Click on a thumbnail to see a bigger picture: click on the bigger picture to see the biggest picture. Also, not all pictures are represented in the narrative below.

Tuesday before the climb, I started getting sick. (This was probably because of my tirp to toxic Las Vegas the previous week. However, I did get to see the Blue Man Group. Wednesday, I was in bed all day. I had hoped to ride out to Yosemite and start camping at altitude on Thursday, but I just couldn't. However, on Friday afternoon, I just had to go.

I took my favorite backcountry route to Yosemite, stopped at the new improved Olmstead Point to look at Half Dome in the distance and got to the Wilderness Permit office just before they closed at 5pm. I was feeling pretty good as I started to backpack up to May Lake. But when I got to about 9000 feet, I hit a very strong and cold wind. It started making my cold worse and as I looked up, I could see only exposed rock. OK, better not to sleep outside tonight.

By the time I got back on the road, it was dark and very cold. I headed west and the electrics weren't keeping my body warm enough. So I stopped at the Tioga Lodge, where I had always wanted to stay. The people were friendly and I got a cabin and dinner. I had a hard time getting warm. Even after dinner and a hot shower, it was a long time before I stopped being cold.

The next day, Saturday, I turned right at Mono Lake rode to Lone Pine, looked at the mountain I was about to climb looming over the Alabama Hills, checked in at the ranger station, got my hotel room, and connected with Jason and Jackie at various times during the day. I gave them hangers as they would be going up and summiting on Sunday.

Late that day, I hadn't heard from the Bay Area group, so I decided to ride up the street to find them. And did. The ride up to Whitney Portal is 13 miles and an elevation gain of 4K'. It's a beautiful motorcycle road that first goes through the Alabama Hills where many old westerns were shot, and then up into the Sierras. If you're ever passing through Lone Pine, perhaps on your way to Death Valley, make this detour.

Sunday, I rode up and met the Merry Mountaineers (Melody, Deborah, Bob, Rufus, and Anita) for coffee at the Portal store. (Chris had already let us know he couldn't make the trip.) We had a breakfast, packed up, and entered the portal at 9:30. We weighed our packs at the portal and mine weighed in at 35lbs. Deborah entered the portal with us on Sunday, and Karen and Arlene would enter later, so technically everyone for whom I was responsible entered on the same day, the 24th, though Deborah would come back down and camp overnight at the portal. This is the only regulation about group members of which I am aware.

We walked on log and rock bridges over streams with the occasional view down the valley all the way back to Lone Pine. I went very slowly because I was still getting over my head cold: still sniffling and didn't feel 100%. But by just going slowly, the exercise and fresh air made me feel better, as long as I didn't over-extend. I walked mostly with Bob as we meandered up the canyon.

We reached Outpost camp in about 3 hours, which was not bad for 3.7 miles (6km) and 2K' elevation gain. More precisely, we went from about 8340' at the portal to 10,600'. Looking down the valley, we could see the Lone Pine Lake we had passed from our rocky flat place next to the marshy meadow next to an icy waterfall.

We made camp and had a bit of lunch. Rufus errected his lightweight tarp shelter now using a log and rocks so that his mom, Anita, might not be so cold at night.

I felt pretty good and we might have been able to go on to Trail Camp but staying put was the right strategy. After lunch, I hiked further up the path to Trail Camp. I climbed over Mirror Lake and had a view back down and one up to where we'd be going. I only went to 11,000 feet, where the last tree grew and appreciated the view. Then came back down and cooked supper when it got dark. It was cold quickly and we were all in bed by 9pm at the latest.

It got very cold. I was expecting to be ok. I had on my Capoline, my regular clothes, a fleece jacket, and a down jacket. I was inside a silk liner inside my down bag. The key experiment was that instead of a tent, I was using a bevy sack. It worked at Ventana a few weeks ago, so I thought I'd be fine.

Well, not below 30F. What happens, as I discovered, is that the moisture from my body hits the very cold plastic of the bevy sack and condenses on the inside, thus soaking the down bag, which then looses its insulation. Darn. I would have done better without the sack.

So I managed still to sleep some, but the remains of my head cold were giving me a terrific sinus headache no matter how I turned. Eventually, at 3am, I took some ibuprofen. That made me nauseous. So at 3:30am, I just had to get up and walk around for a while.

After about a half-hour, I still felt sick but started cooking breakfast. I was still in process when Deborah showed up at 5am to wake everyone to go up the trail. I still didn't feel well and I wanted my oatmeal and coffee, so I told them to go on and I would decided whether I was going up or down later.

After coffee, I used a wag bag (not a bad experience) and decided I felt better. I'm here on the mountain and not likely to be here again soon. Might as well start up the hill and see how far I get. So at 5:50am, I took my light pack on the way to Trail Camp, following the string of headlights winding their way up the switchbacks above Outpost.

