The Plan
I found out on Saturday that I didn’t have to work this
week. Which is nice, not working is better than working but on such short
notice it’s hard to take advantage of the time. I’ve been meaning to make a
“to-do” list for times like this when I have to plan on a pinch but I just haven’t done that yet. We had
plans for Friday through the weekend which put me in even more of a time
crunch.
I’ve been thinking about some local projects but with the
extra time thought I should take advantage and do something a little farther away.
My thoughts turned to the Sierra’s and Yosemite. I stumbled across a blog a few
months ago which has opened my eyes to many possibilities. his knowledge of the
geography and frequency and speed of his excursions are inspiring. I also went
to the library, searching for maps of trails without any luck but did find a backpacking
book with twenty promising routes. I would love to reproduce many of Leor’s
trip reports but my unfamiliarity of the terrain, likely solo effort and a few
more hours travel each way led me to “settle” on something in the southern
Sierra’s.
Although not as imaginative as some of Leor’s routes I
figured Mt Whitney would be a good excursion. It’s in the Southern Sierra’s,
only four hours away, I’ve never been there and the highest point in the
continental 48 – reason enough for me. I didn’t decide this until two am
Tuesday morning. Maybe I’m indecisive. Maybe I just wanted to find the perfect
adventure.
I left my place at 11am on Tue in order to get to the
Visitor Center in time to pick up my permit for the following day. The permit
ended up being free because I was only going to be there the same day, which
was contradictory to everything I read online but a pleasant surprise
nonetheless. I spent about an hour in the bookshop, looking at different maps,
routes and possibilities. I knew that Mt Russell was nearby and from talking
with friends and reading climbing TR’s it seemed like a consensus that Russell
was more appealing than Whitney in terms of exposure, popularity (less crowds),
and other subjective measures. How could I be so close and not do them both. I
also started thinking more about the Northern Fork Route, which is an
unmaintained though relatively well traveled backpacker’s route that splits
from the main Whitney trail about a half mile up and then travels past mountain
lakes on gorgeous terrain. It definitely seemed appealing because it would
allow me to summit Russell and
Whitney, and would steer me away from comparatively mundane, maintained and
very popular main trail . I worried about the route finding, and if the
Mountaineer’s Route (the route I would have to take up Whitney should I decide
on the North Fork trail) would be a wise choice without an ice axe or other
gear should I encounter snow. Immediately after exiting the visitor center I
made some phone calls to Kevin and Andy and asked their opinions. My mind still
wasn’t made up on the best plan but at least I would be in the Sierra’s, it
would be ok.
Acclimation
I drove up to the Whitney trailhead with still several hours
of sun to go and decided to check out the trails. It would help me make a
decision on routes, be a good workout and hopefully help with acclimation (the
trailhead is at 8360 ft, just a little higher than where I live). In the my
trunk I found some old racing flats and decided to throw them on, just to save
my trainers for the long day ensuing.
Once I got on the trail I loved the feel of the flats, not just obviously
noticeably lighter but much less beefy than I thought I would appreciate
without any noticeable difference in comfort or cushion. I ran up the main
trail for about thirty minutes before heading back down and then venturing up
the North fork trail. Within thirty seconds of being on this new route I was
grinning from ear to ear, at least internally. Although definitely not runnable
besides the first 400m it wound through overhanging trees, crossed the creek
several times and involved some bushwhacking. Definitely more fun/adventurous
than the main route – which agreed with my thoughts and consensus from
backpacking and Sierra guru, KR. Once out of the shrubbery you ascend up a
somewhat exposed slanted rock bands that eventually put you out to Lower Boy
Scout Lake, which is more of a pond but beautifully serene and housed by the
soaring surrounding mountains. I scrambled up the loose rocks on the north side
of the lake trying to get a view of the route, but headed back down as I only
had about a little over an hour left of sunlight.
 |
| trail split for northfork |
 |
| looking towards bishop from LBSL |
On the way back down I lost the route as it descended the
rock bands down near the creek. I did find some bail wraps but determined I had
gone too far. Briefly I had flashes of biveying for the night and trying to
bushwhack my way down in the dark. I said a prayer and found the route back to
the creek but did considerable more bushwhacking than my way up.
 |
| lower boy scout lake |
When I got back to the parking lot I had a little bit of
headache and just wanted to get some sleep. Luckily there were still camp spots
available at the trailhead so I snagged one. As I was looking at the sky full
of stars, my head pounding but soothed to be sleeping in the open, surrounded
by pine trees and cool alpine air,
I thought maybe my three hour little trek was enough adventure, but I
knew there was much more to be had.
