"Arrow are you leaving?" Penguin whispered into the darkness. "No, I just have to pee," I said quietly to the tent next to mine. I had woken at midnight with a full bladder and tried to go back to sleep, as it was only a few hours til we would head out for Whitney anyway. But after an unsuccessful hour of trying to drift off again I decided I should just go pee; then at least I could get back to dream-land for a bit. Empty, I crawled back into my sleeping bag and had almost managed to slip off into a doze when I heard Penguin rustling around. "Are you leaving?" I ventured. "I'm getting ready to," I heard back. "Well, I might as well too then," I decided. I hoisted myself up and quietly shoved stuff into my pack, hitting the trail in less than 5 minutes. I hiked a short distance away so I could repack my bag without fear of waking the others with all the rustling. I didn't bring much, just a few clothes, sleeping bag, snacks, and water. Everything else was stashed in my tent at the camp area, to be picked up on the return journey.
I mosied up the trail, waiting for Penguin to catch up. Hiking with a red light, I could see the mountains silhouetted against the stars. The milky way spilled into the valley. It was incredible. Penguin caught up as I filled my water, and soon we were quietly shuffling up the hill, trail illuminated from our headlamps. Penguin was in the lead; it was so nice to mindlessly follow as he set pace and searched for the path in the darkness. It was wild to look up and see dots of light floating hundreds of feet above and look down to see some bouncing along below; other hikers on their journey up the highest mountain in the contiguous US.
The hill was relatively steep, but not terrible. Big rocks littered the trail in places, making walking difficult. There were even a few spots with snow, though they were short and easy to cross. I breathed deeply, hoping to avoid altitude sickness while keeping a good pace. I had been drinking a ton of water, but even still I felt slightly nauseous when I nibbled on snacks. I swung in and out of every levels. I could feel myself slowing, but as we neared the top I pulled myself together and forged onward.
And then there it was: the top of the world. An emergency shelter silhouetted against a colorful sky and flags flapped in the wind. Victory! We found front row seats at the edge of the mountain, slightly sheltered from the relentless wind. I peered at the ice blue frozen lake thousands of feet below and gazed over at the mountains glowing in the first rays of light, and I felt a brief moment of giddy joy. Pure emotion.
T.C, Steak, Pickles, and Spygot joined us as I pulled on more layers, and three of us snuggled under my sleeping bag to watch the sunrise, eager for its warmth. As usual, it took its sweet time, but finally peeked it's head over the horizon. While all eyes were on the sun, I looked back on the landscape as it was washed in golden light. My favorite part about sunrises is watching the land greet the new day.
We couldn't fully enjoy the show, for according to my thermometer it was 20 degrees without the windchill. The wind pushed us around, stealing all heat from our bodies and making it closer to zero. Exposed limbs or fingers were frozen in minutes. The majority of the time was spent trying to keep warm. I jumped around to keep my temperature up, letting the others thaw under my sleeping bag. We spent a good amount of time huddled together for warmth or moving about trying to find the spot with the least wind. The others finally had enough and headed down the mountain. As I had spent most of my time up there with my head tucked into a puddle of warmth, I felt I hadn't really taken it all in, so I stayed a bit longer, leaping from rock to rock and taking in the views. When I had my fill I headed down the mountain.
The downhill seemed to take forever, mostly because I stopped so often to gaze upon what had been shrouded in darkness on the way up. Jagged mountains, pristine blue lakes, lush valley floors; I could see for miles.
I found Penguin relaxing by a lake and decided to join him. The others had continued on to camp to take a nap but I wasn't tired. "Look, a coyote on the trail," Penguin pointed out. It took me forever to spot the grey fur against the rocks, but sure enough, there was some dog-like creature on the trail. It was huge; much too big for a coyote. Wolf? No, it couldn't be, wolves are shy. The thing passed by quite a few hikers and trotted through the meadow on its way to the lake. We watched it sniff around, mark it's territory, and get a drink before it disappeared back into the mountains. Some other hikers said it was a wolf, but a later Google search said wolves didn't live in the area. Either one, it was neat to witness.
I finally made it back to our temporary base camp and joined the others for a nap. I wasn't too tired, but figured I should try to get more sleep. When I woke an hour later I was more tired than refreshed, but I couldn't sleep in the heat so I started packing up. When the last of the group came back from Whitney and everyone was awake, we discussed what we were going to do. There was a weird distance between there and the next mountain pass, which we were told to hit in the morning before the snow turned to slush, so that meant either a long day today or a short day tomorrow. Some of us were running out of food, and wanted to push further. Others wanted to take it easy and enjoy the Sierras. We discussed ideas for over an hour, and finally I decided to just see how far I could make it today and figure it out later. I was too tired to make decisions. I hiked until dinner time and set up my tent by a creek. The mosquitoes were so terrible I took refuge in my tent while I ate dinner. The rest of the group passed by my tent as I was cleaning up, having decided to make it at least this far for today as well. I went to sleep before the sun set. It was one of the best days thus far.
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