Dern Rick...you are too quick in everything you do -> hiking, climbing, taking pictures + uploading them; and now, even posting TRs!
LOL
Here is my account:
It was already Wednesday and I hadn't picked a peak yet. What to do, what to do...and I knew most ppl were busy with Mothers Day plans (my mom lives in TN, so I was "available.") One of those ppl was Rick Kent, but somehow he managed to free some time for a Saturday dayhike. I was leaning toward MT Whitney via the MR since I heard that HikerLaura, GigaMike and Richard P were heading that way, but when Rick called Wednesday evening and suggested MT Russell
AND MT Whitney, I was game
! A hearty "woooo hoooo" jumped from my throat, and I went to bed with the Eastern 'sawteeth' dancing in my head.
By noon on Friday I was on the freeway heading up to Lone Pine. It would be this 4 hour drive that finally aided in my decision to stay put in So Cal. I also used the time to continue my research on religions (current study is Kabbalah). Upon reaching the Eastern Sierra, my beloved sawteeth, my heart swelled with joy and I quickly drove up to the Portal Store to catch Laura, Mike and Richard. I made it by exactly 6 pm. Got a chance to finally meet & chit-chat with Doug Sr (but I felt sorry for myself that I missed the burger & fries). Instead, I had a piece of dried up, chewy chicken from the market down below (hey Doug, somehow I survived eating it)!
Rick was to arrive later that evening, so I ventured off to bed in my car (parked in the overflow parking area to avoid drivers coming in and out during the night). I didn't sleep to well thanks to drinking 2 large Monster energy drinks on the drive up! Stoooopid of me! I did, however, momentarily awaken to the commotion of some noise which I later found out was a resident black bear. Glad I missed seeing him.
Rick and I hit the TH around 3:40 a.m. We quickly passed a group of Asians on the trail. After that, there wasn't anyone. I think Laura & co. planned to start at 4 a.m.
I'm not sure if I missed this when making the last minute plans with Rick, but we digressed from LBSL and headed up to Mount Carillion via the East approach. Rick did the entire route finding which I tremendously appreciated as I have this knack for getting myself lost (most recently off the MT Whitney Main Trail last month)! The views were spectacular in the Carillion valley. One the way, we saw some boot tracks that I found out later belonged to Tomcat_rc and Snow Nymph. After donning our crampons, we started up the east side via a ~ 35 degree chute with semi-soft snow coverage. Rick climbed up in his usual fashion and left me, the Sierra Snail, behind for awhile. With some annoying postholing closer to the top (somehow I manage to plunge through while Rick floats on top), we soon climbed the class 3 rock and reached the summit (around 9 a.m.). I probably was on my 150th photo by this time as the scenery was stunning. It's amazing how granite can look so remarkable, not to mention those little amazingly aqua blue and white (frozen) pools of water (the ones Rick likes to walk on until he hears them crack)!
Sooo, after spending about 20 min on the summit, we gazed towards our next conquest, MT Russell. Rick warned me that the view of the East Ridge from Carillon would be intimidating, but I wasn't too scared as I was already a bit spent energy wise, so it just didn't phase me (at the time). And sorry Rick, I don't care how much you are going to advertise them, but I will not partake in your energy gel shots. Ewwwwwwwwwww gross! Back to the TR...and the long climb along the East Ridge. So far, the day was "the bomb!" The class 3 up Carillon was totally awesome and so would be the class 3 along the ridge to MT Russell. I have to admit that I did get scared a few times and one in particular - when I just couldn't bring myself to cross an extremely exposed section without the helpful coaching of Rick. He truly is an amazing partner with whom to climb! Thanks again!!! Well, after a few hours, we made it to the East summit. I had wanted to quit at one point but Rick kept saying "you can do it!" And did it, I did ~ all the way to the West summit (true summit). Looking toward MT Whitney from MT Russell I saw some ppl on the summit. It was around 2 - 3 p.m. Well, guess who it was? Richard P! LOL Laura told me later that he spotted us on Russell, so he took off up the chute to the summit so we would all be standing tall at the same time! Talk about camaraderie. And no, Richard, we couldn't hear you shouting at us! Well, at this point I was feeling pretty good, but not good enough to head up to MT Whitney. It was too late and I still had to get back home i.e. the Portal. We down climbed to the Russell-Carillon col and descended via the horrible sand slog. Rick seems to completely enjoy this part - sand skiing. Boy was he FAST and thus had to sit there and wait for me at UBSL. I'm not too experienced with this sport (the sand skiing) and truthfully don't care for it. I kept thinking - oh, horrible - erosion! Poor mountain. By the time I reached the guy who comes from the cactus family, my feet were pretty sore (x2 with new boots). I kept suggesting that Rick go on ahead of me. He finally relented and left me at LBSL. So, there I was, alone with much needed thinking to do (do I move, do I stay...thank you God for my life...I hope I make it to the EB ledges before dark...thanks some more for my life...man I am thirsty ~ do I drink the water...will I get lost at the willows...)
Well, darkness fell by the time I got to the ledges. No problem. After MT Russell's East Ridge, they were a cake walk in the dark! I wanted to continue down via the wall route, but somehow found myself on the other more popular (and longer) trail (I didn't cross by the waterfall, but crossed the creek a little farther down). It was really cool to be roaming around there in the darkness with a less than desirable head lamp. Blah blah blah...trail...and I got back @ 9:40 p.m. Another 18 hour day for me (the last one was a few wks ago when Rick and I climbed MT Whitney via the North Face). Ahhh, back to the car and there was Rick, asleep in his truck.
So, we headed down and ate at the High Sierra Cafe again (the only thing open for a Sierra Snail coming out of the woods at late hours).
Ohhhh, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE EASTERN SIERRA! Thank you Jehovah! ;o)