Dawn came on the way up and I could start taking off layers. On the way up, I met another Bob, not in our group, who was experienced and hiked with me as his partner, Hal, was going at a slower pace. Bob's experience with hiking Whitney a few times before was to prove valuable.

Just before Trail Camp, I met Melody coming down. She had had a headache and was coming down instead of risking further altitude sickness (Trail Camp is at 12K'.) I actually went faster than I had the previous day and reached Trail Camp in less than two hours. This is about 2.5 miles (4km) from Outpost and about 1,400' in elevation gain.

Trail Camp a beautiful place with a very small, shallow lake. I filtered some water from the moving water at the inlet and moved on. Various sources recommend bringing from 3 to 5 liters of water from here as there is no water above Trail Camp. I brought 1.3 liters and it was enough for me, especially since it was a cool day.

I still wasn't being bothered by the altitude. So then I started up the infamous switchbacks on the way to Trail Crest at 13,600'.

13,000' started kicking my behind. I could only take slow baby steps up the apparently endless (96) switchbacks. Bob and I connected again. He stayed with me saying he liked my slow steady pace. I didn't have to rest very often but I couldn't go very fast either. There were two consolations. One was that not too many people were passing us though there were some. The other was that Bob kept letting me know what to expect around the next few switchbacks and kept encouraging me. One of the great things about the mountain is that everyone helps everyone else.

It is really weird how this altitude steals your ability to climb. You can walk on level ground. You can go down fast. But it is if nature says this is your limit - don't go beyond. No matter how much you breathe, unless you are acclimated (and Bob and Hal had been on the mountain for four days), you just can't go but extremely slowly up the switchbacks. At least that was my experience. It takes seemingly forever. Fortunately there are landmarks like the 8 mile marker and the cables along the ice-covered part of the trail. And Bob could predict the trail all along, which gave me something to look forward to around each bend.

After about 3 hours (only 2.2 miles - 3.5Km), I reached Trail Crest and its magnificent views. (I could now take pictures again.)

Trail Crest is the false summit that one sees from far below. And it really would be sufficient if one didn't know that the highest point in the 48 states was relatively nearby. I had come up the switchbacks much more slowly than the published times.

I had lunch though that was only the last half of a Cliff Bar. I had been eating a few bites of chocolate all along, but one is not hungry at altitude. You have to remember to eat and you don't feel like eating much at one time. So I kept eating a little all along. Then I left my light pack at Trail Crest and started to the summit. (I also saw Rufus' pack where I had left mine.) I had hoped to catch up with my group but then realized that I had come up the switchbacks so slowly, that they were way ahead of me now.

The good news is that the summit is now only 2.1 miles (3.5Km) away and slightly less than 900' in altitude gain. The bad news is that the trail dips now. It goes down to meet the John Muir Trail that goes down into the Sequoia National Park and then dips a bit further. So you have to climb more than would be strictly necessary were the rocks not so steep at this part of the ridge.

I left Trail Crest at 11am so I thought I had a shot at summiting at 1pm. Alas, this was not to be: I kept forgetting how slowly I had to go up. I could almost bounce down the trail without a pack, but as soon as I had to climb again, that natural limiter would kick in.

On the way up are the "windows": places where there is no cliff to either side of the trail and you have wonderful views on both sides, as well as the feeling you are really walking on a very high narrow ridge.

Before I hit 14,000', I met Rufus and Anita. Anita was somewhat bothered by the views but moving very fast along with Rufus. Deborah was close behind. When I did hit 14,000', I started developing a headache that didn't go away with relaxed breathing. But then I met Bob coming down. He gave me a Cliff Bar and two aspirin. That did the trick and I kept going up.

The little hut at the summit seems always far away but finally I reached it and signed in at the book. It was 1:40pm. I had taken 2 hours and 40 minutes to go not so far. Boy was I exhausted. And I was late. So I took only 20 minutes to look around, take some photos, including the way back to Trail Crest , and eat some, and then started back down at 2pm.

Coming down, I could go faster and take a few more photos. I wasn't the slowest person up here now. There was at least one 20-something guy who I kept passing. He and his group tried to catch up with me, but I can go downhill really fast on the long path back to Trail Crest.

At this point, I knew I definitely didn't want to spend another cold night at Outpost. I wanted to reach Outpost before it was dark and that meant I would have to push going down. So I went relatively fast. No more photography now.

Then there was the uphill. Remember how the trail dipped and lost altitude from Trail Crest? Here's where you have to go up again. Everyone passed me and Bob and I connected again.

This is possibly the worst part of the trail. You're exhausted. You just want to go down. And you have to go up. Really tough. But finally I reached my pack and Trail Crest.

I had a problem with a sore point on my foot. I changed socks and Hal, who was resting with Bob, loaned me a piece of moleskin. Bob and Hal went on while I fixed my feet. Then I put on my pack and started down as fast as I could. I eventually caught up with Hal and we passed at least a few people.

Wow - amazing that we came up this way. The trail seems to go on forever. You can see the little Trail Camp lake for a long time before you reach it. But I finished my water just before I got there.

