Headed up to Cottonwood Pass in the Golden Trout Wilderness this past Sunday with plans to go through Miter Basin over Crabtree Pass, up "the Sandhill" to Mt Whitney, back to Miter Basin, and out one of the Army Passes. I tried bringing all non-cook (or at least non-hot water) foods and this was probably the most cross country travel I've done. I tried the ibuprofen route to combat any AMS, 600mg every 6 hours.
I left the TH at 11am, about an hour later than I wanted to, but really wanted to make it to Sky Blue Lake in Miter Basin, about 12 miles away, before nightfall so I could have a full day to do the Whitney thing.
Heading over the pass I was a little worried by the low, dark clouds forming and was worried about losing time waiting out a storm and not wanting to scramble over wet granite.
I got to a very low Chicken Spring Lake a few minutes before 1pm and ate half of the foot long veggie sandwich I picked up at Subway in Lone Pine.
I wanted to keep making good time and the clouds kept growing darker. So I hurried on toward the Siberian Pass trail. I could hear thunder and see rain in the distance. I probably should have taken it slow, coming from sea level less than 6 hours before, but I felt I had all these 'goals' to meet. I was really rushing and kind of running along the trail.
The clouds hovering over Miter Basin that I saw approaching Soldier Lake caused me to keep pushing and pushing.
Luckily, just as it looked the worst, it cleared right up.
I was feeling pretty beat, and ready to call it at Lower Soldier Lake around 4, but I saw some deer right off the trail that were very tolerant of my picture taking. After taking pictures for a couple minutes I was feeling rejuvenated and ready to push on, telling myself I'd stop at 6 where ever I ended up.
I pushed on part cross country part use trail past Soldier Lake and into the Miter Basin. There were a handful of ducks that were sort of easy to follow and sort of helped to not get cliffed out. I got stuck a couple times and probably ended up taking not the most desirable route around rock creek. I stayed toward the west side of the basin, even though I saw a pretty good looking trail on the east side. It was mostly flat, some granite slabs and lots of marshes. The most route finding I did was trying to not get my shoes stuck in the mud as I headed north into the basin.
Around 6, in zombie mode, I made it to the falls below Sky Blue Lake. I figured I was this close and might as well press on. I headed up the left side of the falls a ways, crossed by hopping some rocks and then continued up the right side to the lake.
I got up there, in full-on zombie mode, set up my shelter and made myself eat the rest of my sandwich, some water, and some cheez-its. I wasn't feeling hungry at all, despite blasting 12 miles at 10k ft. The ibuprofen seemed to be working, no dizziness, nausea, headaches, just no appetite.
Obligatory Lunar Solo shot. (don't know how to rotate the image)
The next morning I felt great and hungry. I ate a pop tart, handfuls of mixed salted nuts, dried apricots, mangoes, and a clif bar. I wanted to leave my shelter, sleeping bag, some clothes, and bear can at Sky Blue Lake since I was coming back later that day. It was pretty windy and worried about my Lunar Solo, so I packed it all up, stuffed it into my garbage bag and under a boulder. I set out toward Crabtree Pass with a day pack set up, ready to tackle "the sandhill".
It took me waaaayy longer than I thought it would just to get to Crabtree pass. I went around the west to approach lake 12k because a direct route looked impossible even though I knew others had done it. Finding my way was a challenge. There were ducks, but kind of hard to follow. I kept second guessing myself, but eventually made it down these cliff bands and to the lake.
I finally made it up to Crabtree Pass, looked down at Crabtree Lake and over to what I planned on climbing and thought. Uhh… I don't know if I can come down that. Going up looked challenging, but coming back down later looked like it'd be near impossible to come down in any controlled fashion. I'm sure it can be done, and has been done, but being solo and most of my gear back at Sky Blue Lake, I bailed.
I was disappointed that I misjudged what I thought I could do and felt like I ended up wasting the morning. I felt like I needed to make the most of it, so I thought that I might be able to get Langley via Upper Soldier Lake and head down Army Pass. Again, I started hustling. Once I got to lake 12k I saw some ducks heading east toward what I thought from below was insurmountable cliffs. It seemed like it'd be a faster route down than what I did earlier. Unfortunately, the ducks were pretty confusing. I got cliffed out a lot, ended up doing more class 3 than I would have normally done, and took lots of time eventually getting down to Sky Blue again.