My recon work had lead me to decide on the North Fork trail.
It would be different from my intention of an “adventure run” as it most likely
would not be runnable. However, my reason for training and adventure running at
all is for the adventure and to get out and see and experience some amazing
places. The heavily traveled main route, although more runnable, would be less
adventurous if at all, more peoples and less scenic. Therefore the NFT was in
perfect harmony with my real goals. Also, I passed two couples and asked about
the Mountaineers route and it seemed passable without ice ax or other
accessories so my fear of not being able to gain the summit by this alternate
route was mostly assuaged. As far as Russell I would give it shot, although
there were two different approaches (head over to Russell via the East route
after arriving at Upper Boy Scout Lake or continuing on to Iceberg Lake and
then the Whitney-Russell col to attempt the south face) that I had read about I
wasn’t sure which option would be best.
Russell/Whitney
I woke up at 4:30, an hour before sunrise, feeling better
and surprised at how much sleep it felt like I received. By a little after 5:30
I was charging up the trail, knowing that I would only be able to run the first
half mile or so. 10 min in, I realized I’d forgot my poles. I froze and weighed
the decision. After prob too much time I headed back down, only to stop and
reconsider. The part of the trail I was on the day prior did not lend itself to
poles, who knew what the rest would be like. After way too much time in
indecision I again started to ascend and realized it was a good thing I had
turned around initially because in my excitement and had run past the turnoff
for the NFT.
Up to boy scout lake was enjoyable and obtained in about an
hour. Although somehow I managed to take a different route through the
bushwhacking and creek crossing. It just felt so good to be out and the unkown
only adds to, if not defines, the
adventure.
 |
| lower boy scout lake |
Once at LBS lake I crossed over the south side and hopped
across the boulder field to eventually arrive at upper boy scout lake (UBSL).
There were several camps there and I was lucky to find some people waking up
and who knew the area well enough to give some tips. The man I talked with
suggested I could head up the eastern ridge of Russell, then down the south
face to the whitney-Russell col then down to iceberg lake and finally up the
mountaineers route. He made it seem like all this route finding was easy
enough, I had my doubts but thought the line was the best and wanted to give it
a shot.
 |
| whiney (left), russell (right), east ridge of russell on right |
Heading up to Russell from UBSL there’s a scree field that I fought for about an hour until
I was on runnable soft terrain for about ¼ mile until the scrambling began. The
scree field was frustrating at times, sometimes I was four-pointing, but I just
kept moving. The was a couple whom I spoke with in the middle of the scree
field and one of the guys confirmed my thoughts that the southern decent off
Russell could be difficult and it may be in my best interest just to head back
down the eastern ridge. As I was solo, without rope and had plenty of
daylight I figured this was a
better option than finding myself downclimbing an exposed 5.9 or harder route
in racing flats.
 |
| ridgeline traverse of russell |
The class 3 ridgeline traverse of Russell was perhaps my
favorite part of the day. I stayed mostly on the south side with views of Tulainyo Lake but there was a lot of
exposure, especially on the ridgeline. The moves weren’t difficult but moving
confidently and efficiently over such terrain with incredible views just feels
nice. My pictures don’t come close to doing this section justice. Once at the
top I took an obligatory awkward pic and headed down the same way.
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| from top of russell looking towards whitney/russell col, whitney is prominent peak |
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| more ridgeline traverse of russell, tulainyo lake |
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| top of russell, whitney in background |
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| more from russell descent, both north (left) and south faces (right) appreciated, lake tulainyo without snow |
Coming down through the scree field was much quicker than
going up. Although I did acquire a lot of rocks and one of my shoes ended up
tearing along the side of the heel (glad they weren’t new).
