Day Sixteen: Team Smell Bad, to the Rescue!

The drive back to Lone Pine was fairly quick, and since we knew we were only hiking 6 miles that day, that there was no real rush to get to the trail head. So after the ride to Lone Pine, a quick stop at the visitor center for directions and water, and of course two McDonald's double cheeseburger's for 99cents apiece....mmmm, good...we headed up to the trail head.

Of course, the car could only hit 30mph tops, but no biggie, we were in no hurry. A lot of people underestimate how fast we hike. Everyone we passes on the way up to Trail Camp, our destination for the night, looked at us like we were crazy for starting so late (2pm). Well, we were only hiking to 12,000ft, we were not hiking on any ridges, and the storms had pretty much missed us. There was a little rain, but we heard no thunder or anything, and many of the people coming down said it would take us 6 or more hours to get up there. HA! Although, no lie, it was tough as hell hiking up that mountain. I am not exactly what people would call a symbol of health, and we are low-landers, so the altitude and physical exertion are killing us. And the heat. It was 100 degrees at 8500 feet. That is hot. We were glad for the rain, it made the hiking a little more bearable. On our way up, we run into some people from the day before and the permit lottery. They looked like they were having a swell time...

Now, we were surprised at how many people were still coming down the mountain at 6pm. We figured that the people would have wanted to get off the mountain by 1pm tops. We were right outside Trail Camp, 4.4 miles from the summit, and there were many people still coming back from the top at 6pm. It seems to me that someone should know that you can't be up on a 14'er that late in the day, especially in late July, when it thunderstorms everyday up there. No wonder there is a large plaque that warns against lightning strikes...stupid yuppies...

Anyhow, that was about the time we ran into some people who were looking for cell reception. We did not help them out with that (although ours may have worked), and we then learn that there was an elderly woman, in her late 60's, suffering from hypothermia about a quarter mile from us. This gave us a little adrenaline boost as we rushed to her aid. She had about 4 people trying to help her eat and drink fluids. But after assessing the situation and interviewing the help, I see that the woman is in a bad spot. Quick rundown: she is in an emergency blanket, but is wet from a hailstorm earlier in the day; her clothes are wet; she has been sitting for half an hour and had not felt rested; she is shivering and can stop on command, but only momentarily; she is at 12,000ft; it is 6pm and the sun is setting; she is not able to eat or drink much; she is as old as time itself. Not a good situation. So, we drop packs, get a pot of water heated, fill it with half-strength Gatorade, get it in a Nalgene and against and in her belly in 4 minutes flat. We instruct her to eat, and with warm fluids she is able to eat easier, and within minutes we have her up and walking, with help, but walking down in elevation regardless. A job well done for Team Smell Bad (a whole other story if you don't know it. I may go into it at a later date).

So our campsite (thankfully pointed out to us by our nice neighbors) was pretty sweet. Flat spots made by people many years ago by removing tons of rocks and making really nice wind shelters with them. We filled our water in the most pristine mountain lake I have ever seen, with a vanish point view of the sky right over the Eastern edge of the lake...just absolutely amazing. After filling water, we cook an amazing dinner of Ramen and chicken in a can, we realize that I have brought way too much food to fit it all in the bear canister. We figure what are the odds of a bear up here? Although we all know it is high, the food is stashed under a massive rock and is wedged in with the bear canister. We would see if that worked...

Then after a little wondering around, we hit the sack, prepared to wake before the crack of dawn and hit the trail by 4am.