I probably couldn't do it again the same way. I would recommend heading around the hump to the west unless you have a good description of the cliff route above Sky Blue Lake.
5 hours later I made it back to my gear after passing some other hikers planning on heading to Whitney the same way who seemed to scoff at my idea of being worried about heading back down the sandhill. Oh well, braver souls than I.
I poured some cold water into a couscous something or other I put together in a zip lock bag. Let it soak up and tried to eat it. It tasted fine, but I had zero appetite. I knew I needed to eat, so I shoved as much as I could into my face, but it was barely anything. I folded it up and tried some nuts and fruit. I could down a few pieces but not much. I felt like I had been eating all day. This is where my troubles begin. I packed it all up and pushed on toward Soldier Lakes.
This time I stuck to the east side of the basin and it was much, much easier going. I got up and over into Lower Solider Lake pretty quickly. For some reason I kept kicking rocks and junk with with my left foot. At first it sort of hurt, and then after about the 20th knock, I knew I had totally jacked up that toe and the nail was probably coming off.
It was a swampy bushy ascent into Upper Soldier Lake. I'm sure there was a better way but I didn't feel like hunting a whole lot. I was on a mission.
After forcing some more nuts and dried fruit on myself I sped up the slope toward Langely. I don't know why I felt I had to go so fast. Maybe it was the clouds brewing, or the minutes ticking by, but I made quick work of that sandy slope above Upper Soldier Lake.
Along the way I saw some large tracks. Big tracks. I think it was a canine type animal because I saw nail marks at the tips of the toes. Coyote maybe? Seemed weird to see those types of tracks so high up with nothing around.
As I got to the top I felt super nauseous. I looked left and saw Langley and thought, "Damn, there's no way. I feel awful." I sat down and ate half a cliff bar. Drank some and realized I hadn't peed since 11am and still had a ton of water left. Well, I turned out to be my own worst enemy as my haste ended up sabotaging my plans.
Reluctantly, I turned right and shuffled toward Army Pass. The whole way down I was holding back the vomit. I went 20 feet. Sat for a while. Went 20 feet. Sat. Got passed by a crazy running dude with 4 liters of water. 20 feet. Sat. I thought if I can just make it to a flat spot by the lake, I can barf all I want and take forever setting up my tent. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it and totally barfed in some rocks on the north side of that first lake.
I immediately felt better. I still needed a place to set up so I kept moving and found a great flat spot. Unfortunately, about 20 feet away was a group of 4… I didn't want to bother them with my vomiting, rather I didn't want them to feel like they had to ask me if I was okay, etc. So I kept moving and found a place at the far end of that first lake off the pass. Slowly, the nausea set back in and it took me forever to set up. I made myself take a sip of water every 10 minutes. Before I settled in I managed to keep down a few bites of a pita and some cheez-its. Throughout the night I made myself drink a sip every few minutes. I was really mad at myself for allowing myself to get so dehydrated. I didn't pee from 11am to 6pm. Yikes. I usually make myself drink every 15 minutes, but all my hustle and the cross country got the best of me and I lost that discipline. I could have really screwed myself. I super messed up and I'm pretty embarrassed about it.
Luckily, I was able to make myself a bit more hydrated through the night and kept it together.
I felt better the next morning. Well, good enough to pack up and move along. I made myself eat another pop tart and some pita bread again. The hike out was the first time I had no goal and felt like I could enjoy the scenery and the experience.
Even though I felt like I really laid back on the pace on the way out, I still made the 7 or so miles out in about 3 hours. Still a good pace I feel despite feeling sick and making an effort to slow down.
I was super looking forward to this solo trip to be able to do the pace and routes I wanted to do. Unfortunately, I think that put a damper on the enjoyment of the trip. Yes, I can hike fast. But is it worth it? I think because I end up with so few days to spend in the mountains it makes me want to try to pack in as much as I can. It looks fun on paper, but in the end it was sort of a suffer fest and I feel like I didn't really connect with the environment like I had hoped to.
Lesson learned and looking forward to planning some more appropriately paced trips.
