The short TR -- After leaving the portal at 9:45pm on Wed 9/22 for a day hike (my permit was for Thurs 9/23), got as far as the Whitney Zone sign at 11:30pm, when a severe gastro-intestinal event made me decide to return to the portal. The complete story is below. The overall theme might be "Life is what happens while you are making other plans." Be warned, it's fairly legthy and I tried to not use too much graphic detail regarding my gastro-intestinal disorder.
I had been staying at Horseshoe Meadow Sun-Wed to acclimate. Had a great time and will write up a separate TR. Moved over to the portal on Wed 9/22. Arrived at the store at exactly 11am, and it was too late for breakfast, thus no Mt Pancake. (11 is the change to the lunch/dinner menu) Had the BLT with fries, and had water from my water bottle. Set up my tent in the backpacker area. Scored a great parking spot close to the bear lockers and camp area, not too far from the TH. Even found an almost empty bear locker next to the car. Things were looking good, as far as logistics.
Walked around the portal, chatted with a few folks, decided to go lay down and take a nap around 3pm as I was still planning on getting a 10pm start up the trail. My water bottle was empty and I attempted to use the water faucet in the backpacker camp to re-fill. The water was brown. Ugh!! Went up and used the faucet near the toilets. (This may have contributed to the GI event later in the evening)
Manged to get some shut eye, although had to get up a few times to use the restroom, but I attributed to nerves and keeping myself well hydrated. Hind sight being 20-20, this was a indication something was not right. I had my alarm set for 9pm to get up and get moving. Well, no need for the alarm, as the camp area got really busy a little after 8pm. Some coming in and setting up, others returning from hiking and breaking camp. I decided to join the neighbors and got up, dressed, ate, and packed up my gear. I was debating weather to pack up everything and put it in the car or leave up in case I needed to use at the end of my day hike. Again, looking back, should have left the gear up. But at the time, I decided I would not want to be packing gear after a 16-17 hr day, and I had a reservation at the hostel for Thurs. At the end of my long day, all I would need to do after my burger and beer, would put my pack in the car and head down to Lone Pine.
Started up the trail at 9:45pm. Couldn't ask for a more perfect evening. Huge harvest moon out and bright as could be. Almost no breeze, temps had to be in the low 40's. Just cool enough to be glad I had the long underware, but did not need the fleece hat or gloves. Saw a few of the last day hikers coming down. One couple were in pretty good shape, they just left too late in the day. Took them 16 hrs, 9hrs up and 7hrs down. Meet a few others close to the TH, but the most notable encounter was a guy named Mike.
Mike was coming down after starting at 4:30am with his brother Dave. (Mike looked like mid to late 20 something healthy looking guy) We met about a mile or so before Lone Pine Lake. He made it up some of the switchbacks, but got wiped out and turned around. He was hanging out at Trail Camp waiting for his brother, Dave. Dave apperantly continued up to the summit. Mike waited at trail camp for hours, but the cold got too him, as there was a little bit of snow on Wed afternoon. Mike said he had not seen any other up-hill hikers for hours. He asked that if I see his brother Dave, to let Dave know that he went back to camp. He did not seem too worried about Dave. I didn't think too much of it. But if I saw any other downhill hikers, would ask if he had a brother name Mike, and pass on the message.
Continued on up and was really enjoying the hike. I had a good pace going, for me, the weather was perfect, everything I hoped for back in Feb when I dropped the lottery application in the mail. Looked out at the lights of Lone Pine, saw campfires down in the portal and campgrounds, had the trail to myself, the moon lighting up the granite walls, what could be more perfect?
Made it to the Whitney Zone sign, just past LPL at 11:30pm. Since technically I shouldn't be in the Whitney Zone until midnight, this was a good time/place to take a break and have a bite to eat. I had a bagel with some peanut butter, and was nibbling and looking around and tuning into all the sights and sounds. Just trying to be aware of any bears or other varmits that might want me to share my midnight munchie. I noticed a headlight comming down. I wondered if this could be Dave. The hiker was a above me, but I could see the headlight slowly moving downhill. That's about when I suddenly felt the need to use the wag bag. In fact it was a very urgent need. I was trying to get the damn wag bag out and opened when I realized it was either leave a mess in my pants or leave a mess on the rocks. I really do apologize for the mess on the rocks I left, but it was a very sudden 'event'. After that was over, I was doubled over with cramps.
I was sitting on another rock near the sign, wondering if this will pass, should I wait it out, get up and get moving uphill to work it out, or head down? I really didn't want to head down. The weather was great, I had trained, planned, was prepared, and most of all, I really, really, wanted to get to the summit. I was sitting weighing my options when the headlight I had noticed coming downhill was very close. He was stopping and looking very close at some of the large boulders and putting his face about an inch from the boulders. I was thinking he might be having trouble seeing and was trying to gauge the shape of the boulders so he could walk around them. I asked if he was ok or needed help. He didn't respond. He was getting closer to me. I asked if his name was Dave. Still no response, but he was getting closer and about 15 feet away when I asked if he had a brother named Mike. He finally responded, 'yeah, Mike's my brother.' I mentioned I had passed Mike and he was going back to camp.
