Angie's World

John Adair

 

Personal story written by John:

Mt Whitney   ten days later

  For anyone that is not aware of the background.  About a year ago I was thinking about next year’s birthday “THE BIG ONE”.  On an impulse without any though I decided to climb Mt Whitney on my  65^th birthday.  I was 5”7” 242 lbs. with no athletic background.  I went on line saw the photos read blogs of climbers and bought several books.   I started training on local trails 1 to 3 miles then moved to local hills with good elevation gain.  The longest training hick/climb was 8 miles all below 3000ft. Early in training I encountered several medical problems one resulting in four days in the hospital.  The doctors gave the full go ahead to continue my training.

Where I went Wrong

In spite of all the reading and talking with a number of people knowledgeable  with the climb ,several suggested  do some training at altitude, and you may want to rethink trying  to complete the climb in one day.  There advice was good I knew it,  My thinking was “don’t want to pack an extra 25-30 lbs. for one or two nights  and due in one day it was my birth day” Second training at altitude “ I wanted my first climb to be Mt Whitney”  If I had followed either  piece of advice I would have succeeded. With altitude training I would have learned that my pace was slower than my estimated pace. This resulted in running out of time to safely complete my return. If the climb was more than one day my pace would not mattered.

The Decision

My training was adequate. I know that I could have reached the summit in one day.  However at 2:45-3pm I was near the top on the switchbacks. I spoke to several retuning climbers and realized that at my pace I would summit about 6pm. This would have put the largest part of the decent in the dark over rough and steep terrain.  I had already fallen and broke one of my climbing sticks. This plus the added fatigue the additional six hours, I made the decision to abort (13,600ft and less than two and a half miles to go)

After the decision I tried to descend as rapidly as I could (still slower the slowest on the mountain) to cover as much ground before dark.

The night prior to the climb I spent at the camp ground at Whitney Portal (trail head) at 9pm everyone in camp had all lights out, unlike other camp grounds where there is always some parting late.  I was in my sleeping bag around 9:30 early bed time I didn’t fall asleep until well after 10pm.  I woke up at 2am and packed up camp had breakfast and headed for the trail. I walked through the wooden arches (start/Finish) and up the trail at 3am. For the first hour of the climb you could occasionally see flashlights and other activity in the campground below. 

On the decent at about 2-3 miles to go I became physically exhausted and my pace slowed. I was aware that my balance was less and my thinking was starting to play games with me. It was very dark in spite of the moon (the trail is in a canyon and moon light could be seen on the peaks above offered no help in the canyon) Unsure of my location I kept looking down through the trees hopping to see some lights or other actives.  There was no indication of anything below this prevented a reference that could help get my bearings, looking to the east occasionally I could see the lights of Lone Pine and the highway a distance. I knew I was going in the right direction.

This last few miles were long I had several falls (without injury) uncertain of how far I was from the finish and starting to having doubt I was on the correct trail, I passed a Forest service sign and was reassured  I was on the right trail.  I could not rerember how far the sign was from the start. Then my mind said that I could be the wrong Trail and the forest Service has the sign on every trail.

I continued down the trail a few minutes before 11pm and without any warring, the wooded arches were only a few feet away.  I was finished. Walking through the arches I saw my family  there to greet me.  It was a great birthday surprise.

In the days following my climb I have replayed it over in my head, I realized that I had the knowledge to avoid my difficult decent.  On the climb it was pace yourself, drink a lot of water, eat small amounts often, watch the weather, keep track of time and location. After my discussion abort I unknowing    changed my goal to get off the mountain and reduce time in the dark.  On my decent I continued to drink water (3 qt) I did not eat anything in spite of the fact my backpack had enough food for another day. I was not hungry and never thought about food. To add to this I had several GU packs (energy supplements used endurance athletes’) I believe that had I eaten or used the GU when my energy left me, near the end of the hike would have been without the fatigue.

After a shower and a good night’s sleep I felt great a little sore no blisters or any other ailments.

My reason for this writing this follow-up is that I received numbers of emails friends and stranger who said that they were inspired by following my climb. To help them to their goals I felt that my experience with the small overlook details may help them stay on top of their game.   To any one setting personal goal I say. PREPARE, GO FOR IT and DO IT !!

From the inception of this wild idea up to today my experience has been great.  I started at 242 lbs, today I’m 206 lbs and I plan to continue losing weight.

Cell Phones

Speaking with other climbers I learned that there are a few spots on the trail where cell phones work; they do work at the summit.  I charged my phone on the three and half hour drive from Riverside to Mt. Whitney, this full charge normally lasts 3-4 days. At the last minute I decided to carry my phone.  To my surprise  my phone beeped to its death only two hours into my climb. I spoke to a friend who explained that most cell phones out of range of a cell tower go into overdrive seeking  contact and drain the battery at an accelerated rate.  He suggested that turning off the cell and removing the battery until you are in range of service

Looking this over before I send it I have to laugh, parts read like excerpts from a PSY 101 text books. I’m not sure what to think about this.

Thanks for the interest and support.       John

Link to map

http://www.spotadventures.com/trip/view?trip_id=215275