SeeingEyeBlog

I had been wanting to hike Mt. Whitney for years, and never found anyone to go with me. But this year my mom and dad said they would go, as well as my girlfriend Larisa. When my parent’s neighbor Paul found out, he said he’d go too, and be our guide. Their other neighbor Cinnamon said she would go too. We had 6 all together, but during the training hikes up to the 11,000ft level, Cinnamon and my dad dropped out due to altitude issues. Then on the week of the trip, Larisa booked a cool acting job and couldn’t make the whole trip. But she decided to drive up to Lone Pine and do our first “day zero” night, and hike with us for the first hour the next day before turning back and driving home.

Our plan was to start at Horseshoe Meadow, a trailhead at 10,000ft, and then hike to Cottonwood Lakes for the first night. Day 2 would take us over New Army Pass, and down into a valley where we would stay at Soldier Lake. Day 3 would be from Soldier Lake to Guyut Creek. Day 4 would be our first view of Mt. Whitney as we made our way to Crabtree meadow. Day 5 would be a rest day at Crabtree. Day 6 would be up to Guitar Lake and into the Whitney zone. Day 7 was the summit and down to Whitney Portal in Lone Pine.

Day 0: Larisa, my mom and I caravanned up to Tuttle Creek for the night before the trip started. We were delayed and didn’t make it till about 9:45. There we met up with Paul. It was very warm that night in the valley, and we mostly slept on top of our sleeping bags. Larisa said that we “awakened a whole new Larisa,” referring to her new love of camping.