That was the start of a very interesting conversation, to say the least. It was getting close to midnight and he had been on the trail since 4:30am. That's 19.5 hrs of hiking, plus the time he was up before the hike. Anyway he made the summit, but admitted he was more determined to make the summit than his physical condition should have allowed. Anyway, after chatting a while, I asked if he was having trouble seeing as it looked like he couldn't see the rocks and was using his hands to feel his way around. Dave's response was, 'I think I'm halucinating. I thought I saw people in the rocks. I wanted to see if I could touch them and get a closer look.' I asked him if the people were moving or talking to him. No, they were not talking to him, but sometimes they were moving in the rocks. In fact he wasn't sure if I was real or another delusion.
I asked about the last time he ate or had some water. He had water and powerade, and was drinking, but really wasn't interested in food. I rattled off my food supply in case something might be of interest to him. He said he just really wanted to get down. This is the moment when my next wave of intestinal cramps started and I almost vomited. The guy that is exhausted and halucinating is now asking me if I'm ok. All I could think of 'what kind of scene is this? Full moon, midnight, a little under 10k in elevation, 2 people not in the best physical condition and 2.5 miles from any type of help'.
That's when I decided to head back to the portal. I asked Dave if he would mind if I hiked with him. He seemed to welcome the offer and so off we went.
Looking at Dave's condition, it made me realize what it really meant to be hiking by myself and really needing some help, how long it could be before someone came by, and how much I could be crushing someone's dream if they needed to walk me down the trail or go get help for me. If I was feeling 100% I'm not sure I would have taken the time to talk to Dave or notice his condition. I probably would have passed on the message from Mike and continued on up the trail.
It was a very slow trip down to the portal (took me 1:45 to hike up and 2:00 to for us to hike down). Many stops, quite a few times Dave asking me if I saw the people in the rocks. Had to let him know they were halucinations. We had to go very slow over the log crossing as he was having trouble with the width of the logs. He had to use his hiking poles to 'feel' the width. I did get concerened at the water crossings. He couldn't perceive the water. He thought the ground was dry and was going to walk right through the water. It took a minute or two to convince him there was water on the trail and to walk on the rocks. I checked his boots after he crossed to make sure his feet weren't soaked. When we got back to the portal he didn't realize we were at the end. He didn't recognize the 'wood thingy' (stolen from another thread) structure.
I asked him where his camp was. He and his brothers were staying at one of the family campgrounds. I offered to drive him down. He was coherent enough to realize that he would need his car in the morning and either he or one of his brothers would have to hike up if he left it up near the TH. I suggested letting if go for the night and figure it out when he got up. He was going to drive himself down, if he could remember where he parked the car. Buy now I'm actually starting to feel better and starting to think if I could get this guy to a safe place, I might try to get to trail camp, because at this point I'm pretty sure the summit is out to the question. After a brief discussion, we came to an agreement, I'll drive him down to his camp in his car and he'll get one of his brothers to drive me back up. (I met Mike on the trail; he has another brother Adam, who did not go up the trail)
It took a few attempts to find the right camp, and if anyone was woken up around 2:30am as we drove around trying to find the right camp site, I'm sorry. Anyway, the campsite was in the 3rd campground from the portal in sight #43. So, if any of you were neighbors to Dave, Mike and Adam from San Diego and we woke you up, sorry for the disturbance. I will say it was another weird experience listening to how these 3 guys interacted with each other. The 2 brothers were asleep when we drove up. Neither wanted to get out of the tent to check on Dave, and neither seemed all that concerened that he was hallucinating. Maybe I was too concerned over a person that I did not know, but I would always be wondering if he did get in an accident and hurt himself or hurt someone else, should I have done more.
Mike eventually came out of the tent and drove me back to the portal. I was thinking I might be able to find a group or someone else to hike with for a little while as more people were starting their dayhiking adventure. As I started to walk up to the 'wood thingy' I felt the sudden need to use the toilet. I ran back across the road and made it just in time. This was the worst 'gastro-intestinal' episode of the night. After this episode, I realize that I had completed my hiking for the day. Physically, I was done. I'm not sure what is going on with my gut, but it's not something I wanted to deal with while trying to even hike up to Outpost camp.
Got to thank all from this group that gave me feedback and encouragement in my planning. Especially Quillansculpture, Bulldog34, DUG, and Steve C. I'm not sure if I will be able to make another attempt this year, but will probably start planning for next year soon.
