Into thin air

The trail to our camp was AMAZING!  I cannot begin to describe the feeling of being out there in the wilderness with no ability to communicate with the outside world.  The scenery was absolutely beautiful, it was so serene to be able to leave "home" behind for a while and reconnect with myself.  

We laughed, sang, and learned a little bit more about each other (some of us would rather be blind than obese, wear a permanent sombrero rather than moon boots and have 2 left feet rather than wear ortho head gear). All in all the time passed quickly and before long we were at our camp.

Day 1 continued: Hitting the trail

After a 5 hour car ride we arrived in Lone Pine.  We made a quick stop to pick up our permits and bear canisters and to check in on the weather conditions.We were told that few had been able to summit in the past two weeks but we decided to push on.  After a quick lunch in town (our last "real meal" for 24 hours) we headed up to the Whitney Portal, where the hike begins...

  

After weighing the bags (35-41 lbs) we hit the trail!

Day 1: Getting There

Leaving Dana Point 5:00AM 6/5/09
(Jessica, Kristine,Jenna,Kellie, Jill and me)

Making our way to Lone Pine, Ca.  

Setting out on the trail

Kristine: Our "Fearless Leader"
Jessica & Jenna

Jill takes a break to warm up
Kellie

Day 1:

We arrived at the Whitney Portal around noon and began to organize our packs.  The weather was beautiful at 8,300' and the adrenaline was pumping.  

"The Mountain"

Mt.Whitney Trail

   Elevation 14,497'

BUST!

Well... I am so sad to say that we were unable to summit.  The weather turned on us and made for very dangerous climbing conditions. We were able to make it to the Trail Camp at just over 12,000' and were able to see the peak of MT.Whitney for a few moments before the clouds and snow moved in.  We camped at just over 10,000' and woke up to fresh snow.

Even thought we didn't summit, this was an absolute amazing trip.  I enjoyed every moment of this and am so proud to have had the opportunity to do so with such wonderful girls.  

 I am waiting for the pictures so I can post our trip.   Stay tuned!

No turning back now!

4:OOAM house is quiet, coffee on, running through my mental checklist. I guess it really doesn't matter at this point, if I forgot something... no possible way it is fitting in my pack anyway!

So many people have asked me a lot of questions this week, thought I would take this time to answer.

Q1. Why are you doing this?

A1.  WHY NOT?plus... Sounded great after a few beers and Patron shots in Park City

Q2.  Have you done anything like this before?

A2.   Not that didn't include a Gondola ride up first, or a backpack full of drinks

Q3.   Are you prepared/ Trained?

A3.   Television, believe it or not has been preparing me....i will explain

-watched the movie ALIVE the other night . Lesson learned: we can survive off of each other. hmmm...who do we eat first???

-Man vs. Wild if Will Ferrell can survive the Arctic Circle, (he did however have Bear as   his guide, we have bear canisters, does that count?) we can survive. I can make us snow shoes from twigs if our crampons fail, climb a tree to asses position (I think we may be above tree line for most, but can and will do it if needed), grill us up a deer head if we get hungry, and most importantly, hang on tightly to the ladder while dangling  from the rescue helicopter!

(see, TV isn't all that bad after all)

-Entertainment: this is a must when attempting such an adventure.  My ipod is ready to shuffle me up the hill! We are stocked with every "real men of genius" (Bud   Light)commercial known to man and will probably have them all memorized by the time we return

So this my friends, is where I have to say ... "LET THE ADVENTURE BEGIN"