Once back at UBSL I pumped some water (the guys that I
passed offered their filter outside their tent after I asked if they were just
drinking the lake water). I still had a liter left, but it turns out I would
use the full 3L over the final part of the journey.
I found what looked like could have been a trail over the
ridge then down to Iceberg Lake. Again there were some parties camped here and
I was able to get some info on the mountaineer’s route – I guess when the guide
book describes something as the “obvious” route it isn’t so obvious to me.
 |
| east face of whitney from iceberg lake, mountaineer's route heads left of vertical snow line |
I started heading up the mountaineer’s route around 12:15,
just short of 7 hours had elapsed since I started and I felt pretty confident I
would make it back before dark. The MR headed up a short steep scree field that
then turns to scree/boulders balanced on scree. I moved steadily but gingerly
so as not to pull down any large boulders on myself. Once you gain the notch my readings and fellow travelers
said that you come around then bend then take the obvious class 3 path to the
top. The ascent looked doable at any point, I just wanted to make sure I took
the right one. I dropped down below and past some small snow fields to a point
that looked like I could start heading up. Again, like on Russell, the class 3
climbing was fun, especially with the exposure, and the patches of ice added to
the experience.
 |
| take "obvious" route to top of whitney |
Once on Whitney I leisurely walked around, enjoying the
expansive view and snapped a couple pictures. I then headed down the main
Whitney trail where I encountered far more travelers, most whom looked at me
like I was crazy for trying to run down. I found the trail very runnable
although the switchbacks and various rocks made finding a steady groove
difficult but to be expected in mountain travel.
I did have one misstep on the descent. There is a short
section of maybe ten or so switchabcks that are only 10-15 feet long, all on
fist sized rocks that made running pretty difficult. As I was descending I must
have stumbled and flipped hiney over teakettle as I found myself face up on the
switchback below, perfectly positioned in the middle of the trail. I really
don’t know how this happened but I didn’t loose consciousness or have the wind
knocked out of me. I also avoided any head trauma. I quickly jumped to my feet
so as not to give all those “this guys is crazy for trying to run because he
will surely fall” looks any credence. I felt a little wobbly, probably just
shook up and decided to walk for a couple minutes and have another gu before
continuing to run again. All I could see was some scrapes on my leg and my left
thenar eminence was a bit bruised. Pretty lucky I suppose.
The rest of the decent was without complication. I’m glad I
chose only to descend this way as there were much more hikers and the scenery,
although great, just wasn’t the same. The last couple miles especially once
past the stream, the switchbacks lengthened and the rocks became less frequent
that I was able to open it up a bit. I’m still working on my downhill running
and this was a perfect chance and the reason why I wanted to descend the main
trail. I tried to work on lengthening my stride over obstacles rather than
always stutter stepping (some advice I received during the rtrtr.) This seemed
to work well and I enjoyed the speedy travel until arriving at the trailhead.
 |
| just a scratch. lucky. |
Thoughts:
-
I really liked the racing flats more than I
thought, without any noticeable setbacks in terms of cushioning. Lightweight
trail shoes would be ideal, just really expensive…
-
This route could go much faster. I tried to move
steadily but wasn’t trying to set any speed record. I stopped several times to
talk with people and took pics for a group. Route knowledge would also aid the
speed.
-
Figuring out the Southern decent of Russell
would avoid backtracking.
-
With plenty of time left in the long summer days
it wouldn’t be difficult to bag several other peaks Mount Muir and Mount
Clarrion
-
I will return to the Sierras, they are
relatively close and unbound adventure awaits.
Stats:
- total time 11:27
- mileage: 20+
- elevation gain 9600’ +
- TH elevation: 8360; Mt Russell elevation: 14088’; Mt Whitney elevation: 14491’
- nutrition: 3
gus, 1 pack gu chomps, 1 power
bar, 5L dialvyte
