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* Shelly’s sixth log of her hike …
Shelly Skye has sent more to the Fast Track To Work Office with a continuation of her experience on her hike this summer.
Day 21
6:33 pm
somewhere near
the Center Basin Trail (10,500')
I had visitors yesterday! Dena and Becky came to Bishop and picked me up at the bookstore where I was reading a Nevada Barr mystery. They brought all my re-supplying stuff in 2 boxes. There were lots of treasures: cards and notes from friends, chocolate, new kinds of meals for me, and new recyclable camera.
After they checked into their very cool hotel in Independence, we drove to Onion Valley to set up my tent and organize my supplies. I had bought some beer and chips and we sat at the picnic table in site #008 getting sprinkled on from the clouds above.
Around 6:30 pm, Ann Schwartz and her wonder dog Louie, drove up and began setting up camp. We tried to con her into coming back to town to eat at the hotel but failed in the attempt.
Off we went back to town and had a good enough dinner. Wasn’t great, wasn’t bad, but good enough. There were 2 young girls there helping out with the dinner service and they took their duties seriously. Every 3 to 5 minutes, one or another of them would come by asking if we wanted any more water. I must have had 8 glasses of water yesterday, all at dinner! It got to be comical.
Said goodbye to the gals and drove Ann’s car back up to O.V. When I pulled in, I was greeted by Ann and Louie, all settled in and ready for bed. The clouds had disappeared and the stars were bright and bountiful. The air was not too cold, not too hot. A perfect night. To sleep.Woke up today at my usual 5:30ish with the knowledge I was going back into the wilderness to complete the JMT. If I had stayed out much longer, I might not have gone back in. Ann and Louie were planning to hike up to Kearsarge Pass with me and we managed to get on the trail by 7:20 or so. Pretty good for 2 people and a dog.
Just as we were getting ready to walk out of the site, I realized I didn’t have my stick. My special stick I had walked all the way from Yosemite Valley with! Way Bummer. I had put it in Dena’s car and with all the packing and unpacking of the day before, I forgot to bring it out of the car. Dang.
Aside from the fact that I’m attached to my walking stick, I found out today just how much of a help it is to use when I walk. Mostly cuz I didn’t have one. After trying out many inferior sticks today, I found one I can use for now. It’s not the same as my special stick but I think it will do in a pinch.
I walked 13 miles today, so technically I did fine. But the whole day I was sluggish, tired, and walked very slowly. My knees hurt, feet hurt and I was very lethargic. I hope what was going on was me readjusting to the altitude. If so, I should do better tomorrow.
Speaking of tomorrow, it’s Forrester Pass (13,180'), the largest pass so far and supposedly a bear to climb. It’s about 4.5 miles from my present location so I should get there mid to late morning. I hope I’m more frisky tomorrow. I’ll need it.
Day 22
10:23 am
Forrester Pass (13,180')
What a difference a day makes. I told myself when I left camp this morning at 6:50 am that today’s hike would be the same amount of steps whether I hiked slow or faster. The faster I could hike the sooner I could get to camp and put my feet in cold water. Ahhhh!
So I took my own advice and pushed the pace as much as I dared and got up to Forrester Pass in 3(?) hours. Very good considering I climbed over 2,500' in 4.5 miles. Phew! The air is thin up here.
When I first got up here it was completely silent. Then I noticed the insects zooming about, a red mantled ground squirrel and then finally the wind came up.
“Where does the wind come from, does anybody know? Where does the wind come from, before it starts to blow?” — (G.S. song)
8:29 pm
Crabtree Meadows
I could not go a mile more. Sometime today I had decided to try to get to Guitar Lake tonight. I walked for 12 hours today and made 18 miles. Well, it’s really 17.9 but 18 sounds better and is easier to say/write. That’s my longest day by far.
I just added up the mileage for tomorrow if I want to walk out all the way and it looks to be 17.6. I guess I’ll just have to see how I feel.
My behavior resembles a horse trying to get back to the barn so it can get rid of its rider and rest. Yup. That about says it all.
Day 23
12:15 pm
Mt. Whitney (14,494')
Well. I didn’t really want to climb up here. Mostly because I have many miles to hike till the end of the road. But somehow it didn’t seem quite right not to go the whole way, having come so far. I started crying when I caught sight of the stone building on top of the huge pile of rocks called Whitney. Relief maybe? Completion of a goal? Tired and worn out? No matter, it was a sight to behold and photos were taken all around. For proof. Or just in case I forget I did such a thing. Not likely.
9:45 pm
Bishop (elevation unknown)
I did it. I walked from 6:23 am in Crabtree Meadows till 6:20 pm at Whitney Portal. My legs, knees, and feet were complaining mightily but nothing could keep me from THE END of the trail. Once you climb Whitney the official trail is over. It is the small matter of “how do you get down?” I was hoping for a kindly helicopter pilot out for an afternoon spin, but I didn’t waste too much on that hope. Though there had been a medical rescue in the morning by helicopter. Since I wasn’t sick, my only option was to walk. So I did. 17.6 miles today. I went through yet another set of gaiter tie-downs; those Sierra rocks are hard and sharp.
Didn’t sleep well last night. I was hurting all over and couldn’t get comfortable. I hope my hotel room bed is more comfy than the ground with its assorted arrangements of twigs, pinecones, ants, dirt, gravel and other unknown items. I’m guessing it will be just fine.
for Conclusion…see
below
See the Post Script to Shelly’s log
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