Adventure Time, Rowdy style

Yesterday I made it to the top of Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in the continental United States at almost 14,500 feet. It was an arduous hike of almost 17 hours. Remember a while ago when I said, "It's not an adventure unless something goes wrong"? Well, then this was an adventure for me.

-I was driving around looking at places to boulder the day before in the Alabama Hills area and got turned around and went down a dirt road meant for my truck, not for my sedan. To get out the problem I ended up leaving two long scratches down the entire passenger side of my car.

-I've climbed more than one mountain that is over 12,000 feet. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest goofing off in the Cascades, Wallowa and Blue mountains. For some reason I forgot what I know and ignored my own experience and advice when it comes to climbing and clothing. I have two different shells/jackets that are light and great for this sort of thing. I didn't bring them on the mountain with me. I ended up wearing every bit of clothing in my pack, two pairs of socks on my hands and still having a hard time dealing with the cold and wind.

-Water. The second time I stopped to fill up for water in a fast moving stream the end of the intake tube got caught in rocks and I could not retrieve it. So I had to cut the hose, losing the float, weight and pre filter. The very last time I wanted to fill up on water the o-ring for the pumping handle lost stiction and would not pump. Thankfully I was able to use someone's else pump in the party.

Coming down the 99 switchbacks I was out of water. At around 1pm. I was totally zombied! Slack jaw, stumbling, drooling. I sat down at a stream to get water. I lost my sock gloves. Stuff blew away out of my pack. The first time I filled up my water bottle I immediately knocked it over and dumped all the water out. I was despondent. But I got it together and refilled, drank and got back up and moving. It took me almost an hour to get back to normal. Later I added it all up I drank just over 2 gallons of water that day.

I can now say I have climbed the tallest mountain in the continental US. For a time, I was the tallest person in the US standing on top. 17 hours of physical agony, of which 6 were mentally trying as well, and I completed something I never have to do again.