′2.  Oh well!  At 4:00am we trade places.  We had planned to start hiking at 5:00 but decided to try and get more sleep.  We ended up hitting the trail a little after 8:00am.  Brigitte and I never hike this late! 

The hike itself just stinks!  I have altitude sickness so my head is killing me.  Alex didn’t train so his legs are killing him.  We are a couple of whiners.  Poor Brigitte!

I guess I should throw out some facts so that the trip makes sense.  White Mountain peak is the third highest peak in California.  The summit is at 14,246ft.  the trail is just over 14 miles round trip.  The trail head starts at about 12,000ft.  At these elevations, your body only works at about 60% of normal.  This is concerning your ability to use oxygen efficiently,  your lung capacity, etc.  People can also experience altitude sickness at these altitudes.  Which I do!  At lower elevations I usually do 3 miles up and down in 37minutes.  Up here 2miles in an hour.  As I get higher I get even slower. 

Back to the trail….it is a slog in my opinion.  My mind seperates the hike into three different segments so in my opinion there are only three different views.  It is very hard to walk fourteen miles with a splitting (and I mean SPLITTING)  headache and only have three scenes to look at.  This was a total mental hike.  Can I hang in there mentally?  We all did!  And thank you Jesus it is over!  I am glad I did it.  I now have #1 and #3 under my belt.  I will think about doing #2 next season.  (Mt. Williamson)

We are supposed to go get in the hot springs near Mammoth and camp again in the desert.  I throw out the let’s get a hotel idea and everyone is on board.  We ended up at the Ramada in Bishop and it was wonderful.  A hot shower and comfy bed.  Woo Hoo!  I was feeling very wimpy!  I started my period the morning of the hike and I had to do my first wilderness poop.  That was a nightmare.  I have peed many times no big deal.  I have never had to do the big poop.  Anyway I ask Brigitte if she has any baby wipes and she tosses them over my head, they hit a rock and land in my poop.  Everything gets handled but I just feel like a real shower and a comfy bed.  You ladies know what I mean!

The next day, we have the best breakfast I have ever had at Jack’s in Bishop.  Yummy!  We also stopped at Eric Shaats Bakery.  It is the mother ship of bakeries.  Everyone should visit at least once.  Oh yeah.  Whilel at Jack’s we introduced ourselves to our waitress and she is a hiker too.  We got her name and number and may be joining her on some hikes next season.  Woo Hoo!  I love meeting new people.

Mammoth here we come.  We drove all over the town and just checked things out.  We stopped at Wave Rave.  The biggest snowboarding outfitter in the U.S.?  the world?  I can’t remember.  I got my kids some things here and then we were off.  We drove up to the resort and checked things out up there.  Alex works winters at a resort on our side of the Sierras so he was interested in checking out their resort.  As was I!!!

From here we hit June Lake Loop.  Just drove through we were hungry and wanted a burger from Mono Cone in Lee Vining.  The best burger I have ever eaten!!!! Delicious!!

Following lunch we took Tioga road through Yosemite to head home.  We stopped to watch some rock climbers.  That is always fun!!!  We pretty much drove straight home from here with just bathroom stops on the way.

It was a great trip with great friends and wonderful conversations.  It was a very sucky hike.  I loved it anyway and I am very glad I did it.

Hike on!

DirtDiver