It's now about 5pm and Trail Camp is already in shadow and getting cool. While filtering water, I ran into Arlene. She and Karen had come up to Outpost late the previous day, and then had reached Trail Camp today. They had 45lb packs and were doing a more reasonable hike. They would try to summit the next day from Trail Camp. (Karen reached Trail Crest and Arlene went all the way to the summit.)

I was pretty pooped and cold. Arlene and Karen invited me over to their camp and let me rest and fed me miso soup. Warm and yummy. What a lifesaver! So I left Trail Camp at about 5:30pm.

As I hurried down the trail, the weather got warmer. I realized that I was basically running away from the cold. As long as I kept moving quickly, I was escaping from the increasing cold as the day ended, the cold starting at the higher altitudes and working its way down the mountain.

I was going as fast as I could. But I was passed by a young guy with no pack who was seemingly effortlessly going down really fast. I had him in sight for about an hour and then he left me in the dust. Had there been any.

When I reached the last tree at 11K', I felt like I was almost home. I went down into the trees, down the switchbacks above Mirror Lake, and reached Outpost at 6:45pm. So I had come down from the summit in less than 5 hours. Not too bad.

But I was really tired. And ever so grateful when Bob offered me half of his dinner. So I ate and then packed up my gear into my backpack. Towards the end of packing, Bob was helping me with light because the sun had gone out of sight. And though it was warm when I arrived, it was already cooling rapidly. Time to go.

It was dark now and I don't see well at night. But there were headlights ahead of me and I caught up with them. I made friends with Pattie and Tracy along that long hike. I had told Bob that I expected to get down in an hour and a half.

But I had conveniently forgotten that it was almost four miles, I'm carrying a full backpack (though a little lighter than when coming up), I'm already exhausted, and it's night. So we have a hard time seeing where we are. After a long hard time, we think we're close, but not sure. So I think to whip out my altimeter. We're only at 9600'. The portal is at 8340'. We're not close.

Well, at least we have the right expectations now. The pack is heavy. I'm so tired. My thighs and feet are starting to hurt. But there is no option other than to lay down by the side of the trail. So we stop for water every once in a while and we talk all along the trail. But there is no point in resting - it's not like I'm going to feel better.

Finally at 10pm, we hit the parking lot. It's been 8 hours since I was on the summit. And 14+ hours since I started hiking this morning.

Tracy and Pattie were kind enough to take my packs in their car so I packed up the rest of my gear on the bike in the dark parking lot and eventually rode down the hill, very slowly, because I can't see, there are deer, and I'm tired. Did I mention I was tired?

I got a room at the Dow Villa where Tracy and Pattie were staying and we agreed to meet up after showering. My room was very very simple and smelled. The shared restroom and shower were next door. I took a hot shower. Just imagine.

Then I caught up with T&P in the adjacent building. We toasted each other with Champagne and discussed the trip some more. We agreed that pain tolerance was key, and that the worst part was climbing back up to Trail Crest after the summit. Around midnight, I picked up my packs again and went to my room. Took some ibuprofen and passed out.

I awoke at 6am feeling amazingly good. Went down the street for breakfast. Packed up and left a little after 9am. Had a good ride back up to Lee Vining and through Yosemite. The annual National Parks pass I bought earlier in the year has been a great value. I surely have saved the cost of it just going back and forth through Yosemite this year, at $10 a pop otherwise.

Had lunch in Groveland where it was hot. It stopped being cold at the eastern entrance/exit to Yosemite. After lunch, time to hit the valley. Old Priest Grade was closed so I had to dice with the cars down the new road. There was a forced construction stop here as there had been inside the Park. (I had also driven through a grass fire on the way up to Tioga - dodging firemen in the smoke on the road.)

Then I took my backroads from Knights Ferry to Ripon where I refueled. But from there, because traffic was light, I took to the main highways. 99 to 120 to 205 to 580 ... Finally, home by a little after 5pm, having been able to use the car pool lanes. Then clean up and go to Tuesday Night Dinner.

It's taken a few days to clean up. And I was a little short of breath the first few days. Coming back I felt like I had to remember to breathe. And I was a bit clammy. And sometimes claustrophobic. I had to stop and take off my helmet once. The next day at home, I had to go sit outside on the balcony for a while. But I've been to see the doc and he says I'm perfectly healthy, so it's just some weird effect of being high and in the open for a while.

The vividness of the experience stays with me. On the mountain, you don't think about much else but your next step and how you're doing. On the ride back, I thought about life in general. Work was a long ways off in my mind. I've started work again and it's ok. But my perspective, and all of my senses feel different. I am so much more aware of even breathing. (Hope I can stand to ride in the airplane this coming Sunday the 1st of Oct.)

It was a great trip. I am so glad I did it. And I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. I see now why people get addicted to (relatively) high mountain climbing. It takes everything you thought you had, and then about three times that more. And leaves you feeling like a different person.

I highly recommend making this climb.