In 2005 we camped our first night at the Portal and the next two nights at Outpost Camp. The night at the Portal and the first night at Outpost camp were for acclimating ourselves to higher altitudes. The 2nd night at Outpost Camp, we woke at 3:00 a.m. to get ready to depart. We departed by 3:30 a.m. to 3:45 a.m. Our neighbors at camp left at the same time as we did. The snow was overwhelming at the chute and we were new to crampons, but we were having a great time and met many nice people on the trail that we rested, ate sancks and hiked with on our way to the summit.
Many people told us we should turn around wherever we're at, at 2:00 p.m. I believe Doug Thompson at the Portal Store told us we should start thinking about turning around at 1:00 p.m. if we're not near the summit.
I made it to the summit at 4:00 p.m. My friends were struggling due to the thin air so I didn't think they'd make it (and neither did they). At the summit, I saw Simon and Perry and they told me the girls were still coming so I waited for them. After about 20 to 30 min. I thought I should start down because it was late, but then my Outpost campground neighbors showed up at the summit and said the girls are almost at the summit. Finally, I saw the girls walking towards the hut, it was a wonderful feeling to know we all made it to the summit. We quickly celebrated, shot photos of of ourselves, signed the log, chatted with our Outpost neighbors and we all decided we'd meet back at camp for cocktails. By the time Tammy, Sandy and I left the summit, it had to be 5:00 p.m. or shortly thereafter (we may have been the last people to leave the summit). Needless to say, we didn't make it back to Outpost Camp. We were slow going down and we got lost of the backside where the windows are.... we lost the trail due to snow, it was scarey, I couldn't believe we lost the trail. I think we were just so tired that we sort of drifted off the trail and each of us followed the person in the front, I can't remember who was leading at that time. I asked the girls to stay where they were while I looked for the trail, finally I found it. We were getting low on energy and not making good decisions. We were starting down the Chute at 7:00 p.m. and it was getting very dark and the snow was so hard that some of it was like knives pointing up. We could see Trail Camp, it was so near, yet so far. As we were heading down the Chute we heard people behind us...it was Simon and Perry. Simon was following Perry, but how could it be, they left the summit long before we did. Perry must have been suffering from delirium because after he left the summit headed towards Trailcrest he took the wrong turn at the fork and led himself and Simon down the trail headed for Sequoia, Kings Cyn, and Yosemite, oh my. They didn't have any water. They walked all the way down that trail, I think they said they went to a ranger station. Anyway, at some point they turned around and caught up with us on the chute. Perry glisaded down the chute and was down in no time (Perry had an ice axe). Simon was walking down with us, mainly because I asked him if he would stay with us until we got to Trailcamp and he seemed very concerned about Sandy because she was having the most difficulty. Sandy hikes with braces on both knees. Eventually, the snow on the chute and the steepness of the slope was too much for us in crampons or hiking boots so we sat down on the bumpy snow to the right of the glisading chute and scooted down on our rears. By the time we got to the bottom of the chute the night was pitch black. Tammy was moving fast and caught up with Perry and I screamed for her to wait, stay with us and not to separate, she listened and waited. My headlamp wouldn't turn on so I was in real trouble trying to maneuver over the cravasses in the snow. Each seemed like the Grand Canyon since I was so tired. Sometimes I'd miss the snow and my foot and leg would get caught and I'd fall. I finally caught up to Perry and he was able to turn on my headlight. Tammy and I waited for Sandy to catch up. Perry took off for for his and Simon's campsite at trailcamp (Perry's a good hiker - does it every weekend). Perry just naturally assumed that Simon was behind him, but Simon had stayed high-up on the slope and kept hiking in the wrong direction. I figured he knew where he was going, but he didn't. I don't know where he ended up. It's all a blur after that. We started walking in the direction of what we thought was the way to Trail Camp because we knew we had to pass through Trail Camp to get to Outpost camp. Somehow we walked ourselves in to the boulders to the right of the chute (left of the chute if you're going down) and directly above Trail Camp. We knew we were lost, but we knew we weren't so lost that we couldn't find our way once we had daylight, so rather than continue to wander aimlessly and risk getting hurt or more lost, we found a dry spot of ground among the boulders to sleep. We had packed extra clothes, food, water and emergency blankets, so we were prepared for the worst except it would have been nice to have a stove to make some warm water because we were chilled to the bone. We assumed that Perry and Simon were at Trail Camp in their nice warm sleeping bags and tents while we lie on the cold ground huddled together for warmth, but some time later in the night we heard someone yelling for help. We stood up and flashed our headlamps in the direction of the voice. The voice asked us to come and get him, but we asked the voice to keep walking towards our headlamps and one of us walked down the boulders to find Simon's voice was what we were hearing. He was shivering, thirsty and with each breath we could hear fluids inside him kind of like someone drowning. We gave Simon water and rubbed his arms, legs and hands to try and warm him, then we asked him to lie down betweeen us so we could keep him warm with our bodies (we all shared our emergency blankets). At the first glimpse of sunlight, we all rose to our feet and headed towards Trail Camp, it was not far from where we slept. Simon was feeling much better in the morning. When Simon got to Trail Camp, the campers told him that Perry had packed up all their stuff and headed to the Portal to get help. Perry was carrying two full packs down. We quickly filtered water for Simon and gave him an energy bar and he took off to catch up with Perry. Perry could not believe his ears when he heard Simon calling out his name as he struggled with both their packs. I believe Simon caught up with Perry somewhere between Outpost Camp and Lone Pine Lake. Our neighbors at Outpost waited for us, but we never showed up for cocktails. Our neighbors left us a note in our tent to call them if we got home safely. The ranger was calling my home in So Cal to see if I made it home because my boyfriend was our emergency contact. It was quite the adventure for us. This was Tammy and Sandy's first backpacking trip. After filtering water for ourselves at Trail Camp, we headed for Outpost Camp and jumped into our sleeping bags for a one hour nap, then packed up and headed to the Portal Store for burgers and fries and I had a beer with my meal. Best burger, fries and beer I've ever had.
2005 Photos Link Below....
http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=bf6c95cf1abdbb95&sid=8JYt2Ldy4ZCI
