2015 03.13-03.16 * Mt. Whitney - Mountaineer's Route

PanShiBo

Our regular alpine packs weigh 45 lb. Add snowshoes in winter and it gets to 50 lb. Some alpinists with deep pockets manage to get it under 35 lb but  at a price of lighter and much more expensive gear. We found better way - lose 10 lb of body weight and attain same effect as having dropped pack weight by 10 lb, it's free and it feels good too. Vera claims she knows additional method which she insists works very well, I have little doubt, after all 45 lb pack is 40% of her body weight. 8)

PanShiBo

Whether this is the end or the beginning - depends how one looks at it. 8)

PHOTO: Trailhead at Whitney Portal is the beginning of many routes to the summit.

棉花糖

:b.cool:  :favor:  :cb:  :za:

vera

If you are going to hike or climb Mt Whitney, where to park your car might be kind of tricky.

After being told that part of the road to TH was closed, we struggled a little bit and tried to figure out how to solve this problem. At first, we drove there to check out. It was true: a sign of "Road Closed" was there which is 4 miles to TH; however, it was not physically closed. What to do next?  Ignore the sign and continue driving or stop? How about if our car get towed when we come back from the mountain? Should we just hike to TH with heavy backpacks under the sun? No shade on the road at all. Of course we didn't want that either. At this moment, smart Dr got an idea: we drove to TH, left backpacks there with one person, then the other one drove back to where the sign was and hiked to TH with free load. Such a good idea! Action right away! （不好意思，上班的地方用不了中文）

我们马上开始迅速整理背包，因为开到上面“不能进入的地方”再摊开一地显然不合适。这个时候已经是午后了，本来以为充足的时间弥足珍贵起来，因为这样一折腾估计要两个半小时，我们可不希望使用头灯走到第一个营地，何况我们对trail到底是什么样子又不知道。打好包后，立刻前往TH。一路上路况基本很好，只是有几处有些山上滚下来的石头，可是并不影响驾驶（因为路面较宽，可以绕过去），而且我们还看到有人在做清理。盘山而上，心里就在盘算着等会儿在强烈的阳光下走上去会是什么滋味（还真不是个滋味）。

越往上开，这不是滋味的滋味就越来越浓。这时候，车又拐了一个弯，真正是柳暗花明又一村，我们看到了TH的停车场不是空的，而且有不少车平安地停在那里！博士兴奋地说这是他最想看到的情景，说明上面的停车场可以使用，这样被拖的危险就没有了，我们也不用一个人在背包旁傻等，另一个再走上来了。我们真的非常幸运，事后证明这样省下的时间有着significant的意义，因着这个，我们才得以在1：10pm起步，才得以有充足的时间经过ledges，也才得以在天黑前到达营地。这样意外顺利的开场，和后来圆满的结局真是遥相呼应，彼此配合得十分默契。

看到这里，你也许会有疑惑，为什么写road closed呢？我是这样觉得的：因为有山石滑坡，所以有关部门会告知大家以尽其责。这样如果你继续行驶，就完全是你自己的责任。（其实就实况而言，比我们这里很多的通往TH的路要好很多，一点也不需要四驱之类的，而且平坦。）快下到TH时，看到我们的车静静地等着，真有说不出的放松。回程再次经过封路的牌子时，正看到有两个人正把装备摆了一地在收拾，准备背着大包走上去，我们就毫不犹豫地停下来告诉他们这个利好消息，不用说，他们一定会为此庆幸不已的。

我们的Mt Whitney之行就这样一波三折地戏剧性地开始了。