Well, I survived.
Didn't quite get as much done as I hoped.
Halfway up Shepherd Pass, I remembered why I decided not to do this pass two years ago: It's brutal.
Took me 2 days to get up (kind of what I expected).
AND a dislocated finger (not expected).
I could say it was a heroic saving of a fellow hiker who slipped.
I could say it was deflecting a rock falling from above.
I could say it was a lot of exciting or heroic things...
But it was me slipping on a rock when packing up my tent and gear.
Fortunately, it wasn't a bad dislocation ("only" 45 degrees from the normal position
). I was able to snap it back into the correct position (only thought to take a picture of it after I snapped it back in position). Definitely some swelling, pain, and slight discoloration of the knuckle. It was fully functional (abet with some discomfort when I flexed it), so I played wait and see on how it would affect me.
So naturally, I started by climbing Mt Tyndall.
No vertical class 3 climbing, so should be okay.
Success! I made it up with only a few million curses to the lack of a trail and all the loose scree. Coming down was another adventure in cursing.
But...
There was no way I would trust going up Mt Williamson's chimney with my injured finger.
The overland route to Mt Russell didn't seem like a good idea either (especially after I saw the route up close and from the top of Mt Tyndall).
I came 'this' >< close to going out to the JMT and doing Whitney from the west, but my heart wasn't in it. It wasn't a big desire to do this summer and I've been up it twice before.
Plus I didn't want to chance any serious injuries for something that wasn't high on me 'need to do' list this summer.
At least I can add two 14ers to my list (WMP and Tyndall).
Full report and pictures to come.
