July 22, 2012 | Day 14 | 14.2 mi:
Sleeping at the trail crest of Whitney. Three in the tent w/ Ben & Alex - Dustin sleeping outside. Ranger Ron (gave seven us shelter from a hail storm in his one-room cabin, which was decorated with mementos people illegally leave atop Mt. Whitney). Hail / down pour (the only bad weather we experienced in two weeks). Tarp / tent city (between storms, we hiked to Guitar Lake at the base of Whitney. There, a tent city had been erected by hikers of all kinds. We sat under a tarp with new friends and couple more strangers, eating the last of Alex & Dustin's food so they could join us in hiking with as little as humanly possible. Refried beans and spicy sausage were a bad choice).
*problems with photos, will update*
1. Early in the day, while the sky was still clear-ish, we hiked across this amazing plain. We WILL camp there the next time we hike the JMT. || 2. The view from Ranger Ron's doorway. Ranger Ron's wife is also a ranger stationed about 8 miles from him. The meet up on their days off. Living the dream. || 3. Once the hail stopped, we high-tailed it to Guitar Lake, where it started pouring rain again. We sat under this tarp with Dustin (pictured) and Alex. || 4. The obscured view of Mt. Whitney's peak after the rain stopped. The clouds hovered thickly all night. || 5. After we were sure the rain was done, we hiked up to Trail Crest, from which point it is up to the summit or down to the parking lot at Whitney Portal. This was truly the beginning of the end and I took my time on the switchbacks, stopping to gawk at this amazing sunset over endless mountains that we would say goodbye to in the morning. I thought it looked like Mt. Doom. Now I just miss it like crazy.
Day 15 has no entry and none of its own pictures, so I'm going to end here. Because of a lightning storm that lasted all night and kept Whitney's summit obscured, we opted to hike the 8 miles down rather than pursue those last 1,500 vertical feet to the highest point in the lower-48. We made this decision around 3 a.m., after not sleeping at all. Three people in a two-man tent will do that. By 3:30-ish we were descending the 99 switchbacks as seas of headlamps moved toward us - hikers coming from Whitney Portal to attempt the summit. Some starting the hike we just finished. We got down several hours later - longer than it should have taken - because downhill exacerbated my knee / achilles issues and we were delirious. Still, we finished the JMT before noon - probably around 10. We waved down a hitch for our friends Alex & Dustin who found renewed energy in the possibility of hopping a bus to LA and flying home to Seattle early. We were sad to part so suddenly. We learned they made it all the way home that day. It made us laugh, imagining them sitting trail filthy on a plane out of Los Angeles. We caught a different ride down to Lone Pine, a small town that sits between Death Valley and Mt. Whitney. We ate McDonald's. And Subway. And a pizza. And smoothies. We lost time in our hotel room as we drifted in and out of sleep. I showered twice and tried to rinse my clothes because we had no others to put on. I hiked for 14 days in one set of clothes, and I still own them and wear them today. Finally, my ankles swelled until they blended with my calves, and they remained swollen for about two weeks. I likely had tendonitis. Why they didn't swell after I laid down each night on trail, I'll never know, but that would have forced us to get off, so I'll take is as a miracle. A day and a half after we got off the trail, our friends from Redding, CA drove to Lone Pine to pick us up and take us to our car in Yosemite. We slept in our cars for a few hours then ate breakfast looking out at Half Dome - the same view we saw the day we started our hike. Full circle.
Reliving this adventure has renewed my spirit. Thanks for reading. Currently I sit in a coffee shop, fighting back the few tears that make me feel so alive. Sometimes I get caught up in my day - my week. I get excited about potential job promotions and chances to fulfill my dreams as a writer. I make plans with friends to eat pizza and watch movies. But today I'm wearing a suit coat over a flannel shirt and I wish I was hiking with Ben - he's hiking right now. I would take a hail storm with a smile. When I strip everything away, I realize that circumstances have little to do with happiness. Jobs do not bring purpose. Life is purposeful because I was made for it - whatever it brings on any given day. I was made to feel lonely in a crowded coffee shop and like a social butterfly in a cabin of strangers in the middle of nowhere. Life is full of so many different opportunities that add up to a crazy adventure. Today I'll alphabetize and shelf books at Half Price. I'll interview a source for my first freelance story that has a publication it will call home. And when I close my eyes, I'll see that sunset over Guitar Lake that made me realize, even then, when all I wanted was a burger and a bed, that as soon as I was full and healthy, I would miss this trail. I miss that trail. I wish I was there. I'm glad that I'm here. I would not be who or where I am today without these 14 days.
Peace.
*This is day 14 of 14, recounting our experience hiking the John Muir Trail by posting the contents of my recently rediscovered trail journal. We hiked the trail in July 2012, and it changed my life. Catch up by reading the JMT journal pages nos. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13
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