Well, I am home already. They say the best laid plans often go awry... and they did.
Rox dropped me off @ Horseshoe Meadows Campground at the Cottonwood Pass trailhead as planned last Sunday afternoon and, as I watched her drive away, had a little bit of sadness as I realized this would be the first time in 31 years of marriage that we would be apart for more than one week
. However, the excitement of many months of planning soon came back and I started to set up for the night. I had arrived a day early to acclimate myself at almost 10,000', and took a short hike around the camp as I eagerly awaited the self imposed one day hold. When I got back, I dug out my soggy Subway sandwich that we had bought earlier for my dinner from the mandatory bear canister that is required to pack when hiking in these parts of the forest. If only I could see a bear! On top of the requisite bear canister, my wife insisted on equipping me with the satellite device that you all have been able to track me with (DeLorme Explorer), just in case I lost track of the trail. As much as I scoff at the notion, I find this is a very neat little gadget that helps me plot and record my elevation in my travels. In the rare event I'd need to actually use it, it has an SOS feature to alert the authorities. Trust me, anything that makes my life easier by keeping Rox reassured is, in my book, worth it! I text her a little note and I'm chomping at the bit to get going first thing in the morning
.
I was up bright & early Monday morning and packed up camp. I had a slight headache, but was already taking Diamox as a preventative for Acute Mountain Sickness, aka altitude sickness. I took a couple of Tylenol and was on my way, saying goodbye to civilization for 10 days. I was lucky to have left when I did as I learned later that a fire had started the very next day close by in which everyone had to be immediately evacuated. One in my favor! My first challenge was Cottonwood Pass at 11,140 ft... no problem. The backpack was a little heavy with my 10 day supply of food and 3 liters of water all stuffed in it. A little swearing was going on, but not much, and I got to my first planned destination, Chicken Spring Lake, around 3pm. I hydrated some hummus and sun dried tomatoes for lunch and looked around. There wasn't much so, with my adrenaline still flowing and the campsite pretty full, I decided to put in a few more miles. The good part about carrying your home on your back is that you know you always have a place to stay
. About 7 more miles up the trail, around 8pm, I found a nice campsite just short of my planned stop for the next night at Rock Creek, at an altitude of 10,000'.
I awoke Tuesday morning with a pretty good headache, a little nauseous and a sore throat. Oh oh - I've read about altitude sickness and I know the signs. I welcome the day with a 4 mile climb up Guyot Pass. Even though I trained for months beforehand, these passes are kicking my ass! Is it the heavy backpack? Can't be, I walked everywhere with that thing loaded to 43lbs, until it seemed like a part of me. We're buddies - I almost forgot to take it off before I got in the shower one day. Was it the incline? Couldn't be, I walked hill after hill and flights of stairs with it on. The thin air? I don't think so - I went to our local mountains a few times and didn't have a problem. It has to be AMS, but I'm committed now so onwards I persevere. I made it to my next stop, Wallace Creek at 11,000', a bit tired and sore but that's understandable after the 12 miles I ended up hiking that day
.
I still had the same symptoms the next morning, but a couple of Tylenol and I was again on my way. Wednesday's hike was just under 10 miles, all uphill, and brought me to my next camp at the base of Forester Pass, at approx 12,500'. It was just me and the fat Marmots with no one else around. I can't seem to shake my symptoms, and now have also completely lost my appetite. Even my Snickers bars are yelling "eat me", but I just closed them back up in the bear canister and hit the hay. I'm doing my best to follow the rule "hike high, sleep low", but it's not helping. One thing that I didn't prepare for was the mental aspect. I thought I was already mentally tough but I didn't anticipate the loneliness. You're probably thinking, OMG, I'd read that book I've always wanted to, listen to music, or even search for pine nuts around camp. I do that too but after a couple of hours each day, the worse I start to feel and the less it sounds appealing. For some reason depression is starting to seep in but how can this be? I'm in a beautiful place with not a soul in sight
. It's so quiet and this where I learn a lot about myself; I'm not the loner I thought I was.
Well I sure have a lot of time to figure out where these feelings are coming from. I think I've taken the incredible bond that I have for my wife for granted. I know she does a lot for me, but I'm really realizing it now that she's not here. I start looking at photos on my iTouch. Us, together in Hawaii, India and Panama. It helps, but makes me just long to be with her more. Thank goodness I'm able to text her. We have an allotment of messages allowed on my DeLorme but, at this point, I could care less about overages. You can't put a price on that and I took for granted the strength of human interaction. This is one of those aha moments; I'm lucky to have learned this now and not after it's too late.
