After doing Langley earlier in the month my buddy wanted to give White Mountain a try. We researched some online and the word 'easy" came up a lot. We decided to take our wives. Neither has a 14er, but both are in shape and have plenty of other, lower altitude hikes under their belts.
I also invited my daughter who has done some small hikes with me and is now living in Fallon, NV. She stays in shape, but hadn't hiked 14+ miles and has never been over 12K that I know of.
My buddy's wife canceled a couple days before the hike so Saturday at 0500 my wife, my buddy and I headed towards Big Pine in my crew cab with the camper on the back. At 1000 we met my daughter in Big Pine and had an early lunch.
I wanted to get to the visitor center and check out the ancient trees and do a short hike. We would then head to the gate and relax in the camper.
The truck is high clearance, but with a camper on the back we were limited to 15-20 MPH on the dirt road. We did a short 2 mile hike around the visitor center and I could tell the altitude was affecting my wife. We headed to the gate and were set up by 2. We mainly played cards and got our gear ready. After a hot dinner we went to bed at around 9 with plans to get up at 0530 and start by 0600.
The wind howled and blew all night and no one got much rest. I turned the alarm off and we got up at 0615. After a quick breakfast we were headed up the road in the daylight at 0645.
A mile up the road we saw a hiker headed down. This guy looked rough, with one boot completely untied, pack straps rigged wrong and zombie walking. After chatting with him he told us he got "stuck" on the mountain overnight and found a trail to bivy on. He assured us he could make it down unassisted and he knew his boot was untied. I let him go because he seemed to have his wits about him and it was an easy mile down to the car.
The wind was still blowing cold and all of us were in all the layers we brought. My daughter was having problems with the Camelbak pack I had lent her so we decided to go to the research center and fix it.
I could tell that it wasn't my wife's day. Lack of sleep and altitude was slowing her down. At the research center she said she was going back. She swapped packs with my daughter and I kissed her goodbye. It seemed to get colder and windier as we climbed above the research center. A few minutes before we came to the second downhill (the worst one IMHO) a hiker from Canada came up on us. He confirmed that my wife and the other hiker we saw at the one mile mark were safely at the trail head. He then took off leaving us in his dust. Oddly we never saw him again. I don't know what route he took off the summit.
At the downhill we all discussed turning around because of the cold and wind. Once we dropped down, if we turn around later we would need to climb this to get back to the truck. My daughter - who just found out she is pregnant with her second child last weekend was hiking strong and wanted to continue. We were given false hope by the Canadian who was now on the other side of the downhill, even with our altitude. I guess we assumed it wasn't that bad. Actually, it wasn't. Nothing bad about downhill and since we were headed to the summit, the extra uphill we had to recover went unnoticed at first.
I fell behind with the brutal cold wind blowing in my face every other switchback. I got a burst of energy when I first saw the hut and caught up to the others. Reality set in later and I fell behind again, but got my second wind in time to summit a couple minutes behind my daughter and several minutes before our noon cut off. We didn't mess around - we signed the register, took some pics, got some snacks down and left.
My daughter was pretty ecstatic about making it to the summit, but I had to caution her that it was ONLY half way. Shortly after heading down she learned exactly what I met. She was tired and her feet hurt. The wind was even colder and blowing harder. Several times I locked arms with her to keep her from being blown down. I was officially worried.
We were warm enough, but had no other clothing except for fresh socks in reserve. I had the usual emergency gear I carry for every hike, but I'm not sure that a space blanket and emergency bivy would do much in that wind. I cautioned my daughter to watch her footing and not to try and keep up with my buddy. I wanted her to safely hike at her speed making every step a safe step. This wasn't a good time for a twisted ankle.
I was really surprised to see a group of Boy Scouts headed up as we were nearing the climb up the second downhill. One boy was in shorts and they all had on cotton. No one looked to be comfortable at all or properly equipped in my opinion. I found out from my wife that they had set out about 0900. We told the leaders that it was very windy and cold the higher you go, but they continued on. I hope they returned safely.
After finding a wind break we stopped for a snack. The pain in my daughters feet seemed to come from her wearing her street running shoes and not trail runners. Luckily my buddy had a pain medicine that she said was safe for a pregnant woman. I then engaged her in conversation about my grand daughter and her step kids and of course the new baby. It took her mind off the wind, cold and pain and we were soon making good time. One last stop at the research center to resupply her with water (my wife's pack is only 2 liters so I had packed extra to give her) and we were off and at the truck before 4.
I seriously did not give this hike the respect it deserved considering conditions. I knew it was late in the season and we could get wind and cold, but I never expected it to be that bad. We were near the limits of the gear we had and though we could have survived a mishap it wouldn't be comfortable at all. I really wish I knew where the hiker who got stuck overnight stayed. Hopefully it was at the research center.
I had planned for 10 hours to do the hike and with minimal breaks due to the cold wind we were done in less than 9. As usual I struggle over 14K. I just have to slow down and go at my own pace. I don't feel sick or have a headache, I just feel low on gas. If I pace myself and don't worry about keeping up, I make the summit just fine.
I'll be back next year to take my son, who missed out since he had some schoolwork to finish up over the weekend and he took care of our dogs. I'm sure once he hears about the hike he won't be sorry he missed this one.
White Mountain probably is the easiest CA 14er if the weather is nice. Today it was pretty tough..............DUG
Last edited by DUG; 09/30/13 02:26 AM.
