An extra left for a thirsty hiker?
Warren at Grandview Campground.
Very top of White Mtn. poking out.
Up near the Patriarch Grove of Bristlecone
pines.
One of the best campgrounds around.
Another view of White, from an elevation
way over 11,000 feet.
Sunset Friday night at the Barcroft gate,
11,700 feet.
Warren looking like he is ready for something,
just not sure what.
Where we spent two nights at 11,700 foot
elevation, at the Barcroft gate.
Moonscape area that the road winds through.
Sunrise on the Sierras, Saturday morning.
Looking back across the flats toward the
observatory above the Barcroft site.
Another view of Camp Barcroft.
The Barcroft facilities at 12,400 feet.
Richard Piotrowski back at the trail head.
Owens River Gorge.
From just below my highpoint of 13,150,
looking back towards Barcroft.
Late afternoon heading back to camp, still
near 13,000 feet.
Bristlecone Pine near the Patriarch grove.
Warren at about 12,700 feet with White in
the background.
Well, what was supposed to be a Thursday afternoon start on a weekend trip to White Mtn. finally got started at 5:45 AM on Friday morning. Had a rough week at work and just did not feel safe driving myself up Owens Valley when I had been up for so long with no sleep. It ended up costing us a night spent at 8,500 feet at GrandView Campground, but was worth the safety factor. As it turned out, Warren, who was driving down from Santa Rosa had similar problems getting sleep and spent Thursday night in the back of his pickup truck somewhere about half way along. I got to Grandview about 11AM and made the mistake of not driving through the campground to see if Warren was there yet. I had parked at a site near the entrance and saw only one other site occupied, but Warren was there parked in an area with lots of trees that hid him. After being at the CG for an hour, I finally decided to check out the rest of it to see if maybe I had missed him, and of course he was just a little ways away from where I had been parked. With both of us being hungry, we cooked up some bacon and eggs and pigged out like there was no tomorrow. Food often tastes better in mountains, and this was one time that proved true. After having a beer or two and with the afternoon getting on. we finally headed up the road to see how far we were going to be able to drive. Seems the Forest Service decided to give me differing information on whether or not the road was drivable to 2 wheel cars all the way out to the Barcroft gate. Call at a different time of day, get differing opinions. By the time we got out to the Patriarch grove, we realized driving all the way to the gate was more than likely not going to be a problem. On the last 4 miles or so, snow was built up on the side of the road on some of the curves that were in the shade for the most part of the day, and we never did have to drive over any to keep going. So much for what the FS knows. I honestly do not believe they ever send people out in the field to gather info anymore, rather they get it from who knows what sources, nothing verified.
We got up to the Barcroft gate at 11,700 feet in time to enjoy the sun going down and get set up for the evening. Warren was sleeping in the back of his pickup shell, which left me to enjoy the coolness of an almost 12,000 foot evening in late October sleeping outside on my cot. Seeing how I had 2 sleeping bags along and enough down to keep 3 or 4 people warm, the idea of being outside overnight was not a big factor. Once we got the stove setup and on, I started to cook up a burger when someone from the other car that was parked up by us came over. We had a presto log fire going and a cooler of beer, so both were offered to him. I was busy cooking and listening to this guy and Warren talk for a while before I came to realize that it was Richard Piotrowski sharing our goods. After standing around shooting the shit, with the fire logs never seeming to burn out, I , as usual, was the first one ready to hit the sack. The work week had really taken its toll on me, and I needed my beauty sleep.
The next morning, we passed on making a big breakfast, and started packing out overnight stuff before we finally came to our senses and decided it would be more enjoyable to do the hike carrying only day packs. Neither one of us wanted all the weight of sleeping bags and all the extra water we would need, so it really wasn't that hard of a decision. Once we got started, the pace seemed not bad at all. We made the Barcroft facilities in under an hour, which surprise me, as it was over 2 miles and almost all of it over 12,000 feet. At this point, I had gone from sea level to 12,000 feet and then started hiking in just a little over 24 hours. Putting that on top of my being old, fat, out of shape, and with a never ending bum foot, I was, like I said, surprised to be doing as well as I appeared to be. We took a short break at Barcroft, then headed up to the ridge over looking the buildings. That was a little longer than I remembered, or maybe the altitude was finally kicking in. Once over the ridge, we could see the long , flat, plateau, with White sitting over it at the very far end. Instead of following the road, we cut cross country to try and save a little distance, staying to the right of a large mound of rocks. might have saved a couple dozen feet or so, but it was fun not being on the road. Once about 2/3 rds of the way out to the saddle beneath the peak, we were back on the road and followed it up to about 13,150 feet. By this time, Warren was ahead of me and I was feeling more like a hindrance in his being able to make the top and us getting back in some semblance of a decent time, so I called it a day and told him I would wait where I was for him. I could see him for about another half hour or so , before he disappeared into the rocks, where he was no longer viewable. While I waited for him, of course the temp dropped and the wind started to pick up some. I broke out the down and put gloves on, but with the sun heading down by this time (2:30PM when Warren and I split up) I was without doubt, getting colder just sitting around. After a while , another hiker that had given up below the summit came past and we chatted for a while, or to be more accurate, he talked and I listened. Tales of peaks and trips he had done took up an hour of so, making me forget about the cold. After he left, I had decided to give Warren until 5 PM before I was going to start back by myself, as I couldn't take anymore sitting around and not moving. Just as I was picking up my pack to head back, I see someone coming off the peak, and down into the saddle. At first I thought it was Richard Piotrowski, but then I noticed the person had poles and I remembered Richard doesn't use any. Wasn't sure if it was Warren, but after a while I figured out it had to be. As he staggered up out of the saddle, he was within about 15 feet of me before I figured for sure it was Warren, as by this time my head, and eye sight was becoming a little fuzzy. Warren literally was staggering up the road, a condition I had never seen him in before. A few times he had t stop and rest after having taken only 5 or 10 steps. It made me feel good to see him totally blown away like that. Seeing how I was in almost the same state, and had been doing absolutely nothing for almost 3 hours at that point. He rested up before we started the long 5 to 6 mile walk back to the car. As it turns out, he was lucky I waited for him, as he had no headlight, it had crapped out on him one last time. By the time we hit the top of the ridge overlooking the Barcroft buildings, Richard had caught back up with us and ended up passing us up like we were standing still. I think he got to the cars a full half hour before we did and we were even with 2 miles to go. That man is an animal. Turns out he did 30 miles and numerous peaks that day, all in getting in shape for a climbing trip the following week down in Mexico. After finally getting back to the cars, we collapsed into Warren's truck and had a few beers, totally neglecting any idea of having food for dinner. After Warren crawled into the back of his truck, I took about an hour before getting out of the nice warm cab and setting up my cot and sleeping bag, and calling it a night. What a day.
Sunday morning, we waited till the sun hit our site before doing much moving around. Cooked up a couple of eggs and the remaining bacon, and washed it all down with a beer or 3. We then drove back to Grandview where we had a few more beers and hiked around for a little while before Warren headed to Santa Rosa and I to Glendora. One thing that was confirmed, that I already knew before this trip, we should have gotten up there Thursday so as to spend a night at 8,500 (GrandView) before spending the night at the Barcroft gate. That extra time at altitude would have made a huge difference.
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