I'm a little slow getting up Thursday morning as I know what lies ahead - the dreaded hike up Forester's south side to 13,200'. I'm a little sluggish, but that can be expected on a steep 1 mile climb. It took about an hour and a half to go that mile but the views from the top were spectacular. The 7 miles downhill is somewhat easier, although hard on the knees. I passed a father and son team that I had met along the way and Dad, who was about my age, was laying flat on his back under a tree. "Is everything OK?", I ask. "No", says the son, "Dad is completely spent and can't even stand up or take his shoes off". He said to carry on, they'd be OK as he had a locator like mine. I made it to the Kearsarge Pass trail, but wasn't feeling so hot myself. As I went to open my water supply tube, it broke in my mouth! Really, this too? I can go without a lot of things, but not water. I took one of my water purifying bags down to the creek for a drink and, sure enough, it had a leak. What did I do to piss off the trail gods? This is going south fast and I text Roxanne. Being the support that she is, she texts back that she's lined all the replacements up. "I can be there tomorrow with everything, just give me until 3pm". I sent her a message back saying that it's a little more that that - I felt lousy and I didn't think it was meant to be this time. It was becoming more work than fun and, to me, that's not what backpacking is all about.
The hike out Friday morning to Onion Valley Campground in Independence confirmed my decision. I was zapped as I'd had a hard time making the ascent over Kearsarge Pass. I made the 8 mile hike by 4:30pm and had hiked approx 75 miles in 5 days. Even though Rox was more disappointed than me, I was greeted by my lovely wife... a cheeseburger in one hand and a chicken sandwich in the other.
A 6 hr drive and we're home - there's nothing like a good hot shower and your own bed! I knew I had lost a couple of pounds this week, but when I hopped on the scale yesterday I was surprised... approx 10lbs since Sunday. Especially as I drank a lot, that's not good - I tried to eat as much as I could, but just couldn't force myself to eat much. Well, I'll chalk this one up to experience and as long as I learn from it, I'll consider it a success.
Thanks so much for all your support and well wishes!
So long for now,
Mark
....Relief!
Sunday, August 14, 2016
Onion Valley, California, United States
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Jim & Linda
2016-08-14
Wow! What a magnificent account of a real-life trek. Well done, Mark! You should be very proud. Especially at your age which is very close to mine. I wouldn't even THINK about such a hike. Bravo.
Rita
2016-08-14
I am sad for you and happy as it sounds like you are ok with your outcome. Also it's alwYs a success when we learn some life lessons. Good job!!!!
Michael K
2016-08-14
Well Brother, sounds like you made a good effort and learned a lot from this experience. Maybe you can talk Roxanne into going with you on your next try!!!! Lol ...... At least you won't have that lonely feeling to deal with. You are a much braver man than me. I don't think I could head off into the wild alone and sleep peacefully at night!!! Well done !
Phyllis S
2016-08-14
So enjoyed reading this Mark. And, so very glad you are home safe and sound. We were worried about you ! See you soon!
Cindy B
2016-08-14
5 days is 5 days more than most!! You set out on an awesome trek and accomplished so much while you were out on the trail. Thanks for sharing your wonderful story!!!
John Neff
2016-08-14
JMT is not a sprint and with all your excitement may be you wore yourself out. But with all your months of planning and equipment to take, I know for certain you forgot your best asset, Roxanne. I glad you're safe and happy you learned more about yourself.
mreasier
2016-08-15
Sorry you had end your trek. How smart you are to know when it ceases to be fun. Five days out there is about 4.9 days more than I could think of doing. Great job!!!
marianwatson
2016-08-15
There is the old cliche that behind every successful man there is an amazing woman which in your case is true. But I would say it's applicable the other way round here, too. In just 5 days you got to understand what the most important thing in your life was! I told you it would be cathartic! There are many more trails out there, not quite so extreme, which I'm sure Roxanne will be doing together with you. All the best!
camirandkdc
2016-08-15
Wow ...what an amazing personal experience you had..( I cried reading your journal ) .thanks for sharing your hiking adventure with us. Glad Roxanne hadn't flown off somewhere on her own adventure and was there to put a smile on your face.
Now Sit back and relax and let Rox start planning your next vacation "together " cheers friends, hugs from Canada, Di